Duck experts needed...

Hi everyone, I haven't been on here in a very long time but I find myself needing some help with a friends duck.

The duck is a Pekin male and has limped some since they got him as a duckling. He is 6 months old and has lived in the house at night and out during the day so he's not acclimated to the weather very well. As of late his limp had gotten really bad and he had a sore ( looks like bumblefoot but on the back of his "knee" NOT foot/ankle area). I had them clean it out and take the core out and started him on Tylan 200 for infection as it was warm to the touch. This has cleared up very well,and has just a surface scab now with good healthy pink skin underneath. Shortly after that cleared up he got pneumonia and needed treating with Tylan again. He is over that as well but there has been no improvement in his walk.In fact, he has lost control in his other ankle it seems. He ends up not moving much but when he does, he is lying on his belly, wings outstretched and scooting.....or he limps horribly and flaps like crazy to move forward.

Diet as far as I know has always been Purina Flock...18 % protein. I advised her to get a lower protein so she got Dumor Layer from TSC. I am at a loss as to how to help. My husband and I took the duck in to try and make a brace for his one leg, (we thought he might have broken it at one point but now not so sure) the joint is swollen and has the scab ( like bumblefoot) on it. That's the leg he doesn't use...the other in the last two days now buckles at the ankle

Could this be diet related? or am I hoping for the best? If it was my duck, he would have been culled but this is their pet...so I'd like to try harder to get him better. As it is right now, he has stained under feathers and has to be put in the tub to bathe because he can't get into anything on his own. I need suggestions on what it could be from and also what vitamins would be the best benefit for him...

Thanks so much in advance!

This pic shows where the sore is...I guess it is considered the ankle on a duck? But I really feel it's unrelated at this point.

I am not sure if Drakes should be eating layer feed......?.....Mine are all on Duck finisher, low corn old style scratch and oat and barley crumbles with daily veggies.....Dry cat food once a week as a treat.....I do not think he needs the Calcium?


@Miss Lydia is a great help.........or @Amiga

Dumor may not have the B vitamins needed, so I would get B complex vitamins anddissolve them in drinking water. Use the amount of niacin - B3 - in the vitamins and put 150 mg niacin per gallon of water. The rest of the vitamins in the pill would then be in proper proportion.

I would also start adding a quarter teaspoon turmeric to a cup of well moistened food, and give supervised time in a lukewarm tub of water for a few minutes at a time a few times a day.

Please keep us posted. Hugs!

I agree with @Amiga about the vitamin B. And @Miss Lydia is correct drakes should not get extra calcium.

I just wanted to comment on the feed because I see this so often. 18% feed and 16% layer feed are pretty much the same thing except for the calcium.

Layer foods contain about 4% calcium which assuming it comes as 38% calcium from oyster shell would require the food to be about 10.5% oyster shell. That leaves 89.5% "food". 89.5% of 18%=16.1%

If you are trying to lower the protein percentage of their diet, I would think it would be more effective to feed them lower protein supplements such as fruit, veggies and grains along with their food (for what it is worth, a duck egg contains about 12% protein so that would also lower protein content somewhat.)

Conversely if you are trying to raise their protein (for molts and such) you can provide them with some high protein supplements (dried meal worms - 53% protein, chicken breast 31%, most fish are in the low 20s range).

I was thinking to start him on bcomplex...and brewers yeast. How much bcomplex should I give? I have injectable from TSC @Amiga

So you think the Purina Flock is good? Just add veggies and fruits?

NYRIR said:

So you think the Purina Flock is good? Just add veggies and fruits?

Click to expand...

I think that should be fine. Adult ducks should do fine and you are addressing the niacin issue. I use Nutrina All-Flock since it is formulated with ducks/turkeys in mind, but I don't know if it makes any real difference. My ducks like peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew, all kinds of lettuce, grapes, and some like apples (kind of hit or miss).

NYRIR said:

I was thinking to start him on bcomplex...and brewers yeast. How much bcomplex should I give? I have injectable from TSC @Amiga

Click to expand...

Mercy, injectable I have not dealt with - just been keeping up with the recommendations from Storey's Guide, which is 150 mg niacin per gallon of drinking water for 8 weeks or so.

I have made some back-of-the-envelope guesses about how much niacin that provides for a duckling. I'll show you my figuring.

Best Guess on Brewer’s Yeast Equivalents

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.
--------
the above were my thoughts from a while back. Now to translate that to injectable? In over my depth, here. @casportpony - anyone else do this kind of thing? I will look in my Ultimate Pet Duck Guidebook, see if there are any notes in there.

No dosages mentioned in TUPDG - just mention that vets sometimes give ducklings injections of B vitamins and that care must be taken not to overdose.

So I'll be starting the brewers yeast tomorrow...how much do I give?