Mother duck pulling the feathers off her ducklings

[hudz1986]

Hey all. I need some advice. My pekin hen hatched 6 ducklings. She was a great and very protective mum. The ducklings are now much bigger. My mother called me today telling me that the mother ducks is pecking the ducklings and pulling out their feather or fluff. I had to go down and separate the mum as one duckling was bleeding at the wing. Is this normal and can she actually kill them if I reunite her with them?

 

[Jenbirdee]

i would try giving the mother duck some extra vitamins
sometimes a vitamin deficiency can cause over-preening behavior

does the mom have other ducks to be with while the babies and she are separated

 

[Jenbirdee]

You didn’t say exactly how old the ducklings are? I’m just wondering if they still need heat? If they’re not fully feathered and you have them outside and it’s getting cold, you might want to bring them into a warmer area like a brooding box in your garage or some thing. Where I live it got down to 38° this week overnight. I wouldn’t want ducklings outside in that unless they were at least seven or eight weeks old.

 

[hudz1986]

i would try giving the mother duck some extra vitamins
sometimes a vitamin deficiency can cause over-preening behavior

does the mom have other ducks to be with while the babies and she are separated

What kind of vitamins should i give her?
I get them duck pellets with protein however she was eating their chick feed So I think that could be reason.

 

[hudz1986]

You didn’t say exactly how old the ducklings are? I’m just wondering if they still need heat? If they’re not fully feathered and you have them outside and it’s getting cold, you might want to bring them into a warmer area like a brooding box in your garage or some thing. Where I live it got down to 38° this week overnight. I wouldn’t want ducklings outside in that unless they were at least seven or eight weeks old.

The ducklings are about 7 to 8 weeks old. Some have actually started to quack. They have an indoor area they can sleep in overnight and huddle together.

 

[hudz1986]

What kind of vitamins should i give her?
I get them duck pellets with protein however she was eating their chick feed So I think that could be reason. She is staying with our drake.

 

[hudz1986]

The ducklings are about 7 to 8 weeks old. Some have actually started to quack. They have an indoor area they can sleep in overnight and huddle together. While the mother was separated with the drake one of the ducklings escaped their area and both the mother and drake started attacking it.

 

[Jenbirdee]

What kind of vitamins should i give her?
I get them duck pellets with protein however she was eating their chick feed So I think that could be reason.

rooster booster poultry cell is a good one , or nutradrench
just in case she’s got a little vitamin deficiency in some area , it can’t hurt could only help.

 

[Jenbirdee]

The ducklings are about 7 to 8 weeks old. Some have actually started to quack. They have an indoor area they can sleep in overnight and huddle together.

oh then they are fine lol