Help please!! Duckling won’t stop plucking siblings feathers!!

[rachelsduckquestions]

Just to update, the plucker was successfully rehabilitated, mostly! Unfortunately, the one he was plucking the most got picked on by the rest too. I put him back and found one of them all bloody. So now 3 of them are happy (occasional plucking from the problem duck on rainy days but that’s all), and I’ve been caring for the wounded one while their feathers grow in. The wounded one is healed now, just waiting a while to reintroduce that one.

If anyone with a similar problem reads this, i think giving grass to the problem duck was super helpful. I notice him outside ripping out grass violently lol so maybe he just likes to rip things out. Also I did boost his protein for a few days with scrambled egg and have been using niacin supplements.

 

[MallardMomx2]

Just to update, the plucker was successfully rehabilitated, mostly! Unfortunately, the one he was plucking the most got picked on by the rest too. I put him back and found one of them all bloody. So now 3 of them are happy (occasional plucking from the problem duck on rainy days but that’s all), and I’ve been caring for the wounded one while their feathers grow in. The wounded one is healed now, just waiting a while to reintroduce that one.

If anyone with a similar problem reads this, i think giving grass to the problem duck was super helpful. I notice him outside ripping out grass violently lol so maybe he just likes to rip things out. Also I did boost his protein for a few days with scrambled egg and have been using niacin supplements.

So happy to hear this good news. Best of luck with reintroducing your baby to the flock. Such a tough situation. Wishing you the best.

 

[Starter Flock]

Dealing with this now. I have 4 ducklings about 5 weeks old. I noticed them preening each other before but they were all doing it to each other and no one yelped and I thought it was normal. About a week ago (maybe less) their wing feathers came in and were absolutely beautiful. Now every single on of them is missing most of the wing feathers. "Blue" is the worst of all and even has some bloody tips.

We know at least 2 are guilty of the pulling because we see them doing it. I think they might be too crowded as they are out growing their indoor pen, but the weather has not been cooperative with securing an outdoor pen. We swim them daily and they have gone outside about 2/3 of the last 2 weeks. I had one of them separated this evening because I thought it was the main aggressor, however the other kept biting at poor beat up Blue. So now I have Blue separated for the night and am just praying the 3 in the cage still have wing feathers in the morning!

Please tell me these feathers will come back! I know they should when they molt but how long is that?

 

[MallardMomx2]

My little guy was about 6 weeks when he got a majority of his feathers plucked out on April 21st. He was very badly injured with nearly no feathers and lots of bloody scabs. I soaked him in an epsom salt bath and applied ointment to aid in healing. It’s a little over a month later and his feathers have all started to grow back.
Keep a close eye on them. I’ve noticed that once one in injured, it is targeted by everyone. All of my 4 babies were injured, but the one that was injured the worst was targeted the most. Good luck!
@Starter Flock

 

[Starter Flock]

My little guy was about 6 weeks when he got a majority of his feathers plucked out on April 21st. He was very badly injured with nearly no feathers and lots of bloody scabs. I soaked him in an epsom salt bath and applied ointment to aid in healing. It’s a little over a month later and his feathers have all started to grow back.
Keep a close eye on them. I’ve noticed that once one in injured, it is targeted by everyone. All of my 4 babies were injured, but the one that was injured the worst was targeted the most. Good luck!
@Starter Flock

Yes it seems like Blue is the target because she has the little shafts still sticking out and the others want to nibble at her like it's food on her or something. Today it is finally sunny and warm after days of tornado type weather. So they are all outside. I have the main aggressor Fritz (who I think is a male ruen or mallard) in a cage inside the pen. They are laying next to him but he can't pull any more feathers. I did see Nugget (who I think may also be male) nip at Blue but she just kinda chirped and moved over. I really hope we only have 1 male in the group and not 2...That might be part of the problem. So far I have only heard Blue and Peanut quack.

 

[kitten4686]

I have a similar problem...got 16 muscovy ducklings...problem is the chickens are picking out the feathers of the ducklings off their back, wing, and tail areas....I've been kicking out the chickens during the day and this has help, but no chicken eggs this way...how or what can I do? Anyone use a spray? If so what kind or how do I make it?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Blue kote will keep chickens from pecking at red or a wound so it might help if they are pulling out feathers. Blue kote will stain feathers, hands clothing etc but if nothing else works give it a try.

 

[bhaugh]

I'm going to be the bad guy here and ask why keep birds that show this behavior when it's not normal. If you have tried all the necessary things ie raise the protein, check heat source, illness etc and the bird still does it why cottle the behavior and allow the bird to possibly reproduce. Just because birds hatch doesn't mean they are genetically sound.

 

[SpoiledDucks]

Add 2 hen ducks so he has his own family. 1 drake to 3 hens good luck

 

[Miss Lydia]

Add 2 hen ducks so he has his own family. 1 drake to 3 hens good luck