Angel Wing in 6 weeks old Gosling

S

Spela

New member
Messages
23
Location
Slovenia
It seems it's never boring when having geese around the house ;). Now that Palček (http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=8174) is out of the woods, one of his brothers developed the so called Angel Wing. We've been feeding them with crushed corn and oats mix (home made - two parts corn, one part oats) and they are kept free-range, so they have all the grass they want available at all times.

After we noticed the wing is developing abnormaly, we have removed the corn and oats from their diet entirely, so they are now just grazing and occasionally getting some green salad.

I have also considered putting a sling on the wing to keep it in the right position. I have read that while the bird is still growing, the anomaly can be minimised if proper steps are taken (diet + sling). We've tried using medicinal bandages for the sling, but they didn't work, since our geese have free access to the creek and when the gosling tried to swimm, the bandages got soaked in seconds and prevented him from floating level on the water surface. Today I've bought the elastic net that is usually used for keeping the bandages fixed on a hand, for example. I'll let you know how it works out.

Any ideas and/or opinions are wellcome. I'm going McGiver on this one.

angel-wing-16072013-1.jpg
 
Marigold

Marigold

Moderator
PKF Sponsor
Messages
8,130
Location
Hampshire, U.K.
That's a really interesting thread, Spela, Using the veterinary tape sounds a good idea and the pics are very helpful. The instructions and discussions about how long to leave it on for etc are good too. Do let us know how you get on. Strange its only one of them, isn't it, when presumably they've all been fed the same.
 
S

Spela

New member
Messages
23
Location
Slovenia
Marigold said:
That's a really interesting thread, Spela, Using the veterinary tape sounds a good idea and the pics are very helpful. The instructions and discussions about how long to leave it on for etc are good too. Do let us know how you get on. Strange its only one of them, isn't it, when presumably they've all been fed the same.
Click to expand...

It is strange, isn't it? As I understand, there is no definitive proof of what causes angel wing. Some say too much protein in the food (ours don't have any protein, except what's naturally in the grass, corn and oats), others say food high in energy is to blame (that's why I have excluded corn from their diet), and then, there is the third group that claims it's genetic. I believe it's a little bit of everything.

As for the wing wrapping - we have a winner :). The combination of vet wrap and duct tape seems to do the trick. The wrap has been on for 24 hours now. Everything is still in place and the gosling has no problems walking and swimming, nor has there been any change in its apetite :).

goskecangelwing18082013.jpg


The duct tape is not glued directly on the feathers, as it might look in the photo. I just put the duck tape over the vet tape to reinforce it.

Asuming it all goes well, I'll leave the wrap on for 10 days and then see if there is any change to the wing. Keep your fingers crossed ;).
 
S

Spela

New member
Messages
23
Location
Slovenia
Hello again :)!

Here's my update: the wrap stayed on for 7 full days, then Houdini managed to get out of it :). When the wrap came off, the overall position of the wing was around 95% better than before the bandaging, only the biggest two of the feathers were still sticking out a bit. I was planning to put the wrap on again and leave it for a couple more days, but since I had to urgently leave on a two-day trip, I just figured I'd wrap the gosling when I return. Today was the day I was planning to put the wrap on again, but wait... which one should I put it on to? All the goslings have their wings right where they should be :D.

Here's Houdini, stretching his/her wings on one photo and posing with the corrected wing on the other :). I'm just SOOOOOOOO happy :)!

angel-wing-27072013-2.jpg


angel-wing-27072013.jpg
 
S

Spela

New member
Messages
23
Location
Slovenia
NEWTODUCKS said:
That's brilliant-you're quickly becoming an expert!
Click to expand...

I don't know about the expert part ;), but it sure is nice when the effort brings the results one could only wish for :).
 
D

dorsetduckowner

New member
Messages
821
Fantastic job! We have one goose with Angel Wing and they were raised feral so had a totally natural diet. It can sometimes be genetic, so perhaps this is the case here.
zo
x
 
S

Spela

New member
Messages
23
Location
Slovenia
dorsetduckowner said:
Fantastic job! We have one goose with Angel Wing and they were raised feral so had a totally natural diet. It can sometimes be genetic, so perhaps this is the case here.
zo
x
Click to expand...

That's interesting to know. Do you think I should consider not breeding the same pair again, since there was a case of angel wing among their goslings? Or is it a thing that occurs and cannot be completely prevented, even by careful selection of geese to be bred?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top