- Dec 9, 2009
- 17
- 0
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Hi All,
So I rescued four pekin ducks a few months ago. Their feathers looked terrible. I figured it was because they hadn't been given water to swim in. Mostly it's the large wing feathers. They are stringy and just look bad. I thought the feathers would improve once they started getting regular baths and were able to properly clean themselves again. But they aren't.. They bathe everyday (the drake doesn't float very well) but those wing feathers still look bad! So, now I don't know if the bad plumage in their genes or if the damage was done by the previous owner and it's just too late.
They lay good eggs and though one of them died recently from an unknown cause, the others seem healthy and happy. I want to incubate the eggs to start our meat flock, but if this is genetic, I'd rather just keep them as egg layers and get different breeding stock.
If there is a way to get those feathers to look well again, please let me know.
So I rescued four pekin ducks a few months ago. Their feathers looked terrible. I figured it was because they hadn't been given water to swim in. Mostly it's the large wing feathers. They are stringy and just look bad. I thought the feathers would improve once they started getting regular baths and were able to properly clean themselves again. But they aren't.. They bathe everyday (the drake doesn't float very well) but those wing feathers still look bad! So, now I don't know if the bad plumage in their genes or if the damage was done by the previous owner and it's just too late.
They lay good eggs and though one of them died recently from an unknown cause, the others seem healthy and happy. I want to incubate the eggs to start our meat flock, but if this is genetic, I'd rather just keep them as egg layers and get different breeding stock.
If there is a way to get those feathers to look well again, please let me know.
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