duck losing feathers

[Emmatinkerbell]

Hi one of my ducks who is female who is mum to a 3 week ok duckling is losing alot of feathers at the moment mostly around her neck, is this normal? Any help week be appreciated thank you

 

[Emmatinkerbell]

She is in a shed during the day with the duckling, we let them out about 4 times a day for a dip in the pond etc we can't leave them out when we are not there as we have cats and they di bit bother the adult ducks but do stare at the duckling, also we have the drake and do not trust him with the baby duckling yet

 

[Going Quackers]

Can you provide any pics? generally i find mums start to molt out a bit after a clutch now not always but my black female is doing so often they plunk themselves quite extensively and require a re-do after the little ones.

Now you could check for parasites that said most ducks with ability to clean don't get them due to their oils. Does she get enough sunlight? anyway to pen her and the baby so they can go in/out.

I will also add molting season is coming... starting to see a bit of it here, so the baby may not even be part of the equation.

 

[Emmatinkerbell]

Hi, thanks for your reply. We have the 5 females and one male, started off with just one of each then they hatched 4 ducklings, now its one of them that has hatched this new baby, she was sat on two eggs but only one hatched. Yes she comes out about 4 times a day about 20 mins each time, I won't leave the duckling in the garden when I go to work COs my cats will have it, they don't bother with the adults, but a fluffy duckling looks tasty to them! Plus I don't want to leave the male with the duckling yet. Umm I can't see any mites, they was moulting couple weeks ago COs they is feathers everywhere. When she comes out they have a wander around and go in the pond, soon as the duckling is big enough they will have the run of the garden like the adults.

 

[Emmatinkerbell]

How do I upload pictures? I click on the picture but it does not work

 

[Emmatinkerbell]

They are all moulting, just seems that she is losing more than the others

 

[Emmatinkerbell]

Can I just add that they are Indian runners