Treating Wry Neck In Crested Duckling *EDITED TITLE*

Qwakers, my 11 day old White Crested who has had a VERY hard life so far, and has been doing well, is now starting to hold her head to one side. It is not bad, YET, but wanted to get started with any treatment I may be able to give him/her ASAP. I am new to ducklings and am wondering is this wry neck? She is eating, drinking, pooping, swimming, everything other than the way she is holding her head is normal.

She is being fed Purina non-medicated chick starter and is getting quick chick in her water. Pic of label posted below.


Can I treat it with Niacin? B vitamins? If so how much, dose, how much per gallon of water? OR is there something else? Do I stop the quick chick?

jenniemig said:

Qwakers, my 11 day old White Crested who has had a VERY hard life so far, and has been doing well, is now starting to hold her head to one side. It is not bad, YET, but wanted to get started with any treatment I may be able to give him/her ASAP. I am new to ducklings and am wondering is this wry neck? She is eating, drinking, pooping, swimming, everything other than the way she is holding her head is normal.

She is being fed Purina non-medicated chick starter and is getting quick chick in her water. Pic of label posted below.


Can I treat it with Niacin? B vitamins? If so how much, dose, how much per gallon of water? OR is there something else? Do I stop the quick chick?

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She also needs the B3 which is niacin and the Quick chick has the thiamine in it. 100 mgs of plain niacin to go along with this. Or Brewers yeast sprinkled on their feed and continue with the quick chick, I was just wondering how your babies were doing.

Miss Lydia said:

She also needs the B3 which is niacin and the Quick chick has the thiamine in it. 100 mgs of plain niacin to go along with this. Or Brewers yeast sprinkled on their feed and continue with the quick chick, I was just wondering how your babies were doing.

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I can run to the health food store and get the brewers yeast or niacin. Is there one that is better than the other?

If you watched the video I posted you can see that she was holding her head fine last night during swim time. Now I get home from work tonight and she is holding her head crooked, to her left. It is affecting the way she walks somewhat. I can't lose this one, I am so attached to her

Niacin, I would think.

I would go for capsules - plain niacin - not no-flush, not timed release, just plain niacin capsules.

Empty one in the water, at 100 to 150 mg per gallon of water. It won't hurt the others to have some and may prevent problems.

If you cannot find the niacin, get the brewer's yeast and put a tablespoon on their food once a day. Let me go double check that, I had figured out the equivalent amount of brewer's yeast just a couple of weeks ago and I have lost it already.. sigh.

Okay, two tablespoons of brewer's yeast contains 10 mg of niacin, based on this page http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/custom/1323569/2

The guesswork is in how much water a duckling actually ingests in a day. If a duckling actually drinks a half a cup of water a day, it would be getting (16 cups in a gallon, 32 half cups in a gallon . . . . 150 divided by 30, more or less) 5 mg of niacin from water with 150 mg niacin per gallon. Which would be about a tablespoon of brewer's yeast.

These are my best reckonings.

jenniemig said:

I can run to the health food store and get the brewers yeast or niacin. Is there one that is better than the other?

If you watched the video I posted you can see that she was holding her head fine last night during swim time. Now I get home from work tonight and she is holding her head crooked, to her left. It is affecting the way she walks somewhat. I can't lose this one, I am so attached to her

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I always used Brewers yeast but this is just my preference others have had great out comes with niacin. This is normal for some ducklings some just need the extra niacin more than others and then her being crested just makes her even more susceptible but your on the right track and your catching it early too.

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

Thanks everyone! I'm headed out to a meeting and will pick up what I need and start it tonight. Hopefully we can nip this in the bud. She is not as active as normal and her little lean looks pitiful.

jenniemig said:

Thanks everyone! I'm headed out to a meeting and will pick up what I need and start it tonight. Hopefully we can nip this in the bud. She is not as active as normal and her little lean looks pitiful.

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She looked a bit slow when she was in the tub I thought but I think you'll get it straightened out quickly, look forward to hearing all about it so be sure to keep us updated.

Ok, I decided to start with niacin because in know she drink lots of water and it can get in her system right away. I'm on my 3rd pharmacy and my only niacin options are 250mg time release or 500mg no flush. No one has plain niacin anymore. The vitamin shop and health food store are closed. Which should I get?

jenniemig said:

Ok, I decided to start with niacin because in know she drink lots of water and it can get in her system right away. I'm on my 3rd pharmacy and my only niacin options are 250mg time release or 500mg no flush. No one has plain niacin anymore. The vitamin shop and health food store are closed. Which should I get?

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They say neither of the ones you just mentioned so I'd either wait till tomorrow and try the natural food store and if they don't have the plain then go with the brewers yeast. you asked for plain niacin? I know some have asked for it and they have had it behind the counter.