Duckling leaning to the left and smaller than others

[Beth42]

Hi - We had 10 runner ducks hatch at the weekend. One of them, now 4 days old, has always leant a bit to the left when walking and it looks like she may have one leg slightly shorter than the other, we haven't measured, it was just a visual check. Or could it bit a bit of splayed leg? She is also not growing as quickly as the others, although she has plenty of energy and gets to the food and water when she wants it. We have been feeding her separately too just to make sure and they have been having brewers yeast.
Any advice out there? Should we brace her legs to see if it helps??

 

[Miss Lydia]

Is she with a mama? if so if you brace I'd place her and another duckling in an area where she can't fall into water or possible fall and not be able to get up. I think I'd lay her on her back and check both legs out to make sure they are the same length.

 

[Beth42]

She is in a brooder as they were incubator hatched. I haven't got anywhere to separate her too either as only have the one heat source.
Would short periods of time (maybe a couple of hours at a time) in the brace where I can supervise be of any help?

 

[Miss Lydia]

If in the brooder try hobbling to draw the leg into the proper position. As long as the duckling has supervision and can't fall into water hobbling in the brooder should be fine.

 

[Beth42]

Brilliant - thank you for your advice

 

[Miss Lydia]

Let us know how the duckling does please.

Another important thing is making sure what the duckling is walking on is flat so maybe the rubber like shelf liner would be best for now. It can be replaced as often as needed and washes up great.

 

[Beth42]

They have puppy pads down at the moment. But we are having trouble making a hobble - should it be above the knees. The ones I’ve seen online with band aids, she just falls over. We are now trying with an elastic band and tape in the middle...

 

[Beth42]

We also have this little chap who just stands around, eats a little (we are feeding separately too) and doesn’t move very quickly. He was the last to hatch, but only by a day, had to be assisted as he had pipped a couple of days earlier, just isn’t developing very quickly.

 

[Percipen]

Were you able to figure out something for the little ones legs?

For the little black one, if hes eating, drinking and pooping, I wouldn't worry too much. I hatched 6 runners a couple weeks ago and our last few that hatched are noticeably smaller than the others. I attached a pic of our 3rd hatcher with our last hatcher (almost a week old) Big difference between the 2!!

 

[Beth42]

Thanks for the reassurance about size. I think he is slowly improving - actually running around a bit with the others.

With the hobble, yep we have managed with an elastic band and tape and it appears to be doing the trick - she is walking straight now with it on. We are going to take it off tomorrow and see how she is doing without it. And will replace if necessary for another couple of day.