4 Week Old Pigeon Toed Pekin Loosing Weight - Help Please

[Iamgrateful]

Hi Troy - I have had the exact same thing happen! My baby Pekin ducks were doing great, I went out of town for 6 days (husband was feeding and watering them) and when I came back, one of my 4 week old Pekins (the biggest one) could no longer stand up. It's hips are protruding outward. I started Niacin immediately (100 mg crushed and added to large bowl of water). I also added different vegetables (peas and bok choy leaves) and corn meal for added nutrients. I did see some improvement (duck was able to stand) but the legs were still totally crossed leaving it almost totally unable to walk. I recently added some "poly-vi-sol (baby vitamins) without iron" (I bought the generic brand at Rite Aid for $6 - the pharmacy had it behind the counter) to their water in the morning. Slowly the duck seems to be improving slightly. The legs are still crossed but not as much as they were. The duck is swimming everyday in a kiddie pool for exercise and is swimming better and better each day! Walking is still a huge challenge but it is taking some wobbly steps at least. I also supervise when they are fed to make sure she is right at the food/water and eating and drinking. It seems to be eating and drinking just fine!

I'm hoping that I will continue to see some improvement to the point where the duck will be able to walk sufficiently. I still have no idea what happened to make the duck unable to walk. I'm thinking it was the mistake of feeding Chicken Starter alone. Perhaps its OK for some ducks but not enough for the fastest growing ducks.

Please let me know your ducks progress and what you are trying if you would. I am so interested to see how they both do. Good luck!!

 

[TroyBlackburn]

Update...

I took the duck to the vet last Friday (June 1st); I was primarily concerned about his legs and whether they would continue to be bowed and if he would continue to have problems walking through his lifetime... However, when the vet examined him, he noticed that he had a fever, he did blood work and the ducks white blood cell level was high, indicating an infection. The vet gave us some antibiotics to give him twice a day and told us that if it's a viral infection his chances are poor, but that they are better if it's a bacterial infection his chances are better. He seems to be getting stronger and he's definately gaining weight again, so we're hoping for the best. I've got a follow up appointment for him this Friday.

 

[Amiga]

Thanks for the update! So glad you could get him to a vet!!

 

[TroyBlackburn]

Thanks for the update! So glad you could get him to a vet!!

Thanks... Looking back though, I should have taken him to the vet as soon as I got back and noticed that he had lost so much weight. I'll post another update after his appointment this Friday.

 

[Amiga]

It is always a difficult call with a duck. They hide serious illness so well, and one symptom can be the same for five different conditions. You seem to be on track now, I pray it is bacterial, not viral, and that he bounces back quickly! Good to know he seems better already!

 

[Rachelssmiles]

Wow, I'm glad I found this post. I noticed that my little duckling is slightly pigeon toed. >< She walks fine and has no problems, but I will start her on some Niacin ASAP! May as well make it a habit!

 

[TroyBlackburn]

Wow, I'm glad I found this post. I noticed that my little duckling is slightly pigeon toed. >< She walks fine and has no problems, but I will start her on some Niacin ASAP! May as well make it a habit!

This has been a learning experience for me. I had chickens and ducks growing up, all the way until college; however that was so long ago I've forgotten a LOT and there was no such thing as online... well online anything! So, I'm relearning a lot that I had forgotten and a lot that I never knew.

A lot of feed stores will tell you that the Chicken Starter/Grower feed is sufficient for Ducks... They're wrong! Even the feed stores that sell checkens and ducks usually sell them before you would start to see any negative impact due to any deficiencies in the food. It's probably fair to say that most ducks would get by fine on Chicken Starter/Grower, however I've had my local feed store order Water Fowl Starter/Grower and will never start any water fowl on Chicken food again. Chicken Starter/Grower is simply not designed to meet a ducks nutritional needs.

 

[TroyBlackburn]

It is always a difficult call with a duck. They hide serious illness so well, and one symptom can be the same for five different conditions. You seem to be on track now, I pray it is bacterial, not viral, and that he bounces back quickly! Good to know he seems better already!

Thank You! I'm cautiously optomistic. He's gaining weight and seems to be getting stronger, I hope that is a sign that he's going to beat this. Time will tell.

 

[Rachelssmiles]

This has been a learning experience for me. I had chickens and ducks growing up, all the way until college; however that was so long ago I've forgotten a LOT and there was no such thing as online... well online anything! So, I'm relearning a lot that I had forgotten and a lot that I never knew.

A lot of feed stores will tell you that the Chicken Starter/Grower feed is sufficient for Ducks... They're wrong! Even the feed stores that sell checkens and ducks usually sell them before you would start to see any negative impact due to any deficiencies in the food. It's probably fair to say that most ducks would get by fine on Chicken Starter/Grower, however I've had my local feed store order Water Fowl Starter/Grower and will never start any water fowl on Chicken food again. Chicken Starter/Grower is simply not designed to meet a ducks nutritional needs.

I will keep

for your little one. Yes, it's strange because I've been raising ducks for a few years now and none of them have had this problem! It's a bit frustrating because you want to give them the best start. >< It's definately a learning experience and now it's becoming a hobby very quickly. haha. Do they have duck starter food somewhere? I read that eggs are packed full of niacin. could you possibly mash up some eggs to give them some extra niacin, and I wonder how much niacin is TOO much niacin.

 

[Iamgrateful]

I've been giving my Pekin ducks Niacin (100 mg) each day sprinkled over their food. Now for the past 3 weeks or so I have been giving Poly Vi Sol (without iron) vitamins to them in their water each morning. The Pekin that had the severly crossed legs is doing better! It is now able to walk and the legs are now just more turned in rather than crossed. The other Pekin had just slightly turned in legs and now they are almost completely straight! I think having them swim each day in their pool has helped to strengthen their legs as well.

I also suspect the "Chicken starter" was not good enough. I have switched them to a food that atleast says its for the entire flock (couldn't find any baby duck food and was told they can't have duck pellets until 6 months old...??) So I just have been giving them fresh vegetables and some fruits (peas, bok choy, grapes) with their food to supplement.

I am happy with their improvement and hope all of your ducks see improvement as well.