Female pulling another duck's feathers

[CoriM]

Has anyone ever dealt with this issue? My Pekin Penny has had 8 months of skin issues I've been trying to get to the bottom of. Just recently I started wondering if it was my other pekin pulling feathers from her side. I separated them at night and just today I am separating them during the day time since I saw Tuppins pulling again this afternoon, and Penny's side has been bleeding and looking bare. I just don't get it because Penny is definitely a willing partner in this strange relationship. It seems related to their mixed up mating desires because it always happens when they're by the fresh water and Penny gets down low and kind of spreads her wings and then Tuppins always grabs from the same areas on her side. The two seem like best friends and are always together. In every way Tuppins is a sweet bird and never bothers my little welsh harlequins. I am scratching my head here and need a solution because permanently separating them is not possible. They eat a duck feed that is 19% protein, plus meal worms, slugs, kale, peas. They live in a spacious run with only 6 ducks and they are let out to graze 1/2 to 1 hour twice a day. Is there anything I can do to nip this problem in the bud?

 

[nao57]

From what I've read about others talking about this...they say that once there's blood you need to isolate them before the others join in on the bullying. Then get them healed up before putting them back with the others.

To be truthful I haven't had this problem.

But what I read is that once there's blood, there's a chance that others may now join in, with the animal becoming a marked target with the open wound.

You may need to watch it carefully at this point.

 

[CoriM]

My duck Penny has had weird skin stuff going on since last October. It gets better and then worse, with occasional bleeding. There has never been any other duck that's ever paid any attention to her, picked, or pulled feathers, regardless of bleeding or not. It's only this weird behavior between the two that I see on occasion, and like I said, Penny seems a willing partner.

 

[nao57]

Oops.

OK, I misread that then.

:O