Duck behavior during molt---?

[Nebraskagirl]

My one year old Welsh Harlequin female is in full molt mode She quit laying sometime late last week and I saw a couple feathers droppings so I figured the absence of eggs was due to molting. Now she is losing feathers like crazy; along with my nearly five month old ducklings who are also molting. I noticed this morning the ducks were not in a big hurry to leave their pen like usual. They did eventually venture out a bit to forage, but they mostly stayed close to their enclosure. The mother, Shirley, is eating and drinking and moving fine, but she seems a bit "off." Not as active, not foraging as much. Is this typical behavior during molt? (I got her late last spring and I have not experienced a full molt with her like I am now. The amount of feathers she is losing is quite a bit.) Any advice or tips would be appreciated. Also will she begin to lay again or is it too close to autumn and shorter daylight hours for that to happen?

 

[Speceider]

think about it....when ducks molt, they are extremely vulnerable....in the wild they often do not forage for the 3 weeks it takes to replace their primaries...she is being totally normal....she need to complete her prealtaernate and prebasic body molts before she is ready to lay again.

Cliny