2 months old....understanding behaviors

[Jjncr]

My little ladies are about 10 weeks old and have settled in well. I'm curious about a couple of things
1. Is there a pecking order? My Rouens are the queens....the Welch Harlequins are not so much. I've seen the Rouens chase the WH out of the water.
2. I have no evidence of a predator, but feathers everywhere. Do they lose them from time to time? No one is missing large amounts of them. I have 8 ducks.
3. I have one limping, but still keeping up with everyone. No visible infections or injuries......but I haven't been able to catch her yet.
The duck life is growing on me....I really wasn't sure at first.

 

[Abraeri]

1. Ducks have some pecking order but its not really enforced lol, they're pretty chill. Sometimes you'll see females climbing on top of each other and that's a dominance display.

2. That would be molting. They molt (I think) two times a year. Ducklings will molt again almost right after getting their juvenile feathers. In the fall they will also shed their flight feathers (at least most of them, sometimes they won't molt). I'm sure there are a lot more experienced people on this forum who know the exact details lol

3. Try giving her Niacin... their are a lot of threads on giving ducks Niacin. You can sprinkle Brewers Yeast on their food, or give them Vitamin B3 (don't know the dosage).

Duck life is an awesome life

Hope I helped!

Edited to clarify

 

[happy duck]

My little ladies are about 10 weeks old and have settled in well. I'm curious about a couple of things
1. Is there a pecking order? My Rouens are the queens....the Welch Harlequins are not so much. I've seen the Rouens chase the WH out of the water.
2. I have no evidence of a predator, but feathers everywhere. Do they lose them from time to time? No one is missing large amounts of them. I have 8 ducks.
3. I have one limping, but still keeping up with everyone. No visible infections or injuries......but I haven't been able to catch her yet.
The duck life is growing on me....I really wasn't sure at first.

So glad you are liking the duck life....no to answer the Q:
1. There may be a pecking order. Females can be very dominate so that could be were they aggressiveness is coming from. Mine chase each other out of the pool cuz they are very excited!
2. Feathers every where means one thing....molting!!! Mine just got out of there molt. When ducks are molting giving them some extra protein is a good idea to help the molt go faster(raw oats and cat kibble). Here is a link to know a bit more about molting: https://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2017/08/ducks-molt-too.html
3. Limping could be because of mounting. My females will mount each other to show dominance and they will get a little limp here and there. It should go away soon, if not let us know cuz it could be a worse condition.

 

[happy duck]

1. Ducks have some pecking order but its not really enforced lol, they're pretty chill. Sometimes you'll see females climbing on top of each other and that's a dominance display.

2. That would be molting. They molt (I think) two times a year. Ducklings will molt again almost right after getting their adult feathers (at least in my experience). In the fall they will also shed their flight feathers (at least most of them, sometimes they won't molt). I'm sure there are a lot more experienced people on this forum who know the exact details lol

3. Try giving her Niacin... their are a lot of threads on giving ducks Niacin. You can sprinkle Brewers Yeast on their food, or give them Vitamin B3 (don't know the dosage).

Duck life is an awesome life

Hope I helped!

Even tho domestic ducks do not fly they still have there flight feathers right? Why do they molt them anyway. In the wild can ducks just not fly when they lose them and when will they get them back? You can message me on my profile(if you know the answer) so we don't take over this thread! Good advice!!!

 

[chickens really]

Hello..Your Ducklings are going through a juvenile molt and getting in the adult feathers. They will molt again in the spring. Limping can be as simple as tripping out of a kiddie pool or landing wrong.

 

[Abraeri]

Even tho domestic ducks do not fly they still have there flight feathers right? Why do they molt them anyway. In the wild can ducks just not fly when they lose them and when will they get them back? You can message me on my profile(if you know the answer) so we don't take over this thread! Good advice!!!

Domestic ducks do have flight feather - in fact they can fly, except only for short distances. They only reason they can't fly farther is because they have been bred to be denser and heavier. When my ducks lost their flight feathers (Octoberish) their new feathers came back in 2-3 weeks. This is from personal experience though so I don't know what the acutal studies or whatever are.

 

[happy duck]

Domestic ducks do have flight feather - in fact they can fly, except only for short distances. They only reason they can't fly farther is because they have been bred to be denser and heavier. When my ducks lost their flight feathers (Octoberish) their new feathers came back in 2-3 weeks. This is from personal experience though so I don't know what the acutal studies or whatever are.

Thanks I will have to do some more researcher....now back to the real thread this was supposed to be!!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

If the limping doesn't get better or worsens then you might want to consider a niacin deficiency. True ducklings/ducks can trip and injure themselves but usually it will clear up in a short time but a niacin deficiency will get worse until the duckling can't get up or walk and can even die if it isn't treated.

 

[Miss Lydia]

You need to get Storey's guide to raising ducks by Dave Holderread who is well know breeder of ducks here in the USA he talks about niacin deficiency with duckling being fed chick starter/grower. Now one on here is saying she should start her duckling on the niacin supplement right away but if this limping doesn't clear up on it's on. Then it is possible it's a niacin deficiency.

 

[chickens really]

You need to get Storey's guide to raising ducks by Dave Holderread who is well know breeder of ducks here in the USA he talks about niacin deficiency with duckling being fed chick starter/grower. Now one on here is saying she should start her duckling on the niacin supplement right away but if this limping doesn't clear up on it's on. Then it is possible it's a niacin deficiency.

No thanks.....I don't need that book. I never encountered niacin deficiency in any Ducks I've raised or owned and have never added supplements to my feed. I think I'm doing great on my own..