New duck mom - what’s going on with my gal?

[CatBarr]

Hello! I’m hoping someone can help me out here. I’m a long time chicken keeper, but new with ducks. We’ve had our 7 ducks for about 6 months now and they’ve settled in well, happy and healthy, until I noticed this one gal with unusual behavior this week. I’m hoping that maybe she’s just broody and my inexperience with ducks is just making me nervous that she may have a bigger issue. Here are her new behaviors she’s exhibiting:

• Walking with her head pulled in tight to her body
• Very vocal, louder and more than usual, and is almost hoarse sounding
• Opening her beak like she’s going to quack but nothing comes out
• A little leaner than usual
• Her wing feathers are almost stick-like, not a lot of feather to them
• Sits on the eggs a lot (not sure if she’s laying). I can’t tell if she’s sitting on the eggs specifically or if she’s just sitting in the bed because it’s quiet, dark and comfy.
• Is extremely excited about their pool right now and spends a significantly longer time cleaning and preening than the others

Attached are videos and photos that might help:

 

[Aunt Angus]

She's very cute. I gave no idea what's going on. Im wondering if it's some sort of vitamin deficiency? Or some defect? I'll tag a few people and see if they can help.

@Miss Lydia
@KaleIAm

I'm so bad at remembering who to tag...

 

[Miss Lydia]

This has been going on just a week? It could be broody behavior Just hard to say. But if she is sitting on eggs that is probably what it is. Her wings really look weird is she in molt? Any others have wings like that? Is she eat good?
I believe I would add some vitamins to her drinking water or over a treat just for her so she gets a full dose. What are you feeding? I'd try and find out if she is laying too. You can use food coloring around the outside of the vent that way when the egg comes out it will have food coloring on it and you'll know if she is laying. Maybe @KaleIAm can think of something else.
Other than having an avian vet examine her I can't think of anything else.

 

[CatBarr]

She's very cute. I gave no idea what's going on. Im wondering if it's some sort of vitamin deficiency? Or some defect? I'll tag a few people and see if they can help.

@Miss Lydia
@KaleIAm

I'm so bad at remembering who to tag...

She’s a sweetheart and so cute. Thank you for the help!

 

[CatBarr]

This has been going on just a week? It could be broody behavior Just hard to say. But if she is sitting on eggs that is probably what it is. Her wings really look weird is she in molt? Any others have wings like that? Is she eat good?
I believe I would add some vitamins to her drinking water or over a treat just for her so she gets a full dose. What are you feeding? I'd try and find out if she is laying too. You can use food coloring around the outside of the vent that way when the egg comes out it will have food coloring on it and you'll know if she is laying. Maybe @KaleIAm can think of something else.
Other than having an avian vet examine her I can't think of anything else.

This has been going on just a week? It could be broody behavior Just hard to say. But if she is sitting on eggs that is probably what it is. Her wings really look weird is she in molt? Any others have wings like that? Is she eat good?
I believe I would add some vitamins to her drinking water or over a treat just for her so she gets a full dose. What are you feeding? I'd try and find out if she is laying too. You can use food coloring around the outside of the vent that way when the egg comes out it will have food coloring on it and you'll know if she is laying. Maybe @KaleIAm can think of something else.
Other than having an avian vet examine her I can't think of anything else.

Yeah, the new behaviors have been going on about a week. I just noticed her wings when I noticed the other stuff so I’m not sure how long they’ve been like that and she’s the only one whose wings look like that. She’s not molting currently. She’s been eating and drinking. The last two days I’ve isolated her in the coop so I can watch her while the others free range and she visits the food and water. For food they get a 20% Purina pellet feed and I’ve been giving her mealworms to try to get more nutrients in her. What kind of vitamins would you recommend? I’ll try the food coloring idea, that’s a really handy trick! We have a really great bird vet nearby so that’s definitely a backup plan.

Thank you so much for the help. If anything I’ve answered sparks anything else, please let me know.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That’s a good idea to give her some space of her own. That way you can watch her more closely and make sure she’s eating and drinking. When my Muscovy are broody she will come outside all fluffed up and everyone scatters because she resembles a sumo wrestler she will even go after my rooster. She walks around all fluffed she will eat drink get in the pool and poop the most vile smelling stuff. Then she hurry’s straight back to her nest. Poultry vitamins,Durvet makes one and poultry Nutri drench is the only two I’ve ever used. I’m sure there are others. @CoriM might has some advice.

 

[Lor]

I have no idea about those wings.
I have one duck who puts her head in and opens her mouth like yours is doing when she is a bit broody or don't want us near the eggs.

 

[KaleIAm]

From your description she sounds exactly like a broody or pre broody duck. My welsh harlequin behaved exactly like that for several weeks last year. I didn't want her to be broody because running around quacking angrily takes a lot of energy, and I wanted her to relax and eat. So I took away nesting boxes, destroyed her nests daily, removed eggs promptly (and egg shaped rocks!) and took away any items that created dark cozy cubby holes.

Here's a couple videos of my duck, Pigweed, when she was "peribroody" last year. She usually comes right to me when I call. Sorry they aren't so great and one is sideways....

You can always weigh her regularly. I do it daily for my ducks when they are sick, and every few months when they are not. Assessing weight visually isn't the best method, palpating the keel bone and having a weight history is preferred. I like to use a baby scale because my ducks seem most comfortable that way, but most members just use a kitchen gram scale and that works fine!

A vet can determine the best course of action for you. I'm paranoid and take my ducks to the vet when they stub their toes, but I didn't take my broody duck in. Something different could be going on with your sweetheart, though.

 

[Compostflower]

Look into dry feather and scaly leg mites but maybe on her feathers those could be things to consider.

 

[Compostflower]

I am seeing some dry feather for sure though make sure she takes a bath daily and if she’s soaked after dry her gently with a towel and if you must rub, rub extremely gently in a downward direction. Ragged feathers are a sure sign of dry feather the good news is if you start bathing her and stuff she will recover.