Why is Bubbles losing so many feathers?

[duckman4450]

My 9 and a half week old mallard bubbles has been losing tons of feathers for the past few days. There are tons of feathers scattered across the house. Sometimes when she flaps her wings a bunch come out, when she preens her chest, etc. I was thinking maybe it's because she's lacking something, such as protein or something along those lines. It's not greens because her diet mainly consists of dandelions, lettuce, some peas, fish on occasion and her normal duck pellets, but she doesn't eat them too often which i suspect may be the problem.

Here is a picture of the feathers she lost after literally 30 seconds of preening her chest feathers: http://imgur.com/SSVJ1

 

[CalBells]

It sounds like your duck is moulting. She is loosing her first feathers and getting her adult feathers. It's perfectly normal, and nothing to worry about.

 

[Amiga]

Ditto CalBells, I was surprised when, just after my runners got all their adult feathers, they started looking kind of poofy and quilted, and then there were feathers everywhere.

And if I recall, it was at about ten weeks of age.

 

[duckman4450]

Ditto CalBells, I was surprised when, just after my runners got all their adult feathers, they started looking kind of poofy and quilted, and then there were feathers everywhere.

And if I recall, it was at about ten weeks of age.

Guess I was just over thinking it! Thanks to you both