6 week old Peking duck can't walk properly

[dbloom]

I have two 6 week old Peking ducks and one of them can not walk normally. One of his legs is basicly underneath him but behind and the other is held way out to the side and sort of twisted under him. It happened fairly suddenly about 2 weeks ago and ever since I hAve been supplementing them with niacin but he hasn't improved. I did notice he walked a little strange when I first got him but I thought he just had big feet as he would kind of step on top of the other one, but not drastically and suddenly it got pretty bad. Other than giving the niacin which isn't helping I don't know what else todo. He seems healthy otherwise. They are on shavings and kept inside since I live in michigan and the weather sucks here, so he doesn't get a ton of exercise right now, but he doesn't walk much anyways since he kind of flops around and wobbles. Any suggestions??

 

[Amiga]

I would give a poultry multi vitamin and let him swim in lukewarm water as much as possible. He may just be gimpy, but many ducks manage like that in a safe environment with a little help.

 

[suzannevans]

I had the same situation happen, got two Pekin ducks before Easter. One was CRAZY

all the time and I mean CRAZY ( I called him my crack baby) and the other just lays around and lets all the little chickies snuggle up to her. So "Crack Baby" became Weizer and the other we named Mama Aflec.This is our first experience with them so we just thought it was their personalities. Then we discovered that Mama has the same symptoms as yours has. There was a couple of small kids holding them when we were waiting for someone to help us when we got them, one of the ducks jumped out of her hand and it was about 3 feet off the ground so we thought we just got the one that had been dropped. For the most part she does well except she has a place on one her wing (we think she rubs a raw spot on herself when she walks around a lot because of her improper balance) and the chickens peck on it and make it bleed, so I've had to quarantine her twice, she's there now. Mama will squack and Weizer will go over to Mama and lay his head over her wing so the chicks can't get to it. It's very sweet though it is sad.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Haunted one of our members has a Muscovy duck that she has been treating with leg issues she found that just putting the niacin tablet into the water bowl 2X a day was helping better than mixing it in because her duck was picking the tablet up and eating it at once. you might try adding some frozen peas to the waterer along with the niacin tablet then as your duckling is bobbing for peas he can eat the niacin tab too. not many peas just a few to get him bobbing. She says she is seeing much improvement since doing it this way.

 

[dbloom]

I could try that or I was thinking of crushing the tablet In a syringe And giving it to him directly since I do have another duck. I bought 100 mg tablets and read that it should be 100 mg per gallon. I cut the pill in half and dissolve it in the dish which is about a half gallon. They drink all their water and I do this twice a day. Wondering if he's not getting enough but also read they can over dose so was afraid to do any more. I just have seen absolutely no improvement and have been doing this for about two weeks so was thinking it has to be something else. Any other suggestions? I'm going to get the vitamin I read about giving them today that's a children's vitamin believe its called PolyVita.

 

[dbloom]

He tries so hard to walk and I feel terrible watching him struggle and not able to keep balance well because his feet aren't in the proper position. Also feel like I should limit his living quarters just because wasn't sure if struggling even more will just cause more problems?

 

[dbloom]

I can also add that I can't find a veterinarian that sees ducks within an hour of me

 

[Amiga]

He tries so hard to walk and I feel terrible watching him struggle and not able to keep balance well because his feet aren't in the proper position. Also feel like I should limit his living quarters just because wasn't sure if struggling even more will just cause more problems?

Yes, limit his motion for now, give him some chances to swim in lukewarm water, and get out and about a bit for fresh air, but keep him restricted for a bit, is what I think I would do.

 

[dbloom]

Calling the closest vet I found tomorrow. Talked to a friend of mine who thought it might be related to a calcium deficiency instead.

 

[carlye828]

Did you ever figure out what the issue was? I have a Peking with what sounds like the same thing. One leg is fine, the other seems paler, a bit smaller and is just about useless to her. I have been supplementing niacin from the get-go & calcium for a while (over a month) with no significant or permanent improvement. I recently met a woman who asked her vet, who specializes in birds, about my duck. He said it may be a magnesium deficiency & if so it may be corrected. I have not been into see him yet, but started her on magnesium yesterday. Today she walked a bit for the first time in several days.

Just wondering if you had any new info on your situation.