We have 8 ducklings about a month old. They have grown like weeds and we moved them outside to bigger quarters a week ago because they outgrew their indoor housing and the temps in NC are very moderate, even hot now.
All seemed fine until 2 days ago, I noticed they are beginnning to get some real feathers and I also noticed one of the magpies seemed to be missing feathers on her wing "elbow" - not sure what it is called. She seemed to nibble at it a lot so we tried a bandage but now we noticed the other wing is the same and all the other ducks except one has the same problem, some worse than others. The only duckling with no problems is another magpie and we did notice it has started nipping at the others a lot, causing them to jump and run. I also checked a couple of them for signs of mites but found nothing.
Here is a pic of the magpie with the most problems. Can anyone tell me what might be causing this? I'm assuming it isn't a normal part of losing down and getting real feathers.
All seemed fine until 2 days ago, I noticed they are beginnning to get some real feathers and I also noticed one of the magpies seemed to be missing feathers on her wing "elbow" - not sure what it is called. She seemed to nibble at it a lot so we tried a bandage but now we noticed the other wing is the same and all the other ducks except one has the same problem, some worse than others. The only duckling with no problems is another magpie and we did notice it has started nipping at the others a lot, causing them to jump and run. I also checked a couple of them for signs of mites but found nothing.
Here is a pic of the magpie with the most problems. Can anyone tell me what might be causing this? I'm assuming it isn't a normal part of losing down and getting real feathers.
