3 w/o duckling with splay leg now has a patch with no fur

[Miss Lydia]

Can you upload a video of your little duckling?

@HollowOfWisps
@CoriM
Any ideas to help this duckling?

I don't if any of this pertains but here is info on leg and foot issues
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/leg-foot-and-toe-issues-in-poultry-of-all-ages.68093/

Can the duckling put the leg straight?

 

[CoriM]

Were you able to located the liquid vitamin B complex and start giving that over treats, in their food, water, whatever it takes to make sure they get enough. - 1 ml a day per duck. Like @Miss Lydia said, brewers/nutritional yeast is good but the liquid Vitmain B is sort of a rescue option when things are going wrong, and you need that in this case. Some ducks need more niacin than others - pekins for example. I had a duckling with splay leg, where she got heavy so fast it became difficult to get up and her legs were splaying to the sides of her body. I used the stretchy vet wrap to make a hobbles for her and hold her legs in the proper position. Did this, along with the vitamin B complex for many weeks, and it corrected the problem. I'm not sure exactly how to brace a twisted leg, but check out the article Miss Lydia posted for ideas. I would think the trick is to figure out how to gently hold the leg in proper position while it strengthens from the extra niacin. The bald patch doesn't seem too concerning to me. I've had a duckling once that had a bald spot on the side of its head and I was worried at the time, but it was nothing and eventually she just grew feathers over that area. As long as the other ducks aren't picking on her and she's not burning herself on a lamp or heat table, it's probably nothing to worry about. If you posted a video of your baby trying to walk it might help others have ideas for you. I attached a photo of what my ducklings looked like with their hobbles on - much bigger than your little ones!

 

[HollowOfWisps]

The bald patch doesn't look concerning. I have ducklings get bald patches right around this age quite often and then start to grow in pin feathers a little bit later.

For the legs. Switch to only the puppy pads and remove the shavings. The shavings can be difficult for ducklings with leg issues to walk in and make matters worse. They need solid ground. I agree with @Miss Lydia to start Durvet's B complex immediately. It might take a couple of weeks to really take affect if the niacin deficiency is bad enough. What type of tape are you using?

 

[Miss Lydia]

@injeniera

 

[tessandherducks]

Hi everyone! I hope someone can help me!! I have 3 ducklings, they are around 3 weeks old.

About a week ago, one of the ducklings had a weird leg and I read I had to supplement their feed with niacin, 'cause where I live there is no specific food for ducks and they are eating baby chick food. We supplemented inmediately, and 24 - 36 hours later, he was fine... but then! About 2 to 3 days later, another ducklings leg twisted, it was straight behind him! So we used the bandaid trick, and he started getting up a little...
That was like, 3 days ago, and the thing is that now he has a patch with no fur, and I'm a bit worried... should I be concerned? The other 2 ducklings are thriving!! I've seen him eat and drink... what could it be?

The cage has a puppy pad as a base and 2 cm of shaving for bedding

I hope someone can help me

This is the furless patch:
View attachment 3399417

Here he is "standing up" with a little help (he does it on his own sometimes)

View attachment 3399416

is the food unmedicated?

 

[injeniera]

Yes, it is.
I've been meaning to update all of you who took the time to try and help me with this issue.

So, two - three days after my last comment, one of the others ducklings passed away. He started with diarrhea and suddenly he was gone... the one with the bad leg was getting a liiiiittle better, but! He fell in the water bowl, which wasn't deep, so he didn't drown, but it took all of his strength to get out, and it was downhill from there. He passed away 24 hours later.

I believe the 2 ducklings that passed away might have had something different, cause they were around 1/3 of the one that survived!!

The remaining duckling is great, he loves to be held, growing strong, etc. So it is a sad story, with a sour-sweet ending. This is him/her happy in my arms

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry that you lost 2 of them. Hopefully the remaining duck will survive.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yes, it is.
I've been meaning to update all of you who took the time to try and help me with this issue.

So, two - three days after my last comment, one of the others ducklings passed away. He started with diarrhea and suddenly he was gone... the one with the bad leg was getting a liiiiittle better, but! He fell in the water bowl, which wasn't deep, so he didn't drown, but it took all of his strength to get out, and it was downhill from there. He passed away 24 hours later.

I believe the 2 ducklings that passed away might have had something different, cause they were around 1/3 of the one that survived!!

The remaining duckling is great, he loves to be held, growing strong, etc. So it is a sad story, with a sour-sweet ending. This is him/her happy in my arms

View attachment 3413809

What a precious duckling. Are you going to try and find some buddies for company?

I am so sorry you lost the other 2.