Preen oil replacement

[Amanda10321]

Updates below!

Errr.... above! (?)

 

[416bigbore]

Yep! If anyone has come up with something that helps, I haven’t been able to find it. So, undeterred, I decided to invent it myself! Forest, my co-captain, enjoys her extra pats and soft smoothness. The drakes find her irresistible.

That's awesome! It's interesting to hear of people coming up with new things to help their poultry.

 

[KaleIAm]

There's nothing wrong with your duck's preen gland, right? She just can't preen well because of her disability?

I have an older pekin, almost 7 years. Her preen gland is fine, and she's been to the vet over the issue. She molts poorly, and she has poor feather quality. Her tail, lower back, and wing tip feathers don't "zip" together, and so she stays wet. In the winter she splashes herself with water when she drinks and her feathers freeze!! Obviously we bring her inside, but she doesn't like it. She wants to be out with her sisters.

Anyway, I'm curious if this would help my duck, too. I've heard using just oil isn't a good idea, but I've never heard about your recipe.

 

[MGG]

Awesome! I'll be interested in longer term results. I've always been interested in trying this with ducklings, because I prefer wet brooding.

 

[Amanda10321]

There's nothing wrong with your duck's preen gland, right? She just can't preen well because of her disability?

I have an older pekin, almost 7 years. Her preen gland is fine, and she's been to the vet over the issue. She molts poorly, and she has poor feather quality. Her tail, lower back, and wing tip feathers don't "zip" together, and so she stays wet. In the winter she splashes herself with water when she drinks and her feathers freeze!! Obviously we bring her inside, but she doesn't like it. She wants to be out with her sisters.

Anyway, I'm curious if this would help my duck, too. I've heard using just oil isn't a good idea, but I've never heard about your recipe.

Correct! Her preen gland is fine, but her disability makes it harder to preen, so her tail and flight feathers don’t zip, and her back feathers are prone to brittleness. I’m hoping her next molt will solve the zipping issues.

I’ve tweaked the recipe to 1/3 beeswax and 2/3 sweet almond oil. I apply it v sparingly right after tub time.

Have you tried towel drying and blow drying your gal? It’s definitely helped Forest a lot. When she gets out of the water, I hold her with her wings on my chest (a towel between us) and smooth down her chest and keel to sort of wring her out. Then she gets burrito time (wrapped up in the towel and snuggled on my lap), while I towel dry her face. She usually falls asleep for that part. Then I apply the oil mix. Then she does some independent preening, which is a lot easier without all the water weight. Then blow dryer. It sounds like a lot, but she gets drier faster, stays warmer, and gets less fatigued.

 

[MGG]

Correct! Her preen gland is fine, but her disability makes it harder to preen, so her tail and flight feathers don’t zip, and her back feathers are prone to brittleness. I’m hoping her next molt will solve the zipping issues.

I’ve tweaked the recipe to 1/3 beeswax and 2/3 sweet almond oil. I apply it v sparingly right after tub time.

Have you tried towel drying and blow drying your gal? It’s definitely helped Forest a lot. When she gets out of the water, I hold her with her wings on my chest (a towel between us) and smooth down her chest and keel to sort of wring her out. Then she gets burrito time (wrapped up in the towel and snuggled on my lap), while I towel dry her face. She usually falls asleep for that part. Then I apply the oil mix. Then she does some independent preening, which is a lot easier without all the water weight. Then blow dryer. It sounds like a lot, but she gets drier faster, stays warmer, and gets less fatigued.

Is the oil working?!?! That's great she's doing well.

 

[KaleIAm]

Correct! Her preen gland is fine, but her disability makes it harder to preen, so her tail and flight feathers don’t zip, and her back feathers are prone to brittleness. I’m hoping her next molt will solve the zipping issues.

I’ve tweaked the recipe to 1/3 beeswax and 2/3 sweet almond oil. I apply it v sparingly right after tub time.

Have you tried towel drying and blow drying your gal? It’s definitely helped Forest a lot. When she gets out of the water, I hold her with her wings on my chest (a towel between us) and smooth down her chest and keel to sort of wring her out. Then she gets burrito time (wrapped up in the towel and snuggled on my lap), while I towel dry her face. She usually falls asleep for that part. Then I apply the oil mix. Then she does some independent preening, which is a lot easier without all the water weight. Then blow dryer. It sounds like a lot, but she gets drier faster, stays warmer, and gets less fatigued.

Thanks so much for the update. I was just thinking about you yesterday and wondering how things were going!

I'm absolutely up for trying to blow dry her, but do you think it would help if she's just going to go splash water down her back again in 10 minutes when she drinks water? She's also not super happy being touched. She'll follow me around, but she doesn't like it when I pick her up so I try not to do it and stress her out unless I need to.

I was also wondering, if both our ducks have functioning preen glands why use a supplement oil? Could we just touch their preen gland and then touch their feathers or bill so we are using their own oil?

 

[jsr5]

How has the experiment been going. I have a similar problem and am thinking of trying lanolin as unmodified as I can find it

 

[ninjaturtle]

Hi Amanda,

has is your one-legger doing?

I've got a khaki campbell that has been one-wheeling it for 5 years now

but lately wet feather has been a real problem. I've tried several oils to no avail

but will certainly give the oil/wax option a try

Thx

 

[Kimmyh51]

PurCellin Oil isi believe a synthetic version of preen oil which has been used to temporarily replacepreen oil in birds affected by ol spills or other things. Its an ingredient in bio oil, but i cant find anywhere to buy the stuff pure.
if anyone can find a place to buy pure PurCellin Oili recommend you try that, and also let me know where i can source some! I have a disabled duck who is unable to oil him himself when oreening, and this means he can only swim for a short time frame even in summer, so id love to try PurCellin Oil on him to see if it gave him Enough waterproofing to allow him to swim. From memory the study that i read about this,nit only waterproofed the birds for a day or two so would need to be reapplied all the time for a bird that could not water proof themselves.

I tried the bio oil product after checking that none of the ingredients were toxic, but though it made him smell great and didnt harm him it also didnt waterproof it. I think the PurCellin Oil percentage is probably too low.

if anyone finds a supplier of the pure PurCellin oil, please let me know!

would interesting to see if it would be useful in raising orphaned ducklings and allowing them to swim and get wet without risking hypothermia, ie replace mummy ducks oil when they are little....