LadyOfDuckness
Chirping
- Sep 23, 2022
- 14
- 30
- 54
Hi all!
I accidentally became an adoptive parent to two Muscovies, same clutch but I got them at different times. Someone dumped a Muscovy family with ~5-6 week old ducklings at a local pond back in August; one duckling had leg problems and couldn't walk, just sat waterlogged on the shore. I knew just enough about ducks to know that niacin may well fix the issue, so I picked up the waterlogged one (Duck One) and took it home. Long story short, he is doing super well now (he's about 13-14 weeks old now). In the meantime, animal control people apparently picked up the other Muscovy family members, but one girl somehow escaped and remained living at the pond with the wild ducks, geese, and a random Pekin drake. Tonight, we finally managed to pull off a duck heist and captured the girl (Duck Two).
Here's the thing - her feathers are in a horrible condition and the ones she has, she is dropping at every opportunity - and I mean, proper 5-inch long feathers, not just the baby ones. She too would be 13-14 weeks old now and has spent the last two months at the pond, probably being fed bread. I will try to get some photos tomorrow in daylight. But literally you look at her, and several feathers have fallen off her. I gave her a bath in just lukewarm water in the bathtub tonight and then picked out maybe 8 big feathers out of the bath. She is a lovely sweet tempered little thing and is actually much easier to handle than Duck One who's enjoyed daily cuddles since I picked him up.
So what is it with the feather loss and what can I do about it? Is it a protein deficiency? I feed Duck One a commercial feed called "Organic Duck Crumbles" from TSC, together with dried mealworms and even some live worms from the fishing section at Walmart. Will this be good for Duck Two? Is it just the physical trauma of being harrassed at the pond? Is Duck Two destined to look like a bedraggled mess until she molts? Please give me all your feather-loss-prevention tips!
Both ducks are indoor-only and currently separated because Duck One was being overly enthusiastic after being without duck company for two months. Photo of Duck One is attached just because (The pink harness was acquired before we realized that Duck One was a drake.)
I accidentally became an adoptive parent to two Muscovies, same clutch but I got them at different times. Someone dumped a Muscovy family with ~5-6 week old ducklings at a local pond back in August; one duckling had leg problems and couldn't walk, just sat waterlogged on the shore. I knew just enough about ducks to know that niacin may well fix the issue, so I picked up the waterlogged one (Duck One) and took it home. Long story short, he is doing super well now (he's about 13-14 weeks old now). In the meantime, animal control people apparently picked up the other Muscovy family members, but one girl somehow escaped and remained living at the pond with the wild ducks, geese, and a random Pekin drake. Tonight, we finally managed to pull off a duck heist and captured the girl (Duck Two).
Here's the thing - her feathers are in a horrible condition and the ones she has, she is dropping at every opportunity - and I mean, proper 5-inch long feathers, not just the baby ones. She too would be 13-14 weeks old now and has spent the last two months at the pond, probably being fed bread. I will try to get some photos tomorrow in daylight. But literally you look at her, and several feathers have fallen off her. I gave her a bath in just lukewarm water in the bathtub tonight and then picked out maybe 8 big feathers out of the bath. She is a lovely sweet tempered little thing and is actually much easier to handle than Duck One who's enjoyed daily cuddles since I picked him up.
So what is it with the feather loss and what can I do about it? Is it a protein deficiency? I feed Duck One a commercial feed called "Organic Duck Crumbles" from TSC, together with dried mealworms and even some live worms from the fishing section at Walmart. Will this be good for Duck Two? Is it just the physical trauma of being harrassed at the pond? Is Duck Two destined to look like a bedraggled mess until she molts? Please give me all your feather-loss-prevention tips!
Both ducks are indoor-only and currently separated because Duck One was being overly enthusiastic after being without duck company for two months. Photo of Duck One is attached just because (The pink harness was acquired before we realized that Duck One was a drake.)