Duckling is scratching area between eye and bill causing feather loss. Please advise!!

[RhodysMom]

I'm totally new to this and have 3 almost 3 wk old ducklings. They seem to be doing great, eating well, very friendly, good energy, but I just noticed that one seems to have a bald patch below her right eye. It's like her bill now extends all the way to the eye, no little feathery bit between the the bill and eye anymore. Sorry for my less than awesome descriptions - it's late and I'm totally new to ducks.

Other than that, she seems great, like I said above. I have noticed that sometimes it sounds like she's got a stuffy nose but it's intermittent and I have been looking and have never seen any nasal discharge so I don't know if maybe those sounds are just duck sounds or if something is wrong. I'm a little worried, though. Can anyone tell me what's going on with my duckling?

 

[duckyfromoz]

At three weeks old they are starting to produce more downy feathers that then give way to the growth of the real feathers. Some ducklings do end up with some bald areas as their bodies grow but the fluff doesnt start to grow fast enough. Apart from checking to make sure of no parasites- ( yes even babies can get them when raised by the mothers. not likely when brooder raised but still worth checking ) .

Maybe if you could post a photo of duckie people may be able to give you an idea of something else is going on causing the bald patch.

 

[RhodysMom]

Thanks for the reply. It's not a very obvious spot so it may be difficult to take a photo. I'll see what I can do. It's not raw or anything - just an area where there seems to be an absence of feathers where her sisters have feathers. Now that I've thought about it, I did see her scratching the area with her foot yesterday. Is it possible that this is what happened?

How do I check for parasites? What do they look like? I handle my ducklings often (they're definitely not shy - run up to me when they see me coming) and have never seen any creepy crawlies, but I'd like to do a proper check.

 

[RhodysMom]

I'm working on getting a photo up but I wanted to update that she does definitely seem to be scratching at the area between her bill and her eyes which I believe is causing the thinning feathers in this area. Any suggestions? Do you think it could be mites, and if so how do I check and what am I looking for? Can I put any ointment on the area or should I just leave it and watch her? She's fine otherwise (although I did mention an intermittent "stuffy nose" kind of sound but I'm new to duck ownership and don't know if this is just normal duck sounds) and her 2 sisters don't show any feather loss or itching.

All suggestions are appreciated!

 

[Amiga]

Do they have a way to wash their little heads frequently? Head washing prevents infections and irritations, and ducklings really benefit from it. Some of us have trimmed a just-larger-than-head-sized hole in the top of a lidded plastic margarine container so that they can dunk and snoot and make less mess and not get into it.

gryeyes posted a photo a while back.

 

[RhodysMom]

Thanks for the reply, Amiga. I've been afraid of them falling in and drowning so their water dish is deep enough for them to stick their whole bills in but doesn't cover their eyes. I'll put a new one in now that's deeper and keep an eye on her. They're big enough at this point that they would just knock the container over if they were to fall in which would make a mess but would be a lot better than a drowned duckling. I can't believe how fast they're growing!

Is snoot the word for when they blow the water out their little nostrils? I was wondering what that was called.

 

[Amiga]

Snoot is my word for it, based on the noise they make when they take in water and force it out their nares (nostrils).

I use a steep-sided stew pot for watering, now. It is heavy enough that they cannot overturn it, and straight sided pots just work out much much better for everything, as the ducks cannot turn it over if it is even half full.

 

[RhodysMom]

Right, nares!

I like the word "snoot". Seems pretty appropriate.

Thanks so much for the advice. I think as a new duck owner I can get myself a little worked up over minor things, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I'm so concerned that I'll do something wrong or overlook some detail and I wouldn't want to hurt the girls or cause them any discomfort. I feel a lot better now, though. Thanks again for your advice.

 

[Amiga]

Glad you are so conscientious! I have found that after two and a half years, while I still get apprehensive sometimes, being overprotective seems to have paid off with nine of eleven runners making it so far (lost one at 7 months to unknown causes in spite of treatment, and one to egg yolk peritonitis, which looked very similar to what the first duck had). And we have the two rescued buffs now.

These days my apprehension is about predators during the day. Our beautiful gardens and woodland edges could hide a fox, dog, cat, or other predator that might come out during daylight hours. Sometimes I have thought a martial arts class specifically aimed at furry and feathered foes might be useful. Meantime I am usually close to the ducks, with a big stick. But if I need to go inside for a few minutes I don't feel entirely secure, though circumstances occasionally demand that I do that.

And if I hear the folks who live on the next block calling, "Here, Lucky, Lucky come here NOW!" I dash to get the ducks into a very secure area.

 

[RhodysMom]

I know what you mean! My little ones will be moving outdoors soon and I'm already trying to design Duck Fort Knox so that nothing eats my babies. We live near a major hawk migration site so I'm extra concerned about them being outside but I'm sure with lots of chicken wire, hardware cloth, and anything else that people suggest, they'll be ok (I hope).

I'm going to try to post a photo of the duck who's scratching. They've got 2 bowls of water now - one that they can submerge just their bills and one that they can do a full head dunk. Can you have a look and tell me if I'm overreacting about the whole thing or if I need to take additional action? It's tough to tell from the photo but you can see that the area between the bill and the eye seems a little "grungy". This is where she's scratching.




Compared to her sisters below:





What do you all think?