lame duck - literally

One of our 2 month old Muscovys suddenly about a week ago could not walk. It is up about as far as its legs can support it in the photo. It hobbles around and uses its wings to crawl. It had been fine before, tough it did seem to be the runt of the group of six we got. No apparent signs of trauma, no exposure to predators and was not exposed to any high areas it could have fallen from. It does not seem to be getting better. We asked the family from which we got it if this had ever happened to others and they said not.

Hoping someone will have some suggestions. Thank you.

CD

What kind of food do you give the ducklings? I'm guessing the baby is suffering from Niacin deficiency. Have you been giving the duckling swim time?

I see that this is your first posting so I am guessing it took you a week to find us. Hopefully the little one will survive.

First, what feed are you giving the ducks? You can feed chick starter but will have to add niacin to help with nerve and bone development. You can add the niacin by adding brewer's yeast to their feed. You can get brewer's yeast at almost any health food store or nutrition center. Otherwise you can feed them an all flock feed like Purine Flock Raiser. Whatever you feed them check the label...is it formulated for waterfowl, what is the niacin content?

Second, give the little one some water time SUPERVISED. If it is really weak it may not be able to swim, can panic and injure itself or drown.

Don't allow any further delay in asking questions. We are here and happy to help you in any way we can. It looks like a really nice duckling and we want it to survive as do you.

There are a large group of us who really care for ducks and other waterfowl. Usually one of us is online until very late in the evening and back very early in the a.m. So, post your questions and watch for our answers. Do not be concerned about how trivial you might thing the question is. The only "stupid" question is, after all, the one that did not get asked.

@doudfamily how is the duckling?

doudfamily said:

One of our 2 month old Muscovys suddenly about a week ago could not walk. It is up about as far as its legs can support it in the photo. It hobbles around and uses its wings to crawl. It had been fine before, tough it did seem to be the runt of the group of six we got. No apparent signs of trauma, no exposure to predators and was not exposed to any high areas it could have fallen from. It does not seem to be getting better. We asked the family from which we got it if this had ever happened to others and they said not.



Hoping someone will have some suggestions. Thank you.



CD

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Welcome to BYC!

-Kathy

Thanks for the advice. We have been feeding with chick starter. Went by the store last night, did not have brewer's yeast so I picked up bread yeast, hoping that will do until I can find brewer's.

Assuming the issue is niacin deficiency, how soon can we expect to see improvement? And will it make a full recovery? We have five other muscovys and four grown pekins. Should we be adding yeast to their diet as well? They get layer feed. They free range our property every day BTW.

doudfamily said:

Thanks for the advice. We have been feeding with chick starter. Went by the store last night, did not have brewer's yeast so I picked up bread yeast, hoping that will do until I can find brewer's.

Assuming the issue is niacin deficiency, how soon can we expect to see improvement? And will it make a full recovery? We have five other muscovys and four grown pekins. Should we be adding yeast to their diet as well? They get layer feed. They free range our property every day BTW.

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DO NOT USE BREAD YEAST!!!!! Nor do you want to use any other sort of yeast except nutritional brewers yeast that you find in health food stores. Regular stores will not stock it. If you can not find it then get niacin pills and before you use them post the dosage here so that we can help you with determining how much to use.

You can feed the niacin (brewers yeast) to your other ducks as well. It will not do them harm and, if they are still young, may actually help them.

Free range is good but will not provide a balanced diet for ducks. They are foragers not grazers like geese. They need suplemental feed. Chick starter is o.k. for the first couple of months or so, then a balanced mixed flock feed will be best. If you can not find something like Purina Flock Raiser check Tractor Supply. They have one under their brand called Dumor Poultry which is essentially a mixed flock feed.

@doudfamily please let us know you saw the message to NOT use bread yeast

yeah. got it. I will have to look for a health food store. Was hoping the grocery had it. Thanks again.

Thanks very much! I wish some of these things weren't so confusing…….