Baby pekin ducks having trouble walking

[caseyahall]

We recently got a baby pekin duck and a baby mallard, unsure of age but guessing under a week. The pekin seems to have poor balance compared to the mallard. He sits more on his elbows vs standing on his feet and is very wobbly. The mallard can lay and groom himself while the pekin tends to fall over. And to me it seems like he does circles at times when walking around. He is eating,drinking, and going to the bathroom fine and he can walk, just seems a little off balance. Is this normal for pekins? Do they take longer to grow into their legs? We are giving them a poultry probiotic with niacin in their water.

 

[Ducks4us]

What kind of feed are you feeding them? Sounds like it may need more niacin that its getting.
I use nutritional yeast powder and sprinkle it on their food. Since it has more niacin than brewers yeast
Last year i had a pekin have xtra trouble and it seemed the niacin capsules in the water just wasnt enough.
What kind of niacin are you using?

 

[caseyahall]

I'm using the dumor poultry chick 24% starter grower. And durvet probiotics daily for poultry. It has 250mg of niacin in it along with other things. He isn't having a very hard time, just seems wobbly at times

 

[Ducks4us]

Okay, i feed flock raiser since it has some niacin. And chick feed i beleive does not. So they usually need even more when on chick feed.
And then i sprinkle nutritional yeast on each bowl of feed i give them. I think they get more this way.
But my pekins were still much lazier than the othee breeds i had at the time. More laying around. But i wouldnt say wobbly. But they grow so much faster than the others for sure.

 

[TLWR]

that probiotic has 25 mg of Niacin. I would be adding more - pekins are big birds and grow fast, so your baby will need more than he's getting.

 

[caseyahall]

Can I get something at Wal-Mart or tsc? My fiance went out and got the probiotic without me so he didn't know what to look for.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Can I get something at Wal-Mart or tsc? My fiance went out and got the probiotic without me so he didn't know what to look for.

If you use niacin supplement it has to be plain niacin not time released or flush free. I suggest Nutritional yeast 1 tab per cup of feed. To me it's easier to find [natural food store] maybe Whole foods.

Pekins really grow fast so getting this lil one the nutrient asap is important.

Forgot to ask is your Pekin crested[fluff of feathers on top of it's head?]

@caseyahall
Welcome to BYC

 

[caseyahall]

He is not a crested. He seems to be doing a little worse today. Falls over on his back and is unable to get back up. We are going to try and find something for him now.

 

[casportpony]

Okay, i feed flock raiser since it has some niacin. And chick feed i beleive does not. So they usually need even more when on chick feed.
And then i sprinkle nutritional yeast on each bowl of feed i give them. I think they get more this way.
But my pekins were still much lazier than the othee breeds i had at the time. More laying around. But i wouldnt say wobbly. But they grow so much faster than the others for sure.

Chick starter *has* niacin, just not enough, because chicken chicks don't need as much as ducklings. Flock raiser has more because it's formulated for all fowl, some of which need even more niacin than ducklings.

 

[casportpony]

http://metzerfarms.blogspot.com/2011/03/are-my-ducklings-leg-problems-due-to.html