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- #1
My ducklings are 4 weeks old and there all loseing there feathers but two have really been loseing them is that ok plez help??
are my ducklings OK?
- Thread starter ColdWaterFarms
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1 - that baby is younger than 4 weeks or something else is going on. It really looks to be more around 2 weeks.
At 4 weeks they'd have a good layer of feathers from chest to underside of their tail as well as behind their wings and growing more real feathers. I don't even see the little tail feather starters. How long have you had them?
2 - not normal to loose their duckling fuzz like that.
Have you seen them picking at eachother? Do you have them in with your new chicks? It appears something is pulling the fuzz off.
At 4 weeks they'd have a good layer of feathers from chest to underside of their tail as well as behind their wings and growing more real feathers. I don't even see the little tail feather starters. How long have you had them?
2 - not normal to loose their duckling fuzz like that.
Have you seen them picking at eachother? Do you have them in with your new chicks? It appears something is pulling the fuzz off.
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The guys said that when we that one we bought them the guy said that they were three weeks only had them for a week now so that for weeks and then I'll be going out playing with my chicks I haven't been in the same cage and they don't seem to be picking on my other
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the weird thing is is that I just noticed it when they were swimming today and then when they dried off is gone
Then is it just wet in that photo and it's fuzz is matted down with water?
My ducks' fuzz would get matted down on their necks from water and it looked like this. At first it scared me because it looked like some kind of injury or skin condition. But it turned out to just be either wet or oily.
When they are young like this, they need help drying off and staying warm after a swim so they don't get chilled. Especially if their fuzz is getting drenched, that means they aren't producing enough oil yet to stay dry. So if they don't have their mother duck around, you should probably dry them with a towel or give them a warm place to air dry.
The other possibility is that they are producing oil, but for some reason (either they haven't figured out how to spread it evenly yet or the fuzz sucks the oil right up) the oil builds up on their fuzz which gets all matted down.
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I still think they are not 4 weeks old. The pics you posted when you got them last week look like they were around a week old.
Here's what pekins look like at 3 weeks
They are just going to need some heat, especially after getting out of the water.
If they are getting that soaked when swimming, I'd start swimming them in warm water more often for less periods of time to encourage them to preen more and get those oils distributed over their body.
Here's what pekins look like at 3 weeks
They are just going to need some heat, especially after getting out of the water.
If they are getting that soaked when swimming, I'd start swimming them in warm water more often for less periods of time to encourage them to preen more and get those oils distributed over their body.
X2I still think they are not 4 weeks old. The pics you posted when you got them last week look like they were around a week old. Here's what pekins look like at 3 weeksThey are just going to need some heat, especially after getting out of the water. If they are getting that soaked when swimming, I'd start swimming them in warm water more often for less periods of time to encourage them to preen more and get those oils distributed over their body.
