Day old Duckling's Feet are Curled Under

[Dale Fish]

Can you post a pic? @Dale Fish[/QUOTomorrow, I can!

Can you post a pic? @Dale Fish

Tomorrow, I can!

 

[drumstick diva]

Hoping for the best possible outcome

 

[Dale Fish]

 

[Miss Lydia]

I think a vet would be your best recourse. or you could look up Poultry pedia they have a section on foot and leg problems
I'd def get all your young ducks on some form of Niacin either in plain niacin tablets or capsules 150mgs per gallon of water or Nutritional yeast 1 tab per cup of feed. usually leg and foot issues are from lack of B3 which is niacin

Can your duck get around okay?

 

[Dale Fish]

He does scoot around on his knees and belly.

 

[Dubelj01]

I have a duckling, about 6 weeks old. One leg is fine, the other was good up until a few weeks ago. It started with a little limp and is has progressively gotten worse and worse every day. Now it sort of looks like the leg that is sideways on the ground in the picture from post #23, only it is rearward almost 90 degrees, stretched out to the side. He does not stand on that foot now, but on the elbow, making getting around for him very difficult.. he does not seem to be in pain.

I brought him to the vet, xrays were taken and no breaks were seen.. I thought it was possibly a slipped ligament but the vet seemed to think otherwise and that it was rather an infection.. I have had him on antibiotics but it has not improved. Bakers yeast has not been helping. Water therapy has not been helping.

His hock joint on the leg in question is twice the size of the other. I have been trying to move the ligaments around in his hock joint gently but it hasn't helped. I can stretch his leg out rearward, and when it is stretched out, looks normal. But in a normal position, looks very wrong. I don't know what to do.

Any helpful tips or suggestions?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Bakers yeast won’t do a thing for them except swell in their tummy’s. It’s nutritional yeast that you want but since your is having problems I’d get BComplex liquid and start it ASAP go to Walmart and get human and give 3 mls a day or TSC and get liquid for cattle and give 1 ml a day both given orally did the vet say anything about splinting the leg in proper alignment to see if that would help poor thing will ruin his knee maybe you tube would have a video on how to splint?

 

[Dubelj01]

I had been giving him bakers yeast as many posts on this site had been suggesting it for similar issues. YouTube and Google have not really been a good resource for help with this particular issue either.

The vet has experience with wildlife, ducks, eagles, other wild birds but it seemed to me she was at a loss as to identifing the cause of the issue, as well as suggestions of correcting. I feel like she had misdiagnosed him by prescribing antibiotics. No other vets will see him.

We have tried keeping him off it by setting him up in a raised sling for a while but it didnt help. I would try to maneuver it into a correct position and hold it with a splint but I dont want to hurt him.

I only want the best for this guy but with the improper diagnosis given, and being hopeful that it would sort itself out like the vet had been suggesting it would, I feel like it is too late to correct

I will splint if you think I should but how? In a standing position? In a sitting position? Should the ligament just fall in its proper place on it's own after being splinted a while (provided that is the problem after all)?

It's been about 2 weeks since this all began

 

[Miss Lydia]

Really hard to say if after 2 weeks it could get better . I woul think if splinting you’d have to keep him in a sling just for comfort. Only thing that comes to mind is the foam lengths for putting around plumbing pipes and vet wrap to keep it on. Can you post a pic of his leg you said you can move it into the right position. What about his hip area did she check that out. Is the swelling caused by him using his knee to get around? Or has it been swollen all the time and since it’s been 2 weeks could this be an injury?

 

[Dubelj01]

Yes the vet mentioned that it could be an injury in the hip when we were talking before the xrays but when she came back she said there were no visible injuries to be seen, anywhere. She said the knee looked normal on the xray.. but to me, the knee at a glance looks very wrong, I dont know why she wouldn't have seen anything there. I mean she could see that it was twice as big, but diagnosed it as an infection.. it did not feel hot, or different in temperature from the good leg but I am not a doctor so I just hoped that was the problem.

His knee has been enlarged since it started. It has progressed to the point where it is now about 5-6 days ago. I did have his leg taped with sports tape when it first started but it did not help. I will run out and get some of that foam covering and try splinting him.

I can move it in a normal position by stretching his leg all the way backwards only.. I can not put it in a normal position with his legs underneath him without worrying that I will hurt him. I am out of province for the day and cannot take a photo until tomorrow morning.