Baby duck troubles! Bent leg and swollen face

[Sparkling]

We bought 8 baby ducks from a local hatchery on the friday before Easter. They were hatched April 12th so they are a little over a week and a half old now. We have 4 Khaki Campbells, 2 Buff Ducks and 2 Blue Swedish ducks.

One of the Campbells developed a swelling on her face about four days ago. I read on these forums that Baytril is the best antibiotic to treat that but the state of Idaho passed a law that went into effect in January making it so that nearly all antibiotics have to have a prescription now. I couldn't get in to the vet so they wouldn't prescribe it for me, but they said oxytetracycline would work just as well and I have some of that so I started her on that. It's not looking any better though, kind of looks worse to me. She is still eating and drinking and walking around, but doesn't seem to be growing as fast as the others. I messaged my favorite vet (she is a Mobile vet that treats large farm animals) and she said she doesn't know as much about ducks but she would look into it, so I'm still waiting on that. Does anyone know what else I might be able to do to help this little duck?

Then last night my son noticed that one of the buff ducks looks like her left leg is twisting inward. I have them all on vitamins with electrolytes and have been adding about 1/3rd of a capsule of B-Complex 100 to the water as well. I feel like I'm mixing a potion every time I change their water. They make a huge mess of their water, we have the waterer on top of a large plastic lid and they make a swamp out of it almost instantly. We change their straw to try to keep at least half their box dry twice a day. What would be causing her leg to twist? I read on one website that a red light can cause curled toes so we swapped it out with a white light late last night. I'm not 100% convinced the toes are curled it looks more like the leg is twisting. But I swapped it out anyway in case it might help. How long do you suppose before we see improvement?

 

[chickens really]

I have always used a red heat lamp and never have had an issue or curled toes........The red light is calming to Birds.....Never heard that before...

All Ducks have slight pigeon toes...........Do you provide water deep enough to dunk its head to wash its eyes and nares multiple times a day?.....

That could be the issue...


Best wishes.....

Cheers!

 

[Ducks4us]

What does your b complex capsule have in it?
They need niacin which is vitamin b3 they need.
The easiest way is in a niacin capsule which they need 150 mg of this per gallon of water - this needs to be a plain niacin capsule- NOT flush free And NOT time released
Or nutritional yeast or brewers yeast- which is 1 tablespoon per cup of feed
We use the nutritional yeast which works fantastic.
The toe curling is not from the red lights, but is most likely from a nutritional deficiency
You will need to get this started as soon as possible. And sometimes improvement is seen within a couple days .
Ducks legs should be pretty darn straight.
They waddle but their feet should not be turned in or curled.

 

[Sparkling]

This is the baby with the swollen cheek and the waterer that we have for them.

 

[Sparkling]

This is the complex. I looked for brewers yeast in the store but these people here never heard of it. Kind of baffling really. I didn't think brewers yeast was a new thing? If I still lived in Oregon I know I would be able to find it. But not in this part of Idaho apparently.
The brand is Solaray. They are high quality, I take these myself. Maybe I'm not adding enough to the water though?

 

[Sparkling]

Tried several shots having trouble getting a good pic of the buff duck with the bent leg. It's mostly her left leg.

 

[chickens really]

Your Brooder looks pretty crowded.......They need to exercise..



Best wishes..

 

[Ducks4us]

This is the complex. I looked for brewers yeast in the store but these people here never heard of it. Kind of baffling really. I didn't think brewers yeast was a new thing? If I still lived in Oregon I know I would be able to find it. But not in this part of Idaho apparently.
The brand is Solaray. They are high quality, I take these myself. Maybe I'm not adding enough to the water though?

Yeah it says 100 mg niacin. So 1/3 capsule is not enough.

That one with a swollen face looks really sad

I would swap out the waterer asap.
They really need to be able to dunk their head and clean their eyes and nose.
a vet would be best. But sicne you cant i would add
Organic apple cider vinegar with the mother (braggs is best brand)
To the water . It will help with infection. But that looks pretty bad.
I cant see your whole brooder. But looks like they will need a larger brooder soon.
Have you given them some swim time?

 

[Sparkling]

It's actually about 3.5 feet long and almost 2 feet wide. They just like to huddle together and I was trying to take closeup shots.

The brooder that is too small is the one for the chickens behind it. We are running out of big boxes. And our plastic tubs are too small.

 

[chickens really]

I was also thinking being they are in with the Chicks, the chicks could be pecking that Duckling..I would separate then ASAP....Deeper water bowls....

Best wishes..