Is it too late in the year to molt?

[eggybritches]

One of my two month olds is shedding feathers like crazy. The pen is full of white feathers, and if I pick her up and set her down there are feathers everywhere. Is she sick or is she molting? I didn't think they molted in the winter but I honestly have no idea.

 

[688peterl]

i thought they got their teenager feathers then didnt molt again until 5 months when they got their adult feathers?

 

[teach1rusl]

I have young chickens @3 months, and I think some of them are going through a slow molt. I find quite a bit of feathers in the coop and run, and their tails don't look like they should. Other threads have talked about their chickens going through a molt at this time of year too... So if ducks are similar to chickens w/molting, then I'd say it's very possible.

 

[eggybritches]

So if she/he isn't molting, what could be wrong?

 

[Dances with Ducks]

One of my hens went through a molt last winter, January or Feb, I forget. She kept laying the whole time too! It seems to me they have at least partial molts all through the year. I don't know why one might be molting more than the rest at certain times, but I have seen it.

 

[DuckLady]

Miss Matilda Pekin Duck started a molt.

With the temps in the single digits and below zero, the molting Miss Matilda and her sidekick, the blind Gramma Grey got to come inside for some spa time. Even with 2 heat lamps on them, they were having a hard time keeping warm enough to stop shivering.
They are set up in the rarely used foyer of the house. This is the perfect place because it is cool, but not chilly and warm enough to keep them comfy without a difficult transition. They are on nice thick moving pads with absorbent towels on top. It is nice and sunny and hopefully they will give their accommodations a thumbs up.

 

[J.R. Pigman]

Huh. We have a female Khaki Campbell that is molting now. Shows how dense I am that it didn't register as weird.

Any way I can tell if it is a problem or a coincidence? Seems like she got her adult feathers in June-ish and never did molt. Our drake did this fall, but the hen never did.

 

[nettie]

her molt is not a seasonal molt, but rather the normal juvenile molt all ducks around 8 weeks go through. They spend all that tie growing feathers, then they lose them all and grow some more. lol. It's normal so don't worry. Just keep your duck from getting too cold, or getting chilled in the pool and she should be fine. (either keep her inside or fashion her a heat bulb in the coop. that should work fine)

 

[eggybritches]

I live in Florida so it's been staying pretty warm. Actually, we have the air conditioner on in the house, so I think he'll be alright.

Thank you though, Nettie, I was worried. Silly new duck owners.

 

[sewsable]

Glad I found this thread, my 9 week old ducks have just started losing feathers so I wanted to check if it was a molt. Seemed a bit early to me, they'll be 10 weeks old on Thursday and they're big!