HELP! Duck feathers look terrible!

[joannmartin]

I am totally stumped trying to solve my ducks feather issues. I initially thought it was a wet feather and did a Dawn soap bath....checked her oil gland and it looked fine. Took her to the vet and they didn't see any mites. Kepted her in all winter because I didn't think she would be able to keep warm with her outer feathers gone.

Still waiting for her to molt but it has been almost a year and she still looks the same. Hutch is always clean and they have fresh water daily to bathe in. I now have 3 more ducks starting to look like her and I am baffled. I feed them AllFlock feed and give them dehydrated organic grubs as a treat. Yes...I know...I love all 12 of my ducks and spoil them. I sprinkled Diatomaceous Earth with Calcium Bentonite in their hutch in case there was a case of mites.

I seperated the drakes because they were too aggressive and did a number on her neck.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[FluffTheDuck]

I am totally stumped trying to solve my ducks feather issues. I initially thought it was a wet feather and did a Dawn soap bath....checked her oil gland and it looked fine. Took her to the vet and they didn't see any mites. Kepted her in all winter because I didn't think she would be able to keep warm with her outer feathers gone. View attachment 1829229

View attachment 1829230
Still waiting for her to molt but it has been almost a year and she still looks the same. Hutch is always clean and they have fresh water daily to bathe in. I now have 3 more ducks starting to look like her and I am baffled. I feed them AllFlock feed and give them dehydrated organic grubs as a treat. Yes...I know...I love all 12 of my ducks and spoil them. I sprinkled Diatomaceous Earth with Calcium Bentonite in their hutch in case there was a case of mites.

I seperated the drakes because they were too aggressive and did a number on her neck.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Alright so you did the right choice moving the males away from females.
How many drakes and how many females do you have?
The Pekins case here is over mating. It happens. With her you can put iodine / antibiotic ointment on her head.

With the other duck, I would like for you to take another photo please it’s a good photo, but, you need to move surrounding feathers out of the way with two hands and have someone take the photo for you— that way it’s a deeper photo.

The spring time molt is the more subtle molt, and if you only keep female ducks, you might not even notice more than a few stray feathers about. When winter ends and spring comes, a young drake’s interest turns to romance. To attract the highest quality mate, he is going to need better & brighter plumage than the other drakes. He will molt his plain and drab winter feathers and they will be replaced with his bright “nuptial” plumage. You will notice your hens are also sporting slightly brighter bars & wing speculum markings. Everyone is gearing up for breeding season, and this is also when you might experience the most disharmony among your ducks. Drakes might try to chase off their competition and will try to mate (and sometimes over mate; which is your Pekins case) any available hen. Hens might be protective of their favorite drake, or of their nests. Drakes will also want to really show off their flashy new feathers by strutting about the yard, flapping their wings.

Ducks are very hardcore molters. They finish a molt in about 2 weeks while chickens take MONTHS! So if this has been going on for a year I wouldn’t think this would be molting.

Did you get that duck the same time you got the others? If you didn’t, ducks usually tend to bully others who aren’t “part of their flock” yet.

 

[drumstick diva]

you may also want to post in full detail, photo etc. at ""emergencies, diseases, injuries, cure, thread."

 

[joannmartin]

Alright so you did the right choice moving the males away from females.
How many drakes and how many females do you have?
The Pekins case here is over mating. It happens. With her you can put iodine / antibiotic ointment on her head.

With the other duck, I would like for you to take another photo please it’s a good photo, but, you need to move surrounding feathers out of the way with two hands and have someone take the photo for you— that way it’s a deeper photo,

I have 3 drakes to 9 hens. I have been seperating the 2 because they are the youngest and very aggressive. The other drake doesn't bother the girls much...he is a little older. Her neck is a product of me not seperating quick enough. However, her feathers have looked like that for almost a year now and now seeing similar symptoms in 3 others...beginning stages.

I tried to get a close up picture, but will have to wait until I have an extra set of hands. Catching her is a bit difficult by myself.

 

[FluffTheDuck]

I have 3 drakes to 9 hens. I have been seperating the 2 because they are the youngest and very aggressive. The other drake doesn't bother the girls much...he is a little older. Her neck is a product of me not seperating quick enough. However, her feathers have looked like that for almost a year now and now seeing similar symptoms in 3 others...beginning stages.

I tried to get a close up picture, but will have to wait until I have an extra set of hands. Catching her is a bit difficult by myself.

Alright. I would donate at least one of those aggressive Drake’s if I were you.

I will watch for alerts from this thread.

 

[joannmartin]

I have 3 drakes to 9 hens. I have been seperating the 2 because they are the youngest and very aggressive. The other drake doesn't bother the girls much...he is a little older. Her neck is a product of me not seperating quick enough. However, her feathers have looked like that for almost a year now and now seeing similar symptoms in 3 others...beginning stages.

I tried to get a closeup picture but will have to wait until I have an extra set of hands. Catching her is a bit difficult by myself.

All the ducks have been intergrated for over a year now. My last 3 were hatched into the group last June. Silly me for letting one of my ducks sit on her nest. I did notice that the drakes did target 4 females, but definitely the two I posted the most.

 

[joannmartin]

Alright. I would donate at least one of those aggressive Drake’s if I were you.

I will watch for alerts from this thread.

I have been trying to find a home for the 2 drakes, but haven't found a good home yet. Drakes are a bit difficult to relocate.....people know that they are a bit rough on the flock.

 

[chickens really]

Hmmm? Do you provide lots of greens?
They require lots of forage material to produce nice feathers. Stress can be an issue. Bullying also over breeding..