Angel Wing | Duck vet 

• The “Angel Wing" syndrome is  typically attributed to excessive calorie availability and/or inadequate calcium/phosphorus balance in growing ducklings.

· Angel wing is not really a surgical orthopedic problem initially.

· Angel Wing occurs in young birds when their flight feathers are growing and become heavy for the wrist joint supporting them.

· The weight of these feathers are too much for the tendons of the carpal joint and the carpus flips over due to the weight of the blood feathers.

· Other than affecting flight, most birds with Angel Wing are otherwise unaffected by this condition, although those upside-down feathers can get traumatized more easily.

· Treatment is usually focused in youngsters in the earlier phases of development

· Decreasing the energy in the diet and making sure that the Ca/Phos balance is appropriate for growing bones help eliminate Angel wing in ducklings.

· Taping the carpus and developing pin feathers into light and proper alignment for a few days to guide proper bone development, prior to the formation of a more permanent bony deformity is a treatment for Angle wing in ducks.

· In young  adults, the window of opportunity to guide bony growth to treat Angel wing in ducks,  may be already closed for an easy bandaging / husbandry change type of fix

· .Try to get carpus rotated medially  back to its normal position

· Sometimes  a figure 8 wrap is used, in treatment of Angel wing in ducks  until the carpus is strong enough to support the weight of all those new feathers.

· The earlier the duck vet sees the patient the better.

• The younger the patient sees the Melbourne Duck Vet the better the prognosis.