Angel wing?

21 years ago

I have two muscovies I hatched out in July. Both have been healthy.

I don't know the correct vocab here- but they are starting to develop the "straw like" feathers on the wings undersides.

On one, the wings or feathers are flipped under, so when looking down on the bird you can see I gather is the underside of the wings (you see the 'straws'.

Is this angel wing? I can't post pics. Something is wrong anyways as they should be developing the same.

How did this happen? It happenned over night.

I read something about using duct tape (?) and taping them correct. Anyone have experience fixing this in a less invasive way?

I tried the search but for some reason it always directs me to the 'post a message'.

Thanks for any help.

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Comments (7)

velvet_sparrow
21 years ago
If you do a search on Google using the phrase 'angle wing in muscovies' it returns quite a few results, it may help you...

Velvet ~:>
mountainman_bc
Original Author
21 years ago
Thanks velvet. I did a good search last night, will do another tonight- didn't yet find clear instructions to solve the problem. There must be something!
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Maggie_J
21 years ago
Mountain Man, I have no experience with muscovies at all, but my young geese when growing the flight feathers in their wings, certainly looked like they had straws glued to them. Very ugly!

It may be that you are simply seeing the sheaths of the developing wing feathers. If your birds were hatched in July, the timing fits well enough with what I observed. Goslings have tiny underdeveloped wings at first - unlike chicks, which can flutter within days - and it takes some time for the large feathers to grow.

By all means learn about angel wing and be sure that is not the problem... but I will not be surprised if you report in a week or so that those straws have become feathers.
Maggie_J
21 years ago
Mountain Man, update please! How are your muscovies doing? And what did you find out about angel wing?
mountainman_bc
Original Author
21 years ago
Maggie-
I found some really good info at poultry connection.com.
It was incredibly easy. Just get waterproof tape (I used 1" '3M Transpore' from the drug store. Duct tape is oo sticky. This tape was hard to get off though, so I has to cut some feathers.
Anyways, simply tape the wing(s) into shape. Wrap around the wings only, and one-2 inches wide is plenty. I left it for 5 days, cut the tape off yesterday and it seems fixed. I will re-tape if necessary but so far so good. Leaving the tape on too long can also cause problems, I hear 1 week is plenty to solve the problem.
Angel wing is thought to come from too high protien diet. This corresponds directly to a week where I was given a bag of free broiler food- so basically I cheaped out while the ducklings were in rapid growth and got burned for it.
Maggie_J
21 years ago
Thanks for the update. I''m glad to hear that the muscovies are on the mend. Everybody says ducks and geese are so easy - and they are - but their nutritional requirements seem more complicated than those for chickens.
heritagehill
21 years ago
I had 5 muscovies hatched in July, and 3 of them developed Angel wing also. I also was told about the protein being too high. So my question is how much protein do they need? I fed Purina Flock Raiser which says it is for ducks and geese. Can someone tell us what their needs are?
Thanks,
Marilyn
at Heritage Hill Homestead