TSOWOATNKC
Songster
- Jun 11, 2018
- 585
- 896
- 166
I know that Runners are skinny little things. I'm just trying to have a healthy "feel" gauge of a healthy weight range. One of our runner drakes is battling a bit of wet feather. I think the geese aren't letting him bathe 
We are doing what we normally do for ducks with any issue like bumble or wet feather, which is put them in the "spa" for a week on the deck. We give them a bath/shower in the bathtub, then let them preen themselves dry under a heat lamp inside the livestock 100-something gallon tank we used as a brooder when they were little. This seems to foster good preening, keeps them warm, and lets them kind of rest/relax.
I noticed that our chocolate drake Aragorn feels very thin. I can feel what I think is his keel bone. None of our other runners feel quite as thin as he does. Aragorn also stands up the straightest of all our runners; he looks like the classic bowling pin when he stands around, where as the others stand a little lower. He doesn't feel that terrifically light, he just feels bony. His feathers over the keel bone are more broken off too. I'm sure he feels bony-er in part because of those broken off feathers.
I can give him and his buddy the Buff drake extra treats to fatten them up while they chill in their "spa." I just need to know what a healthy goal weight "feel" would be for a runner drake.
We are doing what we normally do for ducks with any issue like bumble or wet feather, which is put them in the "spa" for a week on the deck. We give them a bath/shower in the bathtub, then let them preen themselves dry under a heat lamp inside the livestock 100-something gallon tank we used as a brooder when they were little. This seems to foster good preening, keeps them warm, and lets them kind of rest/relax.
I noticed that our chocolate drake Aragorn feels very thin. I can feel what I think is his keel bone. None of our other runners feel quite as thin as he does. Aragorn also stands up the straightest of all our runners; he looks like the classic bowling pin when he stands around, where as the others stand a little lower. He doesn't feel that terrifically light, he just feels bony. His feathers over the keel bone are more broken off too. I'm sure he feels bony-er in part because of those broken off feathers.
I can give him and his buddy the Buff drake extra treats to fatten them up while they chill in their "spa." I just need to know what a healthy goal weight "feel" would be for a runner drake.
