What kind of niacin should I give my ducklings?

[saraelizabeth]

I've been lookin all over for niacin and I can't find any besides the flush free which I read is bad. So I've decide just to order some off of amazon. Does anybody recommend a certain kind of can you tell me what kind you get? Thanks in advance!

 

[julhardick]

I use this brand and it seems to do the trick

 

[Amiga]

That's good to see (c:

I want to add that generally, plain niacin is best. But if that worked, yay!

@saraelizabeth
Here is a writeup I saved regarding B vitamins and ducklings. (You will see I emphasize plain niacin

)


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.

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

 

[saraelizabeth]

Are all Brewers yeasts basically the same? I don't need any special brand or anything? Also, I'm a first time duck owner (obviously haha) and I've read different things on giving ducklings grit. Is this a necessary thing?

 

[Amiga]

Stoney's Guide recommends giving a tiny sprinkling of chick grit on their food so that they can digest things other than just crumbles.

Brewer's yeast should be fairly standard, if I understand correctly, regardless of brand.

 

[saraelizabeth]

Thank you very much!

 

[Amiga]

And I see I omitted how much brewer's yeast. Oy.

Many folks use a tablespoon brewer's yeast per cup of food.

 

[saraelizabeth]

Sorry another question. I have them on chick starter is there too much protein in it?

 

[Amiga]

I doubt there is too much protein in the chick starter. I need to close down for the night, but if the chick starter is really high in protein (check the Raising Ducklings sticky or Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks, I think the recommended protein levels are in there), you can add some chopped rolled (not instant) oats to lower the protein. If you need the arithmetic to do it, please let me know and (Lord willing) tomorrow I can calculate that for you - I just need to know the protein percentage of the feed.

Usually the issue with chick starter is insufficient B vitamins especially niacin. And not all ducklings seem affected....

 

[dotknott]

I believe 20% protein is common in the starter feeds which should be okay for the first few weeks. Some folks I know start dropping protein to 16-18% after a few weeks.

What's the nutritional label on your feed say?