She's not preening well, so not spreading the oils like she should to waterproof.
How old is Abigail? When I had solid white Muscovy they always had wet feather from mid summer until they molted in the fall. But by the time cold weather set in the were with their new feathers. My old girls don't do a full molt now never lose their wing feathers just some mini molts now and then. But they are 13 and 14 yrs old. You may just have to keep her inside out of the weather and especially out of water.
I know that. I did not wash her with soap. I just washed her with water since she was not washing herself and she had gotten pretty dirty.
I just got her this year in May. She is inside right now but I will bring her out in the morning.
I would not use lard it will cause wet feather. Her feathers don't look bad at all dry so she must be doing some preening you just haven't seen it. I dont always see mine, preening either. As for her feet can you post pictures? and make a video of her squeaks one of my Muscovy sounds like a bird instead of the usual Muscovy noise they make so it may not be anything to worry about, Bringing her inside where it's warm then taking her outside where it's cold could cause problems though. Since she is white seeing mites on her should be easy since mites are blk and move check under her wings making sure to get to the skin also mites like to hang around the vent area too. I use Ivermectin pour on on my chickens to keep mites away I put it on the back of their necks just like you do the flea repellent for dogs. I haven't ever had mites on my ducks since they have water to bathe in it helps keep the mites away But if your chickens have mites and you can't offer bathing water for your ducks since it's winter, then she could have them. What are you treating your chickens with?
She is preening. She is just not using her oil gland. She is outside right now. I will bring her in if she looks too cold. I cannot keep her inside since her friend becomes very lonely and cold too. Abigail also becomes very stressed and frantic. Why would lard cause wet feather? Where I live we need a prescription to get ivermectin so I would have to cross the border which I have not had time to do yet. I had been powdering my chickens with some food grade DE I had around the house, but then it got cold and there skin got too dry so I stopped. The DE actually worked and the mite population declined so drastically that I could not find them on my chickens, but now that I stopped I am certain they came back since I did not thoroughly clean my coop because it is too cold. I did not get any other product since I want to get ivermectin for my ducks and I did not see the point in getting two different things. People powder and spray there ducks but how do they actually stay on? Ducks go swimming and have down. How could you get spray or powder to stay on them? How much ivermectin should I give a duck or chicken to treat them for mites? I have see some articles for chickens and I know ducks are more sensitive to it, but none of them made much sense. I will post a better picture of her feet and the sound of her squeak.
