Adult Pekin Drake legs are failing him - any advice

[mollyskiess]

hello, so we have a jumbo pekin drake (his name is Otis), he is about 2 years old now. Otis has always been bowlegged since he was a baby. We didn't spot it in time when to do any preventative help. From a baby Otis has always had many issues walking, but he could walk and get around, swim and all the fun stuff. But now he has stopped being able to support himself and get around.

He is still a very lively talker, loves to eat and drink, plus try and go after our girls. He doesn't to be showing any illness like our turkey who had the same issue happen.*

*We had a turkey named Edgar, she was an American Broad Breasted Turkey. She first got sick, we don't know 100% with what, we believe it was blackhead maybe since she was kept with chickens and ducks. She just stopped wanting to eat, move, get up, walk, and or anything really. We did end up having her put down at our vet.

So we aren't sure if its just the issue of him being too heavy and his leg muscles have given out, if he doesn't have enough niacin in his diet, or maybe just his jumbo pekin duck gene's unhappy he has been able to live so long, since in the end he is a meat bird.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. We are wondering if we should make him a duck wheelchair, but I'm not sure if its a good thing to do by him. Our coop is not built to be wheelchair friendly. We love him very very dearly, and want to do whatever is best by him.

Thank you

 

[Miss Lydia]

Have you tried any niacin added to his diet along the way? Yes all your saying about him being a heavy duck [meat bird] not intended to live long just until slaughter which is around 12 weeks old. But these people who developed these precious ducks didn't take into consideration we would want them for pets. So from around 1-2 weeks of age they need to be supplemented with niacin , now that he is 2 yrs old is bow-leggedness; will probably not be fixed but you may get him back up on his legs if you try starting him asap on some liquid b complex. I always say lets try this since it's an inexpensive treatment and alot of times helps. Plus some good everyday water therapy to keep those leg muscles moving. This info explains it all and what to get and where.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/
sure hope this will help Otis. He sounds adorable and still has the will.
When doing water therapy make sure he doesn't try and jump out of the pool on already weak legs. It will be best you supervise.

 

[KaleIAm]

Great post by Miss Lydia.

If Otis is overweight having him go on a gentle diet might help reduce the pressure on his legs. Having him float in water deep enough that his legs won't touch the bottom can also help relieve the pressure.

If you can take him to a vet for x-rays they might be able to tell you if he has arthritis and start him on pain medication. That helped my pekin a lot.