Can Niacin be overdosed?

[Miss Lydia]

When I have to pick up my Runners I am amazed at how light they are. Especially my drake Snoop, But that is just the way they are thin and upright. If Limpy is eating good but still struggling you may want to make a smaller area for him like we talked about before especially over winter so the feed he does eat isn't run off so fast. he is def going to need some special attention. Trying to keep up with every one he isn't keeping enough reserves to help him and cold weather may take it's toll. I know it will be rough for him not to be able to run around with everyone but you could rotate the others in with him so he isn't lonely, but it maybe the only way to get him through the cold weather.

 

[CayugaJana]

What about getting something like pediasure or the bird equivalent and tube feed him for a week or two? So he can put on some strength and weight before winter. I know that’s a lot of work....

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

He isn't eating well over the day, when the other four are running from A to B to C to D to … (runner ducks!) he follows them, but at the new location he sits down and rests instead of foraging. This evening i had him on my lap, feeding him his portion of meal worm soup (with a little vitamin C, niacin and dextrose), with no competition he ate only half of it then wanted to be released to his friends. He is still strong, he flew from my lap almost 5 meters to the grass where he belly-landed. But he's only feathers, bones and muscles no fat at all. Unfortunately i don't have a scale to weight him, beginning of September he weighted 2.2 lbs and i doubt he has gained any weight at all.

Is he getting feed too?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

My husband loves your runners! He wanted to get runners, but alas, we must have near silent ducks until we move to the country.

We use a vitamin supplement once every 2 days that is liquid. I have to work it into the crumble. Our feedstore also had us buy wild bird seed with cracked corn, black oil sunflower seeds, millet, and other seeds for our now 6 month olds. We also give our ducks live fish for hunting twice a month.

My oldest Muscovy, Confetti, ran into issues at about 9 weeks old where she wasn't eating well. It was affecting her movement, her activity, everything. I panicked, came on here to read everyone's talk about birds suffering from not eating well and ended up hand feeding much like you. I gave her a mixture of finely chopped romaine, grapes, tomatoes, crumble, oats and watermelon. I also held a bowl of water for her to drink from as she ate. I did this for a week. She obviously recovered, but it was a scary time. All of the foods in her meals that week contained niacin. I made sure I did the research.

Where in SC-Texas do you live? - I lived for 11 years in the Houston area and i miss the warm weather there, we're supposed to get frost tomorrow night.

Why do you need quiet ducks? HOA-trouble? Move away! In the area where i lived there were many Hispanics who wanted chicken and many south-east Asians who wanted ducks and the HOA wouldn't allow. 75% of all home owners must agree to change the rules, so we said »duck you« and move to WV.
And bought six little ducklings from the local farm-store who turned out to be Indian Runners, lucky, they could have been very talkative Pekins… even that would not have bothered our neighbors because we have none! From what i know about ducks (and that is not much) the runner ducks are the most funny. Ours have developed an interesting flying technique: Run down the hill, lift off, keep the "landing gear" retracted and land on the belly.
I think Limpy will get some peas with meal-worms tonight and i have added niacin and Vitamin C to their water supply. Limpy walks like a stork in cold weather, he maybe has developed joint problems. (?)

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

When I have to pick up my Runners I am amazed at how light they are. Especially my drake Snoop, But that is just the way they are thin and upright. If Limpy is eating good but still struggling you may want to make a smaller area for him like we talked about before especially over winter so the feed he does eat isn't run off so fast. he is def going to need some special attention. Trying to keep up with every one he isn't keeping enough reserves to help him and cold weather may take it's toll. I know it will be rough for him not to be able to run around with everyone but you could rotate the others in with him so he isn't lonely, but it maybe the only way to get him through the cold weather.

As my Ducks, with the help of the wet weather, have turned the area in front of our house into a clay-pit, they will have to get used to the way smaller area at the side of the house which is also a bit protected from the prevailing winds. Let's see how Limpy is doing there, not much running around and no large pool. Those Ducks are simply inseparable, when i have Limpy on my lap, the others are quacking at me and observing every move i make, i just can't keep him separate, but when it will become really cold all Ducks will be locked up on the duck-patio for most of the day.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

What about getting something like pediasure or the bird equivalent and tube feed him for a week or two? So he can put on some strength and weight before winter. I know that’s a lot of work....

It's not that he wouldn't eat - on my lap. He is also the first duck at the supper bowl, just over the day he's not eating well. He is either too exhausted from limping around or just a day-dreamer and forgets about food… Tube feeding will be my very last resort.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Is he getting feed too?

Yes, the ducks have their 5lbs feeder with meat-bird crumbles hanging on their patio all day long and usually i must refill it every 3-5 days, depending on the weather. They also have access to drinking water and they all get a large supper-bowl every evening with watered cracked corn, tomatoes, lettuce, peas, meal-worms, herbs (they don't like basil, but love peppermint). Limpy gets some extra before they get the supper-bowl.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Can they eat out of that chicken feeder okay their bills are t too wide? Maybe if Limpy had a bowl of feed on the floor he’d be able to eat better. Might make it a struggle for him being wobbly on his legs?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Can they eat out of that chicken feeder okay their bills are t too wide? Maybe if Limpy had a bowl of feed on the floor he’d be able to eat better. Might make it a struggle for him being wobbly on his legs?

It's not a chicken feeder, it's called a »Poultry Feeder« and it is actually 7 lbs. It is dangling from the roof at a convenient height for the duck bill, but high enough so that they cannot get in from the top and choke themselves out of greed.
As you can see on the DuckyCam he can reach the food.
Today he pulled of quite a stunt: It was raining the whole day, the duck-area is muddy and slippery and when i tried to pick him up he ran. Ten fast steps and then stop. Another ten fast steps and then stop. Five times until i slipped and almost fell into the mud - i swear all the ducks were laughing!
Then he ganged up with "Curiosity Duck" and "Duck with no name": I tried to feed him yummy meal-worms with peas and tomato bits (yes and Niacin, Vitamin C and dextrose) and he refused to eat. His two sisters came up to me and tried to sneak away with the supper-bowl. One moment not paying full attention to Limpy and off he went, 8 feet into the air and a belly flop into the deepest puddle of mud. He looked somewhat like a buff duck.
@CayugaJana's tube feeding idea suddenly does sound auspiciously! I just need to grow a third arm…

 

[SkyeT]

@WannaBeHillBilly

We live in San Antonio, Tx. Our HOA does state no poultry... but we didn't realize this until after we bought our ducks. San Antonio says 8 or less fowl are allowed in an enclosed yard without a permit. Our HOA isn't exactly powerful. Our fees are voluntary and they always say "call 3-1-1" when someone complains about something. The constitution says that if we are violating a city law, they can take us to court. Well... we are within the law.

We also just want to be good neighbors. I hate it when someone has a dog that absolutely will not shut up, no matter the time of day and the owners never even attempt to keep the dog somewhat quiet. We really like our immediate neighbors!

We will eventually move, but we are not in a place where we can. Our boys are 17 and 18, so we want to remain in place until they are done with HS and confidently into the next phase, whether college or military.

Runners will be the priority once we move!

I love your set-up for your ducks. They have it pretty sweet. Limpy is a cool duck!