ducks feathers are dry and brittle.

[Mary Coleman]

I've noticed that my ducks feathers have started to become dry and not so water proof. They have access to water. Though it's only a small tub. It's not over breeding because my male ducks are just as bad as the females. What's going on and how can I help?

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[Mary Coleman]

 

[MariskaKilian]

Hi, not sure what you feed them but I give my ducks and muscovys mixed fowl feed which has allot of sun flower seeds in them. They are very healthy and their feathers are beautiful even when mating. If its not the feed then I've got no idea.

 

[Mary Coleman]

I just feed mine all flock pellets. They don't have any seeds or anything they're just tan pellets. I also mix that with layer crumbles. Could it be that they don't have enough swimming space?

 

[MariskaKilian]

As far as I know they can have a bucket to swim in as long as they have water. At first I had a small plastic sand pit of my kids that I used for them to swim in and then I dogged a swimming pool and put a plastic sheet in and now they have a nice big swimming pool. I think if you add a little oil to their diet. Like the sun flower seeds, it would help.

 

[Orca5094]

I think they're maybe just not bathing enough to keep the feathers in good shape and waterproof. Is there any way you can get them a bigger tub (or a kiddie pool) that they can get into and really swim/bathe properly? That should help alot with the feather quality.

 

[Weehopper]

I don't have any ducks, but as with any animal I raise, one of the first things I do is research nutritional requirements for that animal. Throwing various animal feeds together may be throwing things out of balance.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

Have they molted yet?

 

[Mary Coleman]

I made a duck pond from an old water troph and drilled a hole to drain it when it gets dirty. they are less than a year old and haven't moulted yet. I bought some Nutrina "Poultry Feed" it's 20% protein. I figure the little extra protein would help.

 

[Mary Coleman]