Duck can't walk or stand

[hugitnotnugget]

He is not 3 months yet but fully grown. His feet and legs look fine but he can't balance him self. I don't know what to do!

 

[AceWeasel]

what are you feeding them? I'm a new duck owner (got mine about two months ago) and found out on my own you gotta make sure you're giving them the right food or at least add supplements if you can't get them the right food since you can get leg issues showing up if your ducks aren't getting enough niacin. one of mine just suddenly lost the ability to use one of their legs because the food we were giving them wasn't as good for young ducks as we were told. getting them on nutritional yeast to make sure they got enough niacin cleared up the problem tho, and now you wouldn't even know anything was wrong with that leg. and from what I've read there can be a little bit of variance in just how and when a niacin deficency issue strikes.

 

[orpington13]

Do the legs look separated? It is hard for ducklings and chick to walk when this happens.

 

[chickens really]

Be more specific about its condition..The care and housing it gets and food. lots plays into a condition of balance issues.

 

[Amiga]

@hugitnotnugget

Could be a few things - not enough niacin and/or other B vitamins early on (always worth adding them now)

Could be the little one ate something toxic - or could be botulism, a specific kind of toxin.

Could be an infection gotten into the bloodstream.

Response for ducklings with likely niacin deficiency
People often get confused about what to use, so please stick with me here

.

You have some options.

I would go with brewer's yeast. Forgive me for using capital letters, but for anyone else who may casually look over this thread, NOT baking yeast, NOT winemaking yeast. Brewer's yeast is a nutritional supplement and it provides niacin and a few other vitamins.

Generally, folks who supplement with brewer’s yeast use a tablespoon per cup of food.

Ducklings need about three times the niacin chicks do. And some ducklings get leg problems or seizures if they don't have enough niacin.

If you cannot find the brewer's yeast, or if you happen to have (here come the capital letters again, please forgive me) PLAIN niacin - NOT no-flush, NOT timed release, then dissolve 150 mg niacin per gallon of water for the duckling’s drinking water.

Another approach is to use B Complex capsules, and use the B3 - niacin - levels as a guide. Again, 150 mg B3 per gallon of drinking water.


Keep the little one on the supplements for about 8 weeks.

Sometimes it only takes a few days to see improvement.

You can also see how it went for Qwackers and Bentley from these threads.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/857143/treating-wry-neck-in-crested-duckling-edited-title

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/761308/peking-duckling-with-crooked-neck-help


For botulism or toxicity

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/700526/flushes-for-aiding-in-toxin-removal#post_9508213

at this point, just the charcoal slurry may be what I would use

for antibiotics, feed stores sell them - you might try duramycin or tylan . . . not sure if either of those would be the right thing.

Ideally, a good duck vet would be willing and able to help you out.

 

[chickens really]

Too be honest I don't understand all this Niacin talk or the brewers yeast .
To raise healthy ducklings they need to forage and be fed Duckling appropriate feed.
They are easy too raise. Easier than Chicks.
I feed my Ducklings duck starter, grower and then what ever I feel is necessary. lots of free ranging. grains, veggies.
I have a tub of water that I add their daily fruit and veggies too so they dip their heads in and eat it all.
Ask me, I wont complicate the discussion.

 

[Amiga]

It's not complicated - ducklings need three times the niacin chicks do. (Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks). It's in the book. Plain niacin is recommended in the book, but we know that sometimes forum members cannot find it. So they have two other options - Brewer's yeast or B Complex.

 

[chickens really]

It's not complicated - ducklings need three times the niacin chicks do. (Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks). It's in the book. Plain niacin is recommended in the book, but we know that sometimes forum members cannot find it. So they have two other options - Brewer's yeast or B Complex.

Never used either..I have and my friends, raise very healthy Ducklings into fat happy Ducks.
Just my way of doing things and raising Ducks.
Not complicated, simple. Wild Ducks are not out buying Niacin to feed the ducklings.

 

[gal5150]

Never used either..I have and my friends, raise very healthy Ducklings into fat happy Ducks.
Just my way of doing things and raising Ducks.
Not complicated, simple. Wild Ducks are not out buying Niacin to feed the ducklings.

This is a very good point, and wild ducklings are foraging and meeting those needs naturally. However, since our ducks are not wild and not foraging voraciously nearly from hatch their niacin needs cannot be sufficiently met by solely duck appropriate feed....which in many cases is feed meant for various fowl and thereby not specific to growing ducks. Add to that that some of us cannot provide much, if any, natural forage and you get cases of niacin deficiency really easily corrected by niacin supplementation. Brewers yeast isn't expensive or any more difficult to administer than feed....it's mixed in or sprinkled on top.

It's fantastic that you and your friends are not seeing this in your ducks....one of mine showed symptoms very early on and it was alarming. Thankfully, I knew what I was seeing and within a few days all was well.

Cheers to you and your ducks!

 

[lomine]

Not everyone has access to feed specifically made for ducks or mixed flocks. Some can only get chick starter. In those cases they have to add supplements to give the ducklings the required niacin levels.

Sure, wild ducks don't have access to supplements but they also don't get regular feed. That's one reason why most wild ducklings don't make it to adulthood. There's also the fact that wild ducks don't grow to 5-15 pounds or lay more than a single clutch of eggs in a year. Domestic ducks have slightly different needs than wild ducks because humans changed them.