Duck being picked on—pulling feathers

[Miss Lydia]

Me too! Crazy weather.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Today after my Muscovy bathed in the pool there was a small pile of feathers where one stood preening. THis up an down weather has everyone messed up.

 

[Duckworth]

I suppose it’s possible, though I thought she molted late last summer. She is growing new feathers. Bedtime to be molting in Nebraska if that’s what’s going on.

 

[Miss Lydia]

where do you think these feathers are coming from?

 

[Duckworth]

where do you think these feathers are coming from?

That’s what I’m trying to figure out. There are no loose feathers inside the crate with Flipper. There are loose, white feathers in the pen and house. The other three ducks look like they might have a few slightly ruffled feathers on their necks, lower backs and breasts. If Flipper is standing too close to the front of the crate and letting the other ducks pull her feathers out, they could be coming from her, but I don’t know.

I do know that every time I go out there, the “free three” are congregated near the front of the crate, but that is also where the door to their house is and in close proximity to their water and food. I think they just want to be together as they have always been together.

That crate takes up a lot of space. The other things in the pen can’t be moved right now because they are frozen in place, so I will have to wait for a thaw before I can do much to make the space work better. We had a thaw the weekend before last and I put a mortar tray of water I. The pen so that they could bathe because that was when I started worrying about Flipper. She just looked a bit dirty and unkempt and I wondered whether she was getting her oils distributed. I also suspected that the other ducks were guarding the water buckets from her. So I put in swimming/bathing water, hoping that she would bathe and distribute her oils better. I also added more water buckets to ensure she could get water freely. Well, the mortar tray froze before I could get it out of the pen and it’s too heavy for me to remove frozen. There is also an extra food bin that is frozen to the floor in the corner. If those things were gone, I would move the crate into that part of the pen and give the other ducks more room to maneuver. It would take a couple of fifty-degree F days to be able to get those things unstuck and out.

For now, I’ll keep feeding the more varied diet and see how things develop. Sleuthing would be easier if I didn’t need the windbreak tarps and could watch the ducks more easily, but it’s winter and the winds can be quite brutal.

 

[Miss Lydia]

It could be a small molt they have those periodically through the year too. Just hard to say but hopefully Flipper will begin to grow her feather back in and can be released with the others soon. If you get a day where you can stand being outside for a spell maybe let her out and watch them to see how they are with her. When we're having extreme cold temps for long periods I will hang a cabbage out for everyone to chew on. They love it. Also hanging heads of Romain can give them something to do. Flock blocks can help. But hopefully adding the cat food and some greens will really help with the feather quality.

 

[Duckworth]

It could be a small molt they have those periodically through the year too. Just hard to say but hopefully Flipper will begin to grow her feather back in and can be released with the others soon. If you get a day where you can stand being outside for a spell maybe let her out and watch them to see how they are with her. When we're having extreme cold temps for long periods I will hang a cabbage out for everyone to chew on. They love it. Also hanging heads of Romain can give them something to do. Flock blocks can help. But hopefully adding the cat food and some greens will really help with the feather quality.

Today is supposed to go above freezing, but not for long enough to unstick the things in the pen that need moving to accommodate the crate. Then we go back to sub-freezing high temps for another at least two weeks.

Flipper looks a little better this morning and certainly not worse. I can see her flight feathers starting to regrow. She is missing a lot of down, too, which is what gives me the most concern. The other ducks seem fine. No one is laying right now.

I’m curious about the hanging cabbage. For some reason, I thought cabbage wasn’t ideal for ducks, but as long as it’s not a problem, I’ll hang one in their pen, resting against the crate so that Flipper can eat from it, too. I can understand the boredom problem for them, with the weather being so cold and dreary this winter. There has been a lot of snow, not so much in depth, but in frequency. In the summer and fall, I love tossing my less than great tomatoes into the pen because the resulting frenzy is like watching a soccer match. They snatch the tomato from each other and run, with the other three hot on their tails. A single tomato changes bills numerous times before the last of it is gobbled up.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They sure can be a hoot. I know we're all looking forward to warm days with sunshine. I buy the big bags of romaine at Sam's club for the birds and just toss heads out on the ground they love to shred it.

I have hung cabbage for many years with out any problems They maybe get a head a month. This is between 2 geese 25 chickens and 12 ducks so doesn't last long. Good to hear Flipper is looking like feathers are coming back in. That's good with your weather.

 

[Duckworth]

They sure can be a hoot. I know we're all looking forward to warm days with sunshine. I buy the big bags of romaine at Sam's club for the birds and just toss heads out on the ground they love to shred it.

I have hung cabbage for many years with out any problems They maybe get a head a month. This is between 2 geese 25 chickens and 12 ducks so doesn't last long. Good to hear Flipper is looking like feathers are coming back in. That's good with your weather.

Then maybe I should just hang a Brussels sprout for my four ducks!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Go to the sticky’s on the first page of the duck forum you’ll see the link for safe treats there.