Duckling Leg/Foot Problem

[felixcat]

Hi Everyone!

i have 6 mallard ducklings about 3 weeks old. All are growing except for one who has remained smaller in size than the other 5 ducklings. It eats, drinks, sleeps, play and at times runs too but very soon it just sits down. or hops around like walking on toes.especially it walks on toes of left leg. i have tried to give it warm water bath but it denies and gets cold and shivers so i had to quit it. its winter season here. please help as I am very worried about it's well being. for the time being i have separated it from other ducklings and i am regularly massaging its legs with warm olive oil.

Worried

 

[DuckyGurl]

Are you supplementing with niacin? Hope some more experienced people hop on soon!

 

[creaturelife]

i raised my mallards and never had a problem with the leg or foot thing but i did have one that was smaller then the others for a very long time she just now got as big as her sister i would be glad to her some kind of answer for that so if it happens to any one or me i know what to do for it

 

[Amiga]

Some ducklings just have different nutritional needs, and often niacin is something they need more of.

In fact, somewhere - I think Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks - I read that ducklings need three times the niacin that chicks need.

To remedy this problem, they recommend 100 to 150 mg of niacin (plain niacin from a capsule) emptied into each gallon of drinking water for eight to ten weeks.

Several forum members have done this for ducklings with leg and other neurological problems and have seen improvement within days.

I would give the niacin.

What are they eating? Also, if the duckling is shivering, what is the temperature of the bath water and of the brooder?

 

[felixcat]

i gave warm water bath and the brooder at ll times has a heating lamp (100watt). its cosy warm in their cage. can u name a supplement to find ? i have been giving wheat bread, green leaves, eggs boiled. i have started giving it poultry feed as someone told me it will give the minnie duckling some extra strength to grow. How is that, it's been 2 days since i have started feeding that.

 

[felixcat]

and since the day 1, the duckling is smaller in size and tends to remain seated.

 

[Amiga]

You definitely are paying attention to your ducklings, here are some important details.

The brooder needs to be 90F the first week, dropping 5 degrees a week until the brooder temperature matches "room temperature" which may be a barn. Anyway, the idea is to slowly lower the temperature. Ducklings can be kept too warm as well as too cold and it can be fatal in the extremes.

There is an immense amount of growth and development going on, and ducklings need optimal balanced nutrition. Duckling starter if available, I used turkey-waterfowl starter, unmedicated chick starter is fine, too (some use chick starter medicated with amprolium and say they have no problems).

If you don't have duckling or turkey-waterfowl starter available and must use chick starter, then the drugstore or the big box store (like Walmart, or BJs or Costco,etc.) or a big supermarket with a pharmacy section - will likely carry niacin capsules. Not no-flush, not timed-release. Plain niacin. 100 mg or 150 mg, you can open one capsule into one gallon of water and you have the right concentration. If their waterer is smaller than a gallon, put the remainder in the frij and use it within a day or two.

If you can only find 250 mg capsules, put that into two gallons of water and you have 125 mg per gallon and you're good.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings#post_10611711

This has a bunch of good information. The only difference I would have is the ducklings need to be 8 to 10 weeks old before I would change from food and water available 24/7. And then only 8 hours at a time.

 

[creaturelife]

wow i didnt know that

 

[felixcat]

thanks a bunch

 

[felixcat]

Update on Little Duckling : It's progressing so far and m sooooo happy at its recovery. I couldn't get the tablets, found liquid potion of vitamin B complex though. I fed it by dropper, about two to three drops of consistency equivalent to that fed to an infant. and today was the third day and I could see the difference in Minnie It was standing and kept standing and legs were straight too it was trying to put weight on its legs