Duckling Not Thriving - HELP!

[Tales from Duckingham]

I'm a first time duckling mom to 6 lovely ducklings. They are two weeks old today & straight out of the shipping box one was smaller and clearly weaker than the rest. She was also covered in green dye from the grow gel so I suspect since her legs were weak, she spent a lot of the trip at the bottom of the pile or crammed into the food cup.

The 5 others are growing like weeds, running playing and eating, etc. Little Faye tries, but her legs seem to not work right. I've hobbled them multiple times/ways trying to get it right over the last two weeks and it doesn't seem to help. Yes I am supplementing niacin and vitamins in food and water but in spite of all my efforts I'm at a loss to know how to help her thrive. She burns so many calories flapping her legs trying to right herself after falling over and clearly doesn't eat as much as the others. She almost lurches forward when she's eating and drinking. I'm uncertain if this is a vitamin deficiency or a neurological problem as her movements are often spastic. If I hold her she stops the "spastic" behaviors and is eager to eat and drink. She swims fine and doesn't topple over in water.

Help? Anyone seen any duckling come through anything like this and do well? Is there anything else I can try to help her legs?

 

[Isaac 0]

Hi, could you post a video of her flopping around next time she does it? What kind of vitamins are you administering? Picture of her legs would be great as well.

 

[Tales from Duckingham]

She is on a Poulin chick starter feed (20% protein), brewer's yeast powder over food and/or in water but mostly on food at ratio of 1.5 T. per cup of food since day 1, Save a Chick vitamin electrolyte water (and of course offering chick grit with probiotics.) Have given her a few doses of Pedialyte after she seems really tired when I hand feed her (especially if the larger birds are pushy and don't let her get as much food. She's smart and tends to eat when they sleep so she doesn't have to fight for the food.

When she is on her back, her legs "pedal" rapidly trying to right herself. She often pushes off to right herself, only to totally over compensate and flip right over the other way. Once she gets up and runs, she runs really fast but often is very clumsy and runs into things or lurches into her food/water bowl in the excitement to eat and yet not be able to control her legs. If I support her gently she can eat and drink normally.

When she first arrived, her feet were very much out in front of her compared to the other ducklings. She couldn't rest well as she couldn't really go down on her haunches but would kind of flop over. Now she can 'sit down' on her feet although when she walks they tend to point out to the sides and then if the surface is slippery or the wood chips slide, her feed def. splay outward.

 

[Isaac 0]

The symptom you are describing is known as "Leg paddling", is she showing any weakness or paralysis of the neck muscles? I'd really like to see a video of her. Can you put a thicker layer of wood chips down so when she applies pressure to her feet it doesn't slide?

 

[Tales from Duckingham]

She uses her neck to help her push off the ground (or tries) to get up and when I hold her she can move her neck around seems strong? She doesn't hang her head down or struggle to look around - often she arches her neck ahead towards her feet when she's on her back trying to propel herself in an upright position. Overall the rest of her seems strong and fiesty but not coordinated at all. She is probably half the size of the other ducklings.

She does not "stand up tall" like the other ducklings and if she tries to stretch up and flap her wings (which she is doing more the last few days than last week) she falls over very quickly. Very little balance. If I put her in a narrow cardboard box for instance she can jump quite high but if she did that in an open space she'd flop over right away.

I've tried multiple flooring options to offer her traction - no chips, just a towel with non skid padding, packed down chips, felt like material, uneven ground, even ground and she may take a few steps or one good run across the pen and then over she goes. They just moved to a 5' kiddie pool in my dining room and I have non stick shelf liner under the low dust wood chips to try to give her even more traction. Frankly she can usually get up easier if the surface is slightly uneven but when it's pretty even she cannot seem to get the momentum to get up. If she flaps legs and tiny wings hard enough she'll make it but sometimes she just has to lie there to rest, she's worked so hard. All it takes is a gentle push like an inch and she can right herself but it's usually a few seconds before she falls over and gets stuck on her back again. Often if she does get up she flops to the other side like she cant keep balance for long after movement.

As her body grows it will be harder for her to flip her body weight over. Her wings aren't growing very fast (the others have grown much more.) I wondered if she keeps growing and her wings grow, will she be able to use her wings to help her get up?

I wonder if I should try Vitamin E?

 

[Isaac 0]

I would start her on B complex and vitamin E, you can read this thread for more info.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/thiamine-deficiency-in-waterfowl.75690/

 

[Tales from Duckingham]

Is there a human grade supplement I should use that I could get more readily? We live in the middle of no where but have a Dollar General nearby with a decent healthcare section?

*Since I already have Brewer's yeast, should I simply increase the quantity I give her as an alternative along with Vit. E? Or is it just not enough?

 

[casportpony]

Does her belly feel or look larger than her siblings

 

[tamstertwo]

sorry to hear about yours; I'm going through the exact same thing right now. Prayers for the little one.

 

[Tales from Duckingham]

Does her belly feel or look larger than her siblings

I don't believe so and in fact she's all over MUCH smaller than the other 5. She's put on a slight amount of weight from last week and has grown a bit but again far below the other 5 in growth rate, size, bill length, feet, (her neck seems shorter too).