My Mallard Duck’s wing

[crazyducklady07]

Hello,

I have a young mallard duck and it's wing seems to be growing weird. I'm not aware of any injuries. I bought them from Rural King when they were just a few days old on March 25.
Does anyone have any advice for me on how to help it's wing? OR any idea why it’s growing like this.

Thanks

 

[Quatie]

Your duck has angel wing. It is a cosmetic problem mostly. It won't be able to fly with it's wings like that. There is not a clear understanding as to what causes it. It can caused by genetics and inherited. Diet can potentially also cause it, but it is not entirely clear.

You can try wrapping the wing when it is folded correctly. People use vet wrap to wrap the wing. You wrap the wing and then wrap it to the body. You don't want to over tighten the vet wrap. If they are still growing, I don't recommend having it on all the time and allow your duck to still exercise it's wing muscles.

Here is a bit more info and diagram on wrapping.
http://www.duckdvm.com/condition/angel-wing

If it doesn't work, there is a thread on here where someone did it to their duck when they molted their wing feathers. They were able to wrap the wing and correct it as an adult. So maybe that would work for you.

 

[crazyducklady07]

Your duck has angel wing. It is a cosmetic problem mostly. It won't be able to fly with it's wings like that. There is not a clear understanding as to what causes it. It can caused by genetics and inherited. Diet can potentially also cause it, but it is not entirely clear.

You can try wrapping the wing when it is folded correctly. People use vet wrap to wrap the wing. You wrap the wing and then wrap it to the body. You don't want to over tighten the vet wrap. If they are still growing, I don't recommend having it on all the time and allow your duck to still exercise it's wing muscles.

Here is a bit more info and diagram on wrapping.
http://www.duckdvm.com/condition/angel-wing

If it doesn't work, there is a thread on here where someone did it to their duck when they molted their wing feathers. They were able to wrap the wing and correct it as an adult. So maybe that would work for you.

Thank you so much for all of your help with this!
I will take your advice and see if I can correct it!

 

[Quatie]

Thank you so much for all of your help with this!
I will take your advice and see if I can correct it!

If you also don't fully understand how to wrap it, there are lots of videos online about wrapping angel wing.

Good luck with your Mallard. It is a beautiful duck.

 

[crazyducklady07]

If you also don't fully understand how to wrap it, there are lots of videos online about wrapping angel wing.

Good luck with your Mallard. It is a beautiful duck.

Thanks again!
I will post an update on here if it works!

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Just an FYI, one of my little Call Ducks had angel wing. I was unsuccessful with wrapping using vet wrap. She'd get it right off within a minute. It was suggested to me to use tape, yes the sticky medical tape. That was the only thing that stayed. Unfortunately it was too late but I'm planning on trying again whenever her wing feathers molt (soon!). She doesn't really have any problems with it how it is and her muscles did pull it in somewhat, but I still worry about her being with drakes. I think about them mounting her and breaking her wing in their attempts. There's also a chance of all the ducks hurrying off to escape a predator or something and one of them accidentally getting between Maggie's body and her wing and breaking it like that. So like it's already been mentioned, one of the most obvious problems is that she can't fly, but I worry even more about other issues. 2 of my other Call ducks also had angel wing but I caught it very early on and would hold them multiple times a day, with their wing in the correct position. I guess I caught it early enough that it worked. Their pins had only started to grow in, so it was much earlier than Maggie's. If you search for angel wing here on BYC's and YouTube, you'll find many ways of wrapping. I'm sure you'll find a way that works for you and your beautiful duck I wish you the very best

Edited to add: Finally getting Maggie's wing tapes did help somewhat but it didn't resolve the angel wing. I'll post a picture if I'm able to find one

 

[crazyducklady07]

Just an FYI, one of my little Call Ducks had angel wing. I was unsuccessful with wrapping using vet wrap. She'd get it right off within a minute. It was suggested to me to use tape, yes the sticky medical tape. That was the only thing that stayed. Unfortunately it was too late but I'm planning on trying again whenever her wing feathers molt (soon!). She doesn't really have any problems with it how it is and her muscles did pull it in somewhat, but I still worry about her being with drakes. I think about them mounting her and breaking her wing in their attempts. There's also a chance of all the ducks hurrying off to escape a predator or something and one of them accidentally getting between Maggie's body and her wing and breaking it like that. So like it's already been mentioned, one of the most obvious problems is that she can't fly, but I worry even more about other issues. 2 of my other Call ducks also had angel wing but I caught it very early on and would hold them multiple times a day, with their wing in the correct position. I guess I caught it early enough that it worked. Their pins had only started to grow in, so it was much earlier than Maggie's. If you search for angel wing here on BYC's and YouTube, you'll find many ways of wrapping. I'm sure you'll find a way that works for you and your beautiful duck I wish you the very best

Edited to add: Finally getting Maggie's wing tapes did help somewhat but it didn't resolve the angel wing. I'll post a picture if I'm able to find one

I completely understand how you are feeling! I had to separate her from the rest for now. I don't want them to hurt her.
And Thank you so much!
Fingers crossed I can get one of the wrapping methods to work while she is still young.

Best of luck with your call duck when her feathers start to molt!

 

[crazyducklady07]

I completely understand how you are feeling! I had to separate her from the rest for now. I don't want them to hurt her.
And Thank you so much!
Fingers crossed I can get one of the wrapping methods to work while she is still young.

Best of luck with your call duck when her feathers start to molt!

I would love to see any pics you have as well!

 

[Quatie]

Just an FYI, one of my little Call Ducks had angel wing. I was unsuccessful with wrapping using vet wrap. She'd get it right off within a minute. It was suggested to me to use tape, yes the sticky medical tape. That was the only thing that stayed. Unfortunately it was too late but I'm planning on trying again whenever her wing feathers molt (soon!). She doesn't really have any problems with it how it is and her muscles did pull it in somewhat, but I still worry about her being with drakes. I think about them mounting her and breaking her wing in their attempts. There's also a chance of all the ducks hurrying off to escape a predator or something and one of them accidentally getting between Maggie's body and her wing and breaking it like that. So like it's already been mentioned, one of the most obvious problems is that she can't fly, but I worry even more about other issues. 2 of my other Call ducks also had angel wing but I caught it very early on and would hold them multiple times a day, with their wing in the correct position. I guess I caught it early enough that it worked. Their pins had only started to grow in, so it was much earlier than Maggie's. If you search for angel wing here on BYC's and YouTube, you'll find many ways of wrapping. I'm sure you'll find a way that works for you and your beautiful duck I wish you the very best

Edited to add: Finally getting Maggie's wing tapes did help somewhat but it didn't resolve the angel wing. I'll post a picture if I'm able to find one

There are different quality of vet wrap. I have found some that stick super well, where you can't find the end. Others not as sticky. But they each have their uses. When I wrapped one of my ducklings, I woke up the next morning to find the wrap on another duckling . I was so confused for few minutes.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

There are different quality of vet wrap. I have found some that stick super well, where you can't find the end. Others not as sticky. But they each have their uses. When I wrapped one of my ducklings, I woke up the next morning to find the wrap on another duckling . I was so confused for few minutes.

That's very true The vet wrap I usually use has specific colors that are super sticky while I've learned to steer clear of others. I go through a lot of vet wrap since I wrap my Pekins foot as a preventative. The teal color of the wrap I use is so sticky, but the really pretty pink isn't so sticky. I can use them together on my Pekins foot to get a secure boot/wrap, but there's no way the pink will work alone or for anything else. I have to cut the teal off and double fold it so I don't lose my starting point on the roll. The black color is also very sticky but it's not so pretty and the color bleeds. I'm glad you mentioned this! I didn't even think about it. I did try the teal and black with Maggie and neither worked unfortunately. She was extremely squirmy so that's another possibility why I had trouble getting the vet wrap secured. Vet wrap is definitely the best option of it works for you and I'd pick up a couple of colors. If kept in room temperature, it will be good for years