My muscovy ducklings are eating eachothers feathers!

[chickens really]

You can give them some dry cat food for higher protein a couple times a week till the feathers come in. More room too.

 

[Duck_life]

ok, sorry that the tin foil balls bothered you its just what my loca breeder told me... and I will try the cat food.. all my ducks are outside right now and I tried separating my drake idk if that well help but he has no bite marks on him... should I wet the cat food till mushy?

 

[Duck_life]

feathers aren't any better... the male seems to really like pulling them and the hens are bleeding pretty bad.. they do have a lot of space (mostly I let them out in day and in the coop at night)

 

[chickens really]

ok, sorry that the tin foil balls bothered you its just what my loca breeder told me... and I will try the cat food.. all my ducks are outside right now and I tried separating my drake idk if that well help but he has no bite marks on him... should I wet the cat food till mushy?

Doesn't bother me..No I just toss it out to them and they eat it.

 

[Duck_life]

thank you

 

[Duck_life]

tried the cat food thanks

 

[Timothy Menezes]

I'm sorry if I missed it but how old are these ducks? And can you tell us more about this duck food. Taking a pic of the label with a cellphone and posting it would be ideal. But if not, tell us the brand and protein% etc.

Oh and I liked the foil ball idea. Corn is not a good idea though. It's pretty much empty calories. My ducks just love peas and fresh spinach which are excellent duck treats.

 

[Duck_life]

ok so I got there food from tractor supply its a big bag of starter food kinda grainy like rocks but its tan colored cant send pics bc im on a computer sorry... idk brand bc my dad just bought it in a white bag... and there just over a month I got them about 5 days old 1 week in a half before easter

 

[bhaugh]

Pulling feathers can become a bad habit quick. Think monkey see monkey do. I've had quail pull from each other and I'm not sure I'd say it's a protein problem because I was feeding almost 30% game bird feed. I wasn't when I hatched them but changed over and some still did it. (Monkey quote) it becomes a learned behavior and I find the quail that did it the most were bullies. I ended up culling them because the behavior didn't stop and once one bird was plucked clean they went to another bird
I know we are talking ducks but a caged Bird is a caged Bird. If you thunk you have a bully, then remove it. Rarely do they stop unless something changes.

 

[Starter Flock]

I have 4 ducklings about 5 1/2-6 weeks old. I had this problem last week. All 4 were missing wing feathers but one was really bad and had bloody tips. After a few tries on removing different ones from the group I figured out who the biggest bully was. We had them all inside at that point in a rabbit cage and I think they were to cramped. That night I took out the beat up duckling as she had just become everyone's target and needed a break.
I moved them outside the next day but kept the bully in a separate area of the pen for 24 hours. After that when I let him out no more biting at the others. I just checked their wings today and all of them have new feathers growing in. I can't say for sure if it was the extra room and exercise or having the ability to forage in the dirt and grass. In any event I hope you can find a solution that works quickly!