Help, Is my duck sick?

I'm a first time duck owner so every new thing my girl does I have to make sure is ok, even though I've had her for 7 months

So I've noticed a few things, black diarrhea (not watery) and when I was petting her near her tail a bunch of feathers came off (gently petting not rough at all), it's in the 40s where I am so do they get winter feather coats? I don't know why feathers would be coming off so easily. she was on our porch sleeping on one leg which I read was to keep their body temperature regulated, Other then that shes been fine, acting normal, eating and drinking, swimming etc.. I was thinking the poop was something she ate since she free ranges our backyard but I just want to make sure she's ok

I know they're completely different but, my quails used to have poo like that and what seemed to help was feeding more fresh vegetables and soaked seeds. Sorry I can't help with anything else lol

Your duck is probably molting, growing new feathers for winter. Unless it's a male and he's getting his male plumage... Are you here in the US? Sorry, I didn't notice your location so I had to ask; if you're in the s hemisphere it would be molting for spring to maybe brood. Some feather loss is normal.

The poo, it depends on what they eat. They muddle alot, dig for grubs and roots, etc, so their poo is a bit different than a chicken and tends to be more..searching for the word... Thick? Sticky? Viscous? Lol its just different. Runny is fine unless it's really watery or bloody.

Standing in one leg is very common, too. Not just from cold but to give their legs a rest.

My ducks are 9 and 11 months old. I have noticed some big feathers around the yard a lot in the last week or so. It is getting colder would that have anything to do with it?

shortgrass said:

Your duck is probably molting, growing new feathers for winter. Unless it's a male and he's getting his male plumage... Are you here in the US? Sorry, I didn't notice your location so I had to ask; if you're in the s hemisphere it would be molting for spring to maybe brood. Some feather loss is normal.

The poo, it depends on what they eat. They muddle alot, dig for grubs and roots, etc, so their poo is a bit different than a chicken and tends to be more..searching for the word... Thick? Sticky? Viscous? Lol its just different. Runny is fine unless it's really watery or bloody.

Standing in one leg is very common, too. Not just from cold but to give their legs a rest.

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lisameow said:

I know they're completely different but, my quails used to have poo like that and what seemed to help was feeding more fresh vegetables and soaked seeds. Sorry I can't help with anything else lol

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Thank you for the replies, this morning she did not lay her egg, and she's layed an egg everyday since the day she layed her first one, never skipped one day, and yes I'm in the US, Texas to be exact and since it's been raining there's been tons of mud puddles she's been searching for bugs in, so that explains the poo. She's never molted before, I don't think, I got her April 7th of this year when she was a day old. the weather in Texas is 40s F, cloudy and drizzling and in a couple days it's gonna get down to 20 F and we have a small chance of snow I know how to deal with the 105 F summer heat, not the cold though, which leads me to ask, will my duck and chickens need a heat lamp? I know they have ways to fluff up to keep warm but I want to make sure they won't freeze or something.

And I was wondering if some of this could be stress, we've had this dog coming on our property everyday and killed one of my hens so I had to move all my girls into a smaller fenced in area (they usually go in our large backyard, but the dog can jump a 6ft fence and our backyard fence 4ft. The smaller fenced in area is up by the house where we can always keep an eye on them, we've been moving them in and out of the two areas the past week because this dog issue)

PearlTheDuck said:

And I was wondering if some of this could be stress, we've had this dog coming on our property everyday and killed one of my hens so I had to move all my girls into a smaller fenced in area (they usually go in our large backyard, but the dog can jump a 6ft fence and our backyard fence 4ft. The smaller fenced in area is up by the house where we can always keep an eye on them, we've been moving them in and out of the two areas the past week because this dog issue)

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@PearlTheDuck you really need to find out where that dog lives or call animal control you have every right to protect your animals whether feathered or otherwise but i would try contacting owners or animal control before taking matters into my own hands.But you may have to eventually I would not put up with a dog jumping my fence and attacking my flock. Sorry for your loss.

I agree, the dog needs to be put in its place..outside of your property! That could definitely cause stress, and stress will cause a drop in egg production and loss of appetite and can lead to illness or injury, especially for jumpy breeds of ducks, like mallards for instance. Call animal control or police andcfile a complaint so you have a paper record of the incident, at the very least. You have rights as a property owner and a pet/livestock owner, so don't be afraid to use them

On the feathers and the cold. Yes, they can grow new feathers for winter, and 40 isn't so bad. 20 isnt even bad. Mine are blizzard proofed already for the year lol, we've hit -3 so far ; ducks have one of the best insulators there is. Down The best thing for them when its cold is ventilation. You don't want them confined without fresh air to where moisture gathers on them. That's how frostbite occurs. But ducks are super hardy to the cold. They probably won't need any special precautions other than unfrozen water.

Find the Dog owner..........Demand they control the dog.........



Ducks are actually easy going ........If acting stressed? ......You do have a problem.....

Sorry things are going this way for the Ducks........Find a solution real quick......



Cheers!

Miss Lydia said:

@PearlTheDuck
you really need to find out where that dog lives or call animal control you have every right to protect your animals whether feathered or otherwise but i would try contacting owners or animal control before taking matters into my own hands.But you may have to eventually I would not put up with a dog jumping my fence and attacking my flock.   Sorry for your loss. 

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shortgrass said:

I agree, the dog needs to be put in its place..outside of your property! That could definitely cause stress, and stress will cause a drop in egg production and loss of appetite and can lead to illness or injury, especially for jumpy breeds of ducks, like mallards for instance. Call animal control or police andcfile a complaint so you have a paper record of the incident, at the very least. You have rights as a property owner and a pet/livestock owner, so don't be afraid to use them

On the feathers and the cold. Yes, they can grow new feathers for winter, and 40 isn't so bad. 20 isnt even bad. Mine are blizzard proofed already for the year lol, we've hit -3 so far ; ducks have one of the best insulators there is. Down The best thing for them when its cold is ventilation. You don't want them confined without fresh air to where moisture gathers on them. That's how frostbite occurs. But ducks are super hardy to the cold. They probably won't need any special precautions other than unfrozen water.

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chickens really said:

Find the Dog owner..........Demand they control the dog.........



Ducks are actually easy going ........If acting stressed? ......You do have a problem.....

Sorry things are going this way for the Ducks........Find a solution real quick......



Cheers!

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We were able to contact the owner, they don't have a fenced backyard for the dog so it runs loose everywhere, I personally don't think they should have the dog, they said they cannot have the dog inside either because of it tearing up everything, the owner was understanding of the situation and I have not seen the dog since, we also made it clear if the dog is in our yard trying to get my animals it will be shot, I love all animals and would hate to do it but I can't keep risking my animals lives because someone can't care for theirs, I'm not going to file anything to the police because that's a bit much to me, I would take it to the pound if I see it again but I can't catch it, the thing bolts when it sees you. The dog has been over here many many times, caught it eating the trash in my garage twice (which the owner was kind enough to come over and help me clean up) and has been barking and jumping at my fence at the birds a few times. I don't think it will come to actually shooting it unless it gets another bird, they seem to have took control of the dog so for now its all took care of.