Duckling having balance issues

[FluffTheDuck]

Take pics of her feet to her knees please

 

[AmberLittlejohn]

Take pics of her feet to her knees please

I promise to take a better picture tomorrow. She is finally sleeping and not falling over which makes me want to leave her alone . I know these aren't clear but best I have ATM. Thanks so much for the insight

 

[FluffTheDuck]

I’ll pray for you and your dearly loved ruffles. At this point I’m stumped.

 

[AmberLittlejohn]

I’ll pray for you and your dearly loved ruffles. At this point I’m stumped.

Thank you so much! There is a rehab for animals specifically waterfowl like ducks and other aquatic animals really close by. I contacted them and asked them if a professional could look at her and determine what needs to be done. Hopefully I hear back soon.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Hi @AmberLittlejohn ,
just got a ping from @Jpat - so summarizing

• Ruffles is a five week old Pekin or White-Layer(?) duckling
• She/he has bow-legs and issues with its balance
• She/He topples over backwards and can't get up by her/himself
• Due to laying on her/his back she/he is panting and throwing up

First: Forget about restricting the duckling in any way, putting a five week old duckling who is able to walk into any kind of chair will freak it out, make matters worse and can cause the duckling to injure her/himself.
To improve balance, put her/him on straw, not on wood-chips, duckling feet have a much better grip on straw, so she/he might be able to get up again by her/himself. Also the more irregular texture of straw stimulates the nerves in the feet.
Now to the bow-legs: You need to get some Calcium into that duckling fast. Pekins and White Layers are prone to leg-problems due to their incredible fast growth. Get some Calcium Gluconate at TSC or a farm-store close to you and feed that to Ruffles only! Don't let the other duckling(s) get that stuff! The dosage is a somewhat unknown, i would start with 1ml three times a day and see how it works out. If the duckling is doing better, reduce the dosage immediately! Normally i would not give Ca-Gluconate to a duckling, but at five weeks old you must act fast it is very late to address that issue.
Vitamins: You cannot overdose water soluble Vitamins, like Ascorbic Acid (C) or Niacin (B3), what the body cannot use is simply peed out. But don't give Ruffles Vitamin C! It will increase her/his appetite and she/he will gain weight even faster.
Also a multi-vitamin is a good idea, Vitamin E is good for the development of the brain and the nervous system, but as said with five weeks that development should almost be finished.
Other than that, stay calm around Ruffles and let her/him play as much as she/he can stand in water. While swimming she/he cannot topple over backwards, there is no weight on the legs and she/he can exercise the leg muscles. Of course you must supervise the water therapy at all time, even a five week old duckling can become hypothermic and drown.
Good Luck!

 

[FluffTheDuck]

Thanks for that WannaBeHillBilly!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Thanks for that WannaBeHillBilly!

Y'all welcome folks! All for the ducks!

 

[AmberLittlejohn]

Hi @AmberLittlejohn ,
just got a ping from @Jpat - so summarizing

• Ruffles is a five week old Pekin or White-Layer(?) duckling
• She/he has bow-legs and issues with its balance
• She/He topples over backwards and can't get up by her/himself
• Due to laying on her/his back she/he is panting and throwing up

First: Forget about restricting the duckling in any way, putting a five week old duckling who is able to walk into any kind of chair will freak it out, make matters worse and can cause the duckling to injure her/himself.
To improve balance, put her/him on straw, not on wood-chips, duckling feet have a much better grip on straw, so she/he might be able to get up again by her/himself. Also the more irregular texture of straw stimulates the nerves in the feet.
Now to the bow-legs: You need to get some Calcium into that duckling fast. Pekins and White Layers are prone to leg-problems due to their incredible fast growth. Get some Calcium Gluconate at TSC or a farm-store close to you and feed that to Ruffles only! Don't let the other duckling(s) get that stuff! The dosage is a somewhat unknown, i would start with 1ml three times a day and see how it works out. If the duckling is doing better, reduce the dosage immediately! Normally i would not give Ca-Gluconate to a duckling, but at five weeks old you must act fast it is very late to address that issue.
Vitamins: You cannot overdose water soluble Vitamins, like Ascorbic Acid (C) or Niacin (B3), what the body cannot use is simply peed out. But don't give Ruffles Vitamin C! It will increase her/his appetite and she/he will gain weight even faster.
Also a multi-vitamin is a good idea, Vitamin E is good for the development of the brain and the nervous system, but as said with five weeks that development should almost be finished.
Other than that, stay calm around Ruffles and let her/him play as much as she/he can stand in water. While swimming she/he cannot topple over backwards, there is no weight on the legs and she/he can exercise the leg muscles. Of course you must supervise the water therapy at all time, even a five week old duckling can become hypothermic and drown.
Good Luck!

My husband has corrected me she is 3 weeks! Excuse that misinformation.
To sum it up, she needs ca-gluconate 3 times daily, 1 ml, no vitamin c foods. I am going to purchase some nutritional yeast to sub out the brewers yeast and grind meal worms into food, is this an acceptable source of niacin? Lots of water time and definitely no chairs! Thanks for the wonderful advice.

 

[FluffTheDuck]

Three weeks? She is huge. My Pekins were that big at 2 months..

 

[AmberLittlejohn]

Three weeks? She is huge. My Pekins were that big at 2 months..

I know that's why I was so confused on her age. I raised 4 before her that were not nearly so big at that age.