My Love Affair With Ducks...

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Enten4life said:
I only have experience raising about 4 clutches of babies, but every single one of them molted after 8 or so weeks and got their next plumage in. And My dear sweet Norbie (duck) loses all her wing feathers every time she molts where my chickens don't.
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I was dumbfounded when her feathers just started falling out. She is so tiny and I was afraid something was wrong with her, but she doesn’t act like anything is wrong.

All I really know about are chickens and they have three molts early on. After that last juvenile molt, they won’t molt again until about 18 months old, then annually after that. I guess I just thought ducks would be somewhere along those same timelines.
 
Enten4life said:
She has been better today, but I really think at this point it's her molting. She's been beachy in the past during a molt (which is normal as far as I know) but this time it was just SO much worse. she wanted nothing to do with me. She's been treated for bumblefoot, but that hadn't bothered her so I really think it WAS just her molt. She just turns from this wonderful, beautiful creature to that of a demonic entity that wants nothing but blood from her enemies. She's been through a lot since she had to live with my friends for a while and I think she might just still be adapting to be back (because she was the only duck and my chickens attacked her I had to get her safe while we waiting for a chance to raise her some duck sisters which has since happened).

Thank you ALL for your support and kindness. My wife and I appreciate very much. it's really awesome to meet others that have the same love and affections as we do for our feathered children

Her sisters, Anka and Jessica. Sorry. I'm a proud dad who has NO shame showing off his children!!!

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A few of the duck here at the rescue get fevers, upset belly, and have painful molt, which makes them moody, mouthy, ducks
 
Mimi13 said:
I have a question for all you experienced Duck parents.

Hershey, my Chocolate Runner, is in full molt, I suppose. She has hardly any wing feathers in. They are all pin feathers, which is good. At least they’re growing back in. But is it normal for a 9 month old duck to molt? My other four babies all look fine, no missing feathers. I didn’t get a picture of her today when I was refilling their pools because my phone was inside charging. She was preening after bathing and her poor little wings were just long pin cushions. When she would stretch and flap her wings there was no sound coming from them at all. Another thing I noticed was it seemed as though she was shivering after getting out of the water. Should I suspend water time while she is molting in this chilly weather? Oh, and she has not laid an egg since November 2nd. The other three crank the huge things out every day.

I’m just curious!
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A duck usually molts in Fall and in Spring, even when they have just grown their adult feathers due to late summer hatching, they will undergo a fall-molt. My little Runners have just started today, feathers everywhere… I hope it won't be too bad for them, cold weather is coming in quickly here.

My ducks always stop laying during their molt, remember that feathers are pure protein. You can accelerate the feather re-growth somewhat by feeding more protein rich food, like meal-worms, cat-food, scrambled eggs… 😜 - No seriously, give her some extra protein it will help her!
Don't stop her from going into the water, she needs to keep herself as clean as she can. I hope she is not Ralphie Dux' favorite right now.
 
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If anyone is having problems with their dux molt, I am volunteering to teach you how to assist the molt.

Done properly they will be no need for any future molts.

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:lau :lau :lau :lau
 
WannaBeHillBilly said:
A duck usually molts in Fall and in Spring, even when they have just grown their adult feathers due to late summer hatching, they will undergo a fall-molt. My little Runners have just started today, feathers everywhere… I hope it won't be too bad for them, cold weather is coming in quickly here.

My ducks always stop laying during their molt, remember that feathers are pure protein. You can accelerate the feather re-growth somewhat by feeding more protein rich food, like meal-worms, cat-food, scrambled eggs… 😜 - No seriously, give her some extra protein it will help her!
Don't stop her from going into the water, she needs to keep herself as clean as she can. I hope she is not Ralphie Dux' favorite right now.
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Well, I have found out one thing, ducks and chickens are different! I just hate to see my teeny tiny girl in such pitiful shape when my other big old brawny birds are all fluffed out and completely feathered.

All my birds eat a 20% feed. I feed the ducks a “soup” made up of boiled duck eggs, green peas and dry cat food. I feel Hershey eats a healthy amount of good food, yet she remains soooooo small. She is probably less than half the size of Ralphie. I know males are larger and the Runners are smaller, but! I’m going to get a picture of her when I go let them out in a bit.

Ralphie has laid off of the girls a good bit, however, they’ve not laid off each other too much. :rolleyes:
 

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