Loosing wing feathers - Can you help?

Maddiesmom

Hatching
9 Years
May 12, 2010
9
0
7
Attached is a picture of my female that has been loosing feathers. I have 2 male and three female pekin ducks. About 6 months ago, Zorro started losing feathers on the end of her wings. Recently, she started to lose more on her whole wing. The other ducks are fine and don't have any problem, but Zorro is the only one that is losing her feathers. Does anyone have any idea of what it could be?

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It could be a disease or some nutritional deficency, because it is not likely that the other ducks pecked out the feathers. Also, the duck might just be molting in a rare way.
 
Hmmm, does she live with the Pekins or is she seperated? I see she also has some feather loss on the back of her neck which I'm guessing is due to mating?

I would have said she's just moulting but not sure why she might have lost some a while back. Ducks do moult all of their wing feathers at once - one of my males has lost pretty much all of his big wing feathers and is looking pretty scruffy in general (getting his eclipse plumage) and the other male is a bit behind so hasn't lost as many feathers yet. Does she seem to be losing feathers from anywhere other than her wings and the back of her neck?

Maybe have a quick check for any lice or parasites just in case and make sure there is no blood or anything which could suggest she'd been attacked by the other ducks or some wild animal but I don't think it should be anything to worry about. See how she goes over the next few weeks and keep an eye on the other ducks to see if they start moulting soon
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She does live with- and is always with the others including the pekins. The feather loss on the back of her neck is definitely due to mating as the males always seem to go after that area. We will take a look and check for parasites and post our findings. Thanks much for the replies!
 
I have a similar problem with one of my ducks, who also stopped laying eggs.....hopefully it's due to nutrition and not some sort of disease....Keep us posted and good luck!
 
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you need to understand duck molts......they molt body feathers twice a year (after their year of hatch), and wing feathers once a year....in females...molt is more closely aligned to egg-laying and hatching than for drakes. Take eggs away, it is more likely to affect molt ...in your case I would say normal molt.

Clint
 
My pet duck is doing the same thing and is looking really skinny. She keeps looking at her reflection in the oven door to see if she can fit in yet! Seriously don't over worry just keep an eye on her and enjoy watching the new feathers grow
 
We have had two ducks in our flock have this issue in the past week and they have both died. We are new to ducks and don't want to loose our others.
 
Both of my pekins just started with the same thing. Anyone know why they lose just their wing feathers? The females wings are almost bare and look heavy. She has a hard time holding them up and they feel warm. Suggestion?
 
Attached is a picture of my female that has been loosing feathers. I have 2 male and three female pekin ducks. About 6 months ago, Zorro started losing feathers on the end of her wings. Recently, she started to lose more on her whole wing. The other ducks are fine and don't have any problem, but Zorro is the only one that is losing her feathers. Does anyone have any idea of what it could be?

57286_dsc_0049.jpg
the loss of feathers on the back of her neck look as though the Male Pekin ducks have been having their way with her. I had 4 Male Pekin ducks and they did that to the females. Finally gave 3 of the males away and now they look better.
 

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