Constantly broody duck doesn't appear to have molted in a long time :(

[cymbaline]

So my Ruby Sue is only one of two ducks that I've had go broody and the other rarely ever tried and was easily deterred. Ruby on the other hand seems to almost always have that broody attitude. She never quacks like the other ducks anymore, just makes that ack-ack-ack-ack sound with her feathers fluffed up like I've made her really mad, and sits on nests all the time and hisses at me.
My problem is that I wonder if this is keeping her from molting properly. All of the other ducks have, and they look lovely, but she still looks really rough. Her feathers are in bad shape and I'm worried about impending cold weather and her lack of waterproofing. I had to bring her in a time or two last winter when it was wet and cold because I was so scared she'd freeze, but she hates being in my bathroom and screams at me every time I walk in the room, lol, so it's not the best option.
Is there anything I can do to knock this nonsense out of her? Even if I take everyone's eggs every day, she still doesn't seem to go back to normal.

 

[cymbaline]

Has no one else experienced this?

 

[quackingdom]

You have to break her broodiness. Don't let her go in the nest. Take it out, block the entrance, or otherwise remove her access. Put her back with the other ducks. It may take a few days, but if she can't get in her nest, she should forget about setting. I hope this helps!

 

[cymbaline]

They really don't have nesting areas, as I don't want to encourage anybody, lol. She is always in the pen with the other ducks, unless the boys are picking on her (they all seem to find her particularly attractive). For a few months I was collecting everyone's eggs every day, so she never had anything to sit on, yet she still acted pretty crazy. Recently she started trying to nest in tall grass during their free range time. I can't figure it out. I honestly don't think she has molted in over a year, probably longer, and the broody attitude is the only thing I can think to blame it on.

 

[quackingdom]

Another trick I've read about is "bouncing" the stubborn duck between two pens. Put her in a different pen. If she starts trying to be broody, you "bounce" her back to her original pen. She never has time to start getting broody in the new pen, so eventually she will forget about it. Will that work? If you don't have two pens, maybe you could make a temporary one...

She really wants to be a mom I guess!


I'm not quite sure if the broodiness is the reason she hasn't molted, but I guess it's possible and it makes sense.

 

[cymbaline]

Hmm, she sort of had that for a week or two...my big Buff boy was making her little head bald, so I sectioned off a corner of the pen that way she was still out with them (it's so cute because she and the other mallard boys will sit as close as they can to each other on opposite sides of the fence, and they've even starting defending her against Tony the Buff, lol). She did keep making a little nest in there but I snatched the egg every day when I let her out to play. She doesn't really try to nest anymore when she's not sectioned off though, she just keeps acting like a brat, lol.

You know, I wonder if her constant broodiness is what makes her so attractive to the boys? When she does that ack-ack-ack-ack thing, Tony will run across the yard to hop on top of her, lol. I keep telling her to quit asking for it, haha. He is so rough...he's made her head raw before.

Is there any other reason she wouldn't be molting?

 

[cymbaline]

If it wasn't for the chance of having another horny little boy running around, I'd give in and let her hatch a baby or two in the hopes that she'd be happy and cut it out, lol.

 

[quackingdom]

Well, I can't think of any other reasons she wouldn't be molting, but I'm not an expert on health problems.

If you decided to let them hatch, it might be possible to rehome, give away, or sell the offspring.

 

[cymbaline]

Yeah, I've not had a lot of bad experience with my ducks' health so far. I did have one drake who was sick from a mystery illness (and eventually passed - no vet could figure it out) that caused him to go lame, and he slowly molted into eclipse plumage that year and never came back out of it. That's the only other duck I've ever had feather-quality issues with.

I don't think I could let go of a baby I raised, especially a boy; I'd be too afraid he'd be dinner.

I've been searching the forum and reading...I think I may try giving her a bit of kitty kibble and flax seed with her food for a while and see if that makes any difference. And maybe tossing her in the pool more often, lol...I've noticed she doesn't seem to get in quite as often as the others (hard to tell if that's a cause or an effect).

 

[cymbaline]

It looks like she's finally molting! I hadn't even started any "treatment" yet either. She hasn't been laying for a few weeks now, I think, and when I fed them this morning I noticed she didn't have any long wing feathers - the blue speculum was gone.