anything i can give 8 week old ducklings to get there feather's faster

[chickens&ducks_RULE]

hey, i got 5 ducklings

4 indian runner's and 1 black swedish X khaki campbell

the indian runner's are 8 weeks and are like now getting most feathers as of the other duckling shes 7 weeks and fully feather'd

why is this any idea ??

& is there anything i can give the indian runner's to get there feather's faster like greens or something ??

thanks

~Daniel

 

[CityChicker]

Do you have pictures of the Runners? Are you positive of the age? They should be fully feathered by then. Mine are essentially fully feathered by the time they are about 5 weeks old. I have noticed that more quickly reducing the brooding temperature makes them feather faster, but you should have had them off of heat weeks ago so that probably is not it. Protein levels are also known to affect feather growth. Regardless of the speed of feathering, I would have them on a good commercial feed plus fresh greens at least a couple times a week.

There is a phenomenon with ducks as well that is sometimes more profound than with other types of poultry and that is that some develop at radically different rates than others (which can include feathering to some extent, but more size). I have noticed this a lot with the lighter breeds, like Runners and to a less extent bantams (probably Runners are the worst with this). Some from like a few days old until a couple months old will be like half the size of the others. By the time they are 2-3 months old, they almost always then are identical size. I have no idea what causes this. Maybe yours are just slow maturing.