Treatment and prevention of wet plumage of ducks

Wet plumage is the most common disease in ducks, caused by limited regular access to water. Other causes of the disease can be: poor nutrition, lack of vitamins, external parasites. If your ducks have the opportunity to swim periodically in the pool, and you provide them with a balanced diet, then most likely your birds will not be threatened with wet plumage. But just in case, it is better to be savvy in the treatment and prevention of this disease.

What is wet plumage?

Near the base of the tail of ducks is the coccygeal gland, which produces lubricant. Each time, taking water procedures, the birds clean their plumage both during and after swimming. At the same time, they stimulate the work of the sebaceous gland and distribute the lubricant throughout the plumage, making it waterproof. If the gland stops producing lubricant, or the birds do not have constant access to water, ducks will not be able to apply an oily coating to their plumage and wash away dirt from the feathers. For this reason, usually waterproof feathers get wet and remain damp after the ducks leave the water.

The outer and sometimes lower feathers remain damp, which can lead to hypothermia. Duck owners often keep sick ducks out of the water, thereby only complicating the course of the disease. If the feathers become dirty and the birds are unable to clean themselves in water, the lubricant will no longer work effectively. This can lead to the appearance of parasites living in the plumage, even though the ducks try to clean the feathers.

Especially sensitive to wet plumage Peking ducks... Therefore, when breeding them, it is very important to ensure that the feathers are not wet and clean, and that the ducks swim often.

Causes

As mentioned earlier, in addition to insufficient bathing, the causes of wet plumage can be general malaise, poor nutrition and lack of essential vitamins, as well as dysfunction or blockage of the coccygeal gland. Lice and other parasites that provoke excessive feathering can also cause illness - they make birds weaken, their health deteriorates. From that moment on, everything turns into a vicious circle.

Treatment

The treatment is as follows. Bring the sick duck indoors and bathe it in water using a mild liquid dish soap, then rinse the feathers well with clean water. Allow the outer and bottom feathers to dry completely before releasing the duck back into the yard. This will remove old grease and any dirt on the feathers and give the bird a chance to break out of the vicious circle and start over.

During the recovery period, the duck should not be allowed to swim for a while, the only thing that can be allowed is to wet its head in a small tub of water to stimulate the process of cleaning the plumage with lubricant. After a few days, you can let the bird swim for a short time. And only after you have made sure that the feathers of the duck are waterproof again, you can allow it to swim normally.

If you already have a duck suffering from wet plumage, you will need to limit its time in the water, especially during the cold season, and each time you will need to dry its feathers well when they get wet. 

The severity of the disease can vary. If the above treatment does not work, then you will most likely have to wait for the duck to shed and grow new feathers.

The addition of some vitamin complexes or raw molasses to the feed of a sick bird will enrich its diet with essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals, which will help it recover faster.

Peking ducks in the yard - video