Help! My duck is limping!

My ducks are about 2 1/2 months old and a couple of weeks ago I noticed one of my ducks had a very noticeable lip. She has a very hard time walking so she prefers to lay down, and is unable to get into the pool herself so I have to get her in and also take her out. I have checked both feet and nothing is wrong. There are no injuries and it seems as if she feels no pain. I have 6 other ducks and 3 days ago another duck started with the same problem just less severe as she can still walk and get in and out of the pool. What could be wrong with my duck? I am worried about her.

It may be a pulled muscle, or it could be a B vitamin deficiency showing up.

For a pulled muscle, rest, Epsom salt compresses, and perhaps a tiny dab of T-Relief or comfrey salve. It takes days and days sometimes for the pull to heal.


Here is something I wrote about B vitamin deficiency treatment.

People often get confused about what to use, so please stick with me here .

You have some options.

I would go with brewer's yeast. Forgive me for using capital letters, but for anyone else who may casually look over this thread, NOT baking yeast, NOT winemaking yeast. Brewer's yeast is a nutritional supplement and it provides niacin and a few other vitamins.

Generally, folks who supplement with brewer’s yeast use a tablespoon per cup of food.

Ducklings need about three times the niacin chicks do. And some ducklings get leg problems or seizures if they don't have enough niacin.

If you cannot find the brewer's yeast, or if you happen to have (here come the capital letters again, please forgive me) PLAIN niacin - NOT no-flush, NOT timed release, then dissolve 150 mg niacin per gallon of water for the duckling’s drinking water.

Another approach is to use B Complex capsules, and use the B3 - niacin - levels as a guide. Again, 150 mg B3 per gallon of drinking water.


Keep the little one on the supplements for about 8 weeks.

Sometimes it only takes a few days to see improvement.

You can also see how it went for Qwackers and Bentley from these threads.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/857143/treating-wry-neck-in-crested-duckling-edited-title

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/761308/peking-duckling-with-crooked-neck-help

With multiple ducks displaying similar symptoms my first question has to be what's their diet?

Amiga has great advice here on niacin deficits and how to correct.

If it's not dietary, then we need to figure out how the ducks are injuring themselves or that's likely to continue.

I do not believe it is their diet. I had 2 ducks a couple of years ago with the same diet and they were very active and never had this type of problem. I noticed all the other ducks like walking over the limping duck. I think that might be what it causing the problem.