Questions: twitching wings?? Feathers not sleek??

[4 MimisPeeps]

Yesterday afternoon I got two ducks from a lady. She says 1 is a tufted khaki campbell/runner cross and the other a runner. I have a six month old drake pure khaki. This morning while I was & trying to make myself familiar to them, I noticed the 2 girls are almost always twiching, flicking their wings. Their feathers are not as smooth, sleek and shiny as my male. They are also very skittish, even at her place. Admittedly, the first thing that I noticed was that her place was not nearly as clean as mine. Her husband has been ill she said. So, finally to my questions:

1. Is it possible they have mites? Should I just go ahead and sprinkle a healthy amount of DE in the house & nest box?

2. Once they have bathed & had access to a clean pool daily will their feathers smooth out?

3. I spend a lot of time with my duck & chickens. Will these girls become accustomed to me or always been nervous?

Good news - 1 did lay an egg this morning!

 

[Speceider]

my guess would be they are molting, causing the rough feathering and the twitching....I doubt mites.

Clint

 

[Amiga]

I would try to get a close look at them, and would not leave them with the Khaki drake unsupervised at first. Offer peas or other treats, keep talking quietly with them.

They could be nervous, the move may force a molt, mine twitch when they are drying their feathers after a swim.