New Call Ducks - Advice please!

[bluekii]

Hello!

I recently bought two 5-7 month old call ducks and they have never been free range before.
My other 8 call ducks are free range and live on the pond by my house, and can fly and have free roam of wherever they may please.
These ducks have been kept in a small pen for all their life with a tiny bowl of water - honestly they weren't in good condition, absolutely filthy and not enough space to fly and I don't think they even swam before. We bathed them in the bath and now they are just preening and drying themselves off. The male has suspected wet feather but I cannot confirm.

Should I let them onto the pond soon? Will they follow my current call ducks? How can I make sure they stay around the pond? Will they be smart enough to evade danger? If they do have wet feather what is the best way to treat it?

I'll attach a picture of them both to show the condition they're in.

Thanks in advance!

Blue

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[happy duck]

I would let them to the pond...

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'd keep them peened for a week or more just to get them use to their new place. letting them out on the pond where they will be new to your other calls May cause them to fly off [if they can fly right now] because they most likely will get bullied some.

As for wet feather usually molting takes care of that. And good bathing and preening. Make sure to give them good quality feed and maybe some dry meal worms for extra protein since feathers are protein it may help. But molting those old feathers out will really make a difference.
They sure look like they needed someone to care for them properly I am sure you'll have them in tip top shape in no time.

 

[casportpony]

I also think you should keep them separated until they start looking a little better.

 

[bluekii]

Thanks for the replies so far, really appreciated.​

 

[Miss Lydia]

TLC goes a long way I am sure they will be gorgeous soon.

 

[CrystaBub]

Awww that looks like my poor Abby - she didn't have access to water before we got her. After a few swimming lessons and a good molt, she looks great. I also added a little ACV to her pool water for a while to help clean up her feathers (some sort of sticky residue was all over her - never did figure out what it was). Good luck! I'm glad you rescued those babies!!!

 

[bluekii]

Update:

Male will not stop shaking and preening, is that normal? He also is super pecky! Keeps pecking at everything and won't settle down at all. Also seems a bit wobbly.

Female is sleeping but in a very odd position, haha. She's currently on one leg with her head just drooping. Not sure if they've actually been taught "how to be ducks" honestly.

They both kind of rub themselves against the ground and I'm not sure what that's all about to be honest. Mostly rubbing their heads. Part of cleaning?

Hopefully they'll settle.

Please give advice or thoughts, I'm still learning and want everything to go well. ​

 

[Miss Lydia]

They may need some really good poultry vitamins added to their feeding like something you can put into their drinking water. If you mean by shaking like he is cold? Is it cold where you are if they have wet feather they could become chilled you might offer some heat for them. If you can get some Liquid B Complex that may help with wobbly. They may just have a big deficiency in their diet and it is going to take a while before they recover. Have you looked them over for external parasites? mites will be very tiny and blk and you'll find them under the wings and around their vent area they move very fast. Lice attach to the feather shafts and a beige looking.

 

[Haydog03]

I don’t have any experience with this... but I can wish you and your ducks well! Good luck!