Lame ducklings, one dead....

[OnTheMountain]

Hello All! I have only just found and joined this forum, and am looking forward to sharing tips and advice!

I have 17 ducklings, which vary from about 4 weeks old to about two weeks old. We made them a predator-proof pen from a stall in our barn, and they have been happily living with our five chicks. I have been feeding them chick starter, and they always have plenty of water. Unfortunately, ducklings being what they are, it never stays clean for more than a few minutes...

Over the past two or three days, I have noticed a few ducklings seem to have trouble lifting their body weight and walking properly. They kinda spraddle, bow-legged, and scoot along. Three were pretty bad, and all the rest look just a tad bow-legged. Their legs are looking strong and in proportion to their size.

This morn, I found one of them dead. I think it was one of the worse limpers. I have been reading about Niacin deficiency - is this likely to be what I am dealing with? If so, what should I ask for at the feed store? A supplement to go in their water? I am located in NW Arkansas, if region makes any difference.

I'm not going to be able to get anything from the feed store until my Dad comes home tonight, and they may not even carry what I need. Can I give them some kind of food for a supplement? Or are they too young for that? Brewer's yeast seems to be popular, but I don't have any of that - can I use regular dried baking yeast?

Please help! I don't want to lose any more duckies if I can help it.

Thank you!

 

[SavageDestiny]

Nutritional yeast is actually higher in niacin than brewer's yeast and is available in pretty much any grocery store. It does sound like niacin deficiency. Chick starter is meant for chickens, and does not contain enough niacin for ducks.

 

[OnTheMountain]

Thank you for the reply. I have not been able to get hold of the yeast, unless I can use the baking yeast I have on hand, but have a B-Complex solution (for animals) that has 100mg Niacin per 1cc, so I have been adding the correct amount of that to their water. Praying it will work!

 

[SavageDestiny]

The niacin is the important thing, no matter how it's given. Brewers and nutritional yeast just happen to be the easiest things to get ahold of usually, so that's what most people use. I'd try to get it into their feed though, since that's more likely to actually make it inside ducklings than splashed all over, haha.