Duck not cleaning herself

[Daisy and Daffy]

Hi, I have an 8 month old white layer duck named Daffy. Whenever I look at her, she's not very clean and is quite muddy and dirty, especially on her head and on her back. She has access to clean deep water, and I see her preening as much as her counterpart Daisy, and Daisy is very clean. Does anyone know what causes this? Or is she just lazy? Thanks.

 

[indianaducks]

If its muddy and another duck is mating her on land, that might cause it. On really muddy days some of my ducks look filthy. Then I see a drake trying to mate them in the mud and I realize... that's the reason.

 

[ruthhope]

If its muddy and another duck is mating her on land, that might cause it. On really muddy days some of my ducks look filthy. Then I see a drake trying to mate them in the mud and I realize... that's the reason.

Yes! I see my son's pekins in their pool for hours splashing around, and then 10 minutes later, they are running round the yard and one of the ducks has muddy feet mark on her back. Poor little girl!

 

[Daisy and Daffy]

Oh but it's not muddy here and her face is constantly dirty I'll keep and eye out though!

 

[Quatie]

White ducks really show off dirt well and seem to attract dirt. Unless you are seeing poor quality feathers, she is just fine.

This is a pretty common look below.

 

[Miss Cheep]

Yes, ducks love digging in the mud and mine always seem to be getting dirty, even after bathing, they jump our of their pool and splat! Land in the mud and are dirty again. So this is normal.

 

[Miss Lydia]

White ducks really show off dirt well and seem to attract dirt. Unless you are seeing poor quality feathers, she is just fine.

This is a pretty common look below.
View attachment 2956647

I love this picture I see it quite often with mine.

 

[indianaducks]

White ducks really show off dirt well and seem to attract dirt. Unless you are seeing poor quality feathers, she is just fine.

This is a pretty common look below.
View attachment 2956647

"I worked really hard to get this dirty!"

 

[Daisy and Daffy]

The thing is, her feathers are not good quality either. A lot of her back and wing feathers and stained and frayed.

 

[Quatie]

The thing is, her feathers are not good quality either. A lot of her back and wing feathers and stained and frayed.

Do you have a picture of her feathers? She could just be molting. I have had ducks start molting in August and have some that have recently started molting. It can be a large range when they molt. Another possibility is she has wet feather.

Another possibility is her feathers have been damaged from mating or other activities. These won't improve till they molt. Even with wet feather, sometimes it won't really improve till they molt.

My Pekin had her feathers damaged about a year ago from a bully drake. You can see the feathers damaged below. But she still has yet to molt and replace them. Until she molts, her feathers will continue to be damaged. If you have similar damage, you will need to wait till she molts.

Your feed can also effect their feather quality. When I switched to a lower protein all flock feed, I saw feather quality drop. I switched to a higher protein feed and better quality feed, and my ducks feathers have been much better quality since.