Am I screwing up with Brewer's Yeast?

[jmc]

Brewer's Yeast is not the same as Niacin, though it does contain it.

Some give straight Niacin in the water of their birds.

Holderread, if I read correctly, said to supplement Niacin with 100 to 150 mg of Brewer's Yeast per gal. of H2O.

Should I use straight Niacin. I have read that some put even 250 mg Niacin per gal. That is WAY more than Holderread speaks of.

Another thing, 150 mg of Brewer's Yeast is NOT the same as 150 mg of Niacin, cuz Brewer's Yeast only has a certain %age of Niacin in it. Get what I mean.

It seems that almost all our Campbells now have bumblefoot and I've been adding Brewer's Yeast at 140mg per gal. of water. But maybe that is way too low............

 

[tia]

That is a good question I would be interested to find out. I am using Brewr's Yeast flakes, and I know the health food store had Niacin tablets, maybe that is what I should be using....

Tia

 

[L0rraine]

I could use some guidance as well. Currently I sprinkle a rounded tablespoon of the powdered stuff over their morning feed (about four cups of feed). But it's expensive and if anyone can also suggest the cheapest approach, that would be appreciated as well.

 

[Dances with Ducks]

Just as a starting point here are Holderreads recommendations for a home-mixed ration for ducks:
http://books.google.com/books?id=DDBV8PeRJLMC&pg=PA285&dq=home-+mixed+adult+holderread#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Under Adult Ducks for Layers it is 7% brewers yeast.
Of course most of us are using commerical feeds that already have some amount of these nutrients already in them, the amount of brewers yeast necessary would be much less.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

William from Little Heirloom Acres recommends 250 mgs of Niacin per gallon of water. This is what I use with both my ducks and geese. So far we've had no foot/leg problems. I follow Williams recommendations like they were a bible on everything, food, water, supplements. They haven't failed me yet.

Laurie

 

[Duck Keeper]

Well, there can be nerve disorders without enough Niacin which causes leg issues and lameness - NOT bumblefoot.
Generally it's more of a problem in younger ducks and ducklings, so the lower concentration of niacin and other B vitamins etc. works better on their smaller bodies.
Bumblefoot is a teeny tiny cut or scrape on the pad of their foot which gets infected. So basically you aren't doing anything to alleviate bumblefoot.

But brewer's yeast is totally safe (unless you were to give them ultra mega high doses for some strange reason) so don't worry about it doing any harm.

 

[jmc]

Yes, I see that I was 'misremembering' Holderreads words.

He said 100-150mg NIACIN (NOT brewer's yeast as I was mistakenly thinking) as a supplement for young birds up to I think 10 wks. old.

And yes, as mentioned above Bumblefoot and Niacin have NO relation (according to Holderread, as well)

Yet, I have seen Niacin recommend on this site in the context of Bumblefoot. NO relation.

See Holderread again.

What does relate to Bumblefoot is: Vitamin A, Biotin, Riboflavin, and Pantothenic Acid (esp. Biotin). A deficiency here can lead to rough, cracked, lesioned pads and/or poss. Bumblefoot.

SOOOO, I can see that my adding a mere 140 mg Brewer's yeast per gallon of water (erroneusly thinking that's what Holderread said) has been doing ZILCH.

In short:
BREWER'S YEAST IS PREVENTIVE FOR BUMBLEFOOT ( and perhaps other things, of course)
NIACIN IS FOR OTHER LEG ISSUES, E.G. LAMENESS

That is how I read, and I think, I hope, I'm on target. If I'm off, so is DH in his book!

thank you, dear byc guys and dolls!!

 

[jmc]

Quote:
Dances, btw, at first I didn't really react (or maybe see the point) of your post (In my hasty reading).

But reflecting on it and looking at Holderread's book again (when I should've been sleeping) has been a real help!

I am really glad you mentioned that. Maybe I could get some yeast and introduce it thus into the feed. Cuz I am sure the absence of nutrients is what is plaguing the monastery's flock--and it is pretty bad now.

 

[Duck Keeper]

Quote:
Brewer's yeast is a preventative for neurological/locomotion issues in ducks' legs. It CONTAINS niacin, along with many other minute nutrients, which could (without further scientific research) be helpful in preventing bumblefoot. Although immaculately clean environments can help too, have fun trying to keep it clean in the first place.

For the most part, I've noticed that bumblefoot tends to go away on its own, or at least subside, even if you tried or didn't try to do something to it in the first place.
Of course, there's always the few cases that get way out of hand. Still, it's better to try to prevent it than have to try and fix it once it's started.

 

[Duck_feeder]

Quote:
Brewer's yeast contains far more vital nutrients than just niacin. It contains significant amoutn of B-comple vitamins including: B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine), B9 (folic acid), and H or B7 (biotin).

As you can see, other than vitamin A, all of the nutrients used for the prevention of bumblefoot AND treating other leg issues are contained in brewer's yeast (assuming of course the info reported here from Holderread is correct

)