Duckling, Increasingly Bald Back

[ecse129]

We have week old ducklings that are doing really well but we have one Rouen mix that keeps getting increasingly bald on his back. He had just small spots before so I assumed he was just growing too fast for his feathers and it would cover up, but it seems to be getting worse and not better. It isn't red at all or irritated as if the other ducks are pecking him or anything although I do see him occasionally scratch at it. Any thoughts?

 

[IdasChickens]

Hello ecse129,

Here is a picture of our Khaki Campbell duckling, about 1-2 weeks in this pic:



I took this picture when her down was starting to regrow, you can see the little tufts. But a few days before this, she was pretty much bald on her back...and it all started pretty much just how you describe, just a couple days after we received her.

I first made sure that she was not getting picked on and that there was no insects or anything bothering her. Also, I looked for signs of diarrhea, sneezing, runny nostrils, things like that....since those symptoms could indicate more than just a feather/skin issue. I made sure she was eating and drinking okay....

The bedding I was using (duck approved, although, mine DID try to eat it...Lots of people use towels that the ducklings cannot ingest, probably the best way to do things...) was a combo of low dust, pine shaving and straw. None of the other ducks seemed allergic to it and in addition, the Khaki wasn't acting itchy or anything like that. SO, I decided it wasn't the bedding.

Since all seemed normal otherwise;
I added crushed up brewers yeast tabs (niacin) to their chick food (unmedicated) and made sure they all got bath time daily. Bath time was in our actual bathtub, which was a nightmare to keep clean on a daily basis as people were still using it too, but I wanted to make sure they were all able to preen themselves properly, at least once a day, in clean water.

I also added Sav-A-Chick, as well as the Sav-A-Chick probiotics to their water for the first few days.

I just kept an eye on her after that, and after a while, her feathers just started coming in like normal.
The flock is now about two months old and I can't tell her apart from our other Khaki!

Never did figure out exactly what this was. I chalked it up to being a vitamin deficiency in the end.

Perhaps someone more knowledgeable will care to add their thoughts...

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Idas Chickens

By the way, that little bump with all the feathers seemingly coming out of one pore, right above her tail, is her oil gland and is supposed to look like that.

I just wanted to add that information since I wasn't sure what I was looking at initially when I first noticed our duck going through this....

 

[ecse129]

They are currently eating Gamebird/Showbird food that has some niacin in it. Plus I have been doing alternating the Sav-a-Chick electrolytes with the Sav-a-Chick probiotics. The farm we got our eggs from also has khaki campbells so this one could be mixed with that. Maybe it is a khaki campbell thing?

 

[ecse129]

Oh and they do get bathtime daily. That is what the picture is from actually and then after that bath today they took another one in cleaner, deeper water since they had gotten this water so dirty lol.

 

[IdasChickens]

Oh and they do get bathtime daily. That is what the picture is from actually and then after that bath today they took another one in cleaner, deeper water since they had gotten this water so dirty lol.

Sorry, I didn't mean to come across as a know-it-all...

I'm sure you are already doing all these things! Your duckies look very happy.

I just meant to share my experience in detail so that you and others may find it helpful.
I was so worried when my duckling was going bald. I had no idea! I thought she was really sick...

...and I couldn't find any solid info on others experience with it.

BUT she turned out great! So, just wanted to help ease any stress that it may be causing you or anyone else going through this.

I am definitely not the say all in duck knowledge...I'm actually here right now to look up flushes for one of my ducks that may have ingested something toxic. Ah!

Hope your duckling starts feeling better soon! Let us know!

Idas Chickens

 

[ecse129]

Oh no! I knew you weren't being a know-it-all. Just sharing what we have been doing. I may look into adding more niacin if it doesn't start improving though.

 

[IdasChickens]

Oh no! I knew you weren't being a know-it-all. Just sharing what we have been doing. I may look into adding more niacin if it doesn't start improving though.

I was just being sensitive...

...How is your duckling doing now? I really hope she has improved.

Idas Chickens

 

[Kimmyh51]

Ive had a lot of ducklings this year with bald areas on their backs (only their backs) have ruled out bullying, treated for feather mites, and not sure what is going on. I have raised ducklings for 7-8 years now and i know they can get bald patches as the duckling fluff can wear out before the feathers grow in, but i have never had so many ducks with this symptom. No changes in feed from previous years (grower chicken feed and gamebird crumble, with additional niacin added as no feeds where i live have a properly formulated duckling feed option with enough niacin).
in the past they have gotten the odd bald patch on tp of wings, around eyes etc, when close to feathering and it has been jsut duckling fluff wearing out too soon, they have gone on to grow normal feathers and be just fine. But this year there are so many and even those growing adult feathers i feel like they are not growing as thick or fast on their back and they are still thiner than normal at their age. Ducklings are a mixture from orpphaned rescue ducklings raised indoors and fed by me, to ducklings with mums who are fed as above but also spend all day foraging with their mums, to larger clutches in large runs with heat lamps to support the mums.

i also had one, which was filthy with feathers full of food etc which i bathed tonight, the same way inhave bathed ducklings for years, in body temperature, to luke warm water, then dried off with a towel etc and straight onto a heat source, tonight was a hot water bottle with a light cloth draped over them. Duckling was free to move away from the heat at all times but suddenly started freaking out under the cloth, i thought it had gotten caught in it or something and oulled it back in time to see the ducklings head going back and legs back in the typical arched backward position. I have analysed and overanalysed that bath and drying out session and warmth afterwards afraid it got hyperthermic (i am sure it was not hypo) and recreated where it eas and held my hand there for a good while and it definitively was not overly hot. So maybe it just died coincidentally after the bath (ie if I had bathed half an hr later i would have gone to get it and found a dead duckling) but i feel like did so ething wrong eventhough logically I cant see what.

maybe just bathing it put it into shock because it was sick i dont know...
but does anyone out there have any experience with a significantly larger than normal a ount of ducklings with bald backs even through fledging or know of any doseases/parasites/infections which miht cause this as a symptom? Ive googled but anything i came up with was disease that pretty much spreads everywhere and wipes out most of the flock or most the ducklings in a short time. I am not experiencing that. However have had higher rate of dead ducklings this year, though many were to known unrelated causes (an aggressive duck went on a killing spree). But allso a few more than usual suddenly deaf ducklings you find where there was no sign of ill health till you found them dead. Ive had 2-4 of those, but thats out of well over 100 ducklings....

anyway does anyone know of any disease which has bald patches specifically on the back (affected ducklings are only bald there) as a sign of that disease? Ill attach a pic of the duckling which died unexpectedly on me below. i took the photo literally a minute before it died, yes it is wet there as it had just bathed it, but is also warm on a hottie and definitely not hypothermic.

it had a couple of much smaller bald patches 2-3 days ago and I gave it ivermectin thinking it might have mites or something, the photo shoes the area about twice the size of what it was 2 days ago. Going to attempt necropsy tomorrow to try and get some answers.

 

[Jenbirdee]

electrolytes should only be given for 5 days, then stop. too much is bad for them.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This is happening both inside with the ducklings your brooding to the ones outside with mom? At first I wondered if rats maybe eating on them. Or they are eating on each other? What size is your brooder? are they crowded?