Back of neck molting/pecking

[crummycrumb]

My female muscovy duck is losing feathers at the back of her neck - I have noticed a large amount of her feathers scattered all around their pen in a small amount of time. I saw her and our drake pecking each others feathers, unsure if this is a mating thing or if they are hurting each other. Any ideas?

 

[Miss Lydia]

could be she is molting ? but usually you don't just notice feathers missing from the neck, that sounds like mating behavior. Drakes climb on and hold onto feathers on the neck or head which after a while can cause feather loss even a wound. How old are they? What feed are you using, lack of protein can cause feather eating are they eating any of the feathers?

 

[crummycrumb]

could be she is molting ? but usually you don't just notice feathers missing from the neck, that sounds like mating behavior. Drakes climb on and hold onto feathers on the neck or head which after a while can cause feather loss even a wound. How old are they? What feed are you using, lack of protein can cause feather eating are they eating any of the feathers?

They're 18 weeks now. It's a very recent occurrence - did just go out there and noticed that when she's in the pool with the drake they are biting at each other's wings a little bit.. these two spend the most time together, have never seen any sort of attempt at mating though. I feed them layer pellets at the moment, with 16% protein. Usually they free range too, however the past little while I haven't been able to let them as I haven't clipped their wings and they have been flying onto the roof in the middle of the night lol. I have noticed feathers in their mouths!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Muscovy usually don't start laying until the spring after they hatch so usually around 8-9 months old. Might be different depending on where you live especially south. I have a friend who has muscovy in Texas and her ducks breed lay and hatch year-round not here they start breeding in March and stop laying in late October. They will practice mating behavior before mating actually starts though, And your sure both are drake and duck?

I can't imagine why they would be pulling feathers out of each other maybe trey adding some extra protein to their diet. Mine get dried mealworms and dry dog food as a treat. Good quality protein. I have had to clip the wings on my females to keep them grounded.
They can't land on the roof too steep but they can fly out of the fencing and we have way too many predators to let them be outside of their fenced property.

 

[crummycrumb]

We live in New Zealand and it's summer here currently. Definitely not mating time, they're way too young I think. I will try the mealworms & dog food as treats and see if that changes anything. I would like to get them back to free ranging in the day but feel worried about clipping their wings in case I do it wrong! I'm pretty sure we have 2 females and a male (one is much bigger in size), but only one of the females is losing the feathers.

 

[Miss Lydia]

https://www.raising-ducks.com/clipping-a-ducks-wings/
might help you.
http://parrotcare.tropicalpets.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/wing-clipping-2-300x136.jpg


how about some good pictures.