Duckling not walking much...

[jaykayhuff]

One of my ducklings is growing significantly faster than the rest and it seems like she won't walk too much and would rather "army crawl". Is this normal for a duckling that is just growing really fast or may it have some issues that I need to address? She does walk normal when she is upright, but she seems to prefer only taking a few steps then plopping down for a rest.

Thanks in advance! Jay

 

[CoriM]

Is it a pekin? This isn't normal. If she's growing quickly, her body might not be getting enough niacin for proper leg development. Take action ASAP and get her started on liquid vitamin B complex. There have been a dozen threads on BYC in the last few weeks about this exact same topic, so search through the duck threads and you'll find lots more information. The most important thing is to get her the vitamin as soon as you can before it gets worse.

 

[jaykayhuff]

Is it a pekin? This isn't normal. If she's growing quickly, her body might not be getting enough niacin for proper leg development. Take action ASAP and get her started on liquid vitamin B complex. There have been a dozen threads on BYC in the last few weeks about this exact same topic, so search through the duck threads and you'll find lots more information. The most important thing is to get her the vitamin as soon as you can before it gets worse.

No she is a Saxony and she already gets B Complex and Niacin in her feed.

 

[Isaac 0]

Is she eating and drinking? Maybe you could post a video so we can get a better idea of how she is acting.

 

[jaykayhuff]

Is she eating and drinking? Maybe you could post a video so we can get a better idea of how she is acting.

She eats and drinks and plays in the water just like the others. I just noticed yesterday that she was plopping down quite a bit. At first I thought she was just being lazy but her size difference made me wonder if it could be something to do with growing pains. I’ll see if I have a video that shows it. If not I’ll let them run crazy when I get home from work to give you a good idea.

 

[CoriM]

Keep a close eye on her. One of my pekins last spring grew much more quickly than the others and started laying around a lot, and eventually had a hard time getting to her feet. I also was adding niacin to their food, but it wasn't enough for her. So you're giving the liquid vitamin B complex as a supplement already?

 

[jaykayhuff]

Keep a close eye on her. One of my pekins last spring grew much more quickly than the others and started laying around a lot, and eventually had a hard time getting to her feet. I also was adding niacin to their food, but it wasn't enough for her. So you're giving the liquid vitamin B complex as a supplement already?

Darn. I’m about to post two videos. One taken Monday and one yesterday evening. She has grown significantly more than the others. And yes I had 9 originally and had to give extra vitamins because of the others being sick or lethargic so they all have been getting B Complex and plenty of Niacin since I got them on the 8th.

 

[jaykayhuff]

This is from Monday. She is the all yellow one at the far right.

This is from last night. You will see which one she is cuz she plops down right in front of the camera and is the largest.

 

[CoriM]

Does she have difficulty standing up? She doesn't look bad, but maybe the start of splay leg? I would just keep an eye on her and if it starts getting worse, maybe put the bands on her legs. Glad you're doing the vitamin B - just make sure that little one for sure gets enough. They're adorable.

 

[jaykayhuff]

Does she have difficulty standing up? She doesn't look bad, but maybe the start of splay leg? I would just keep an eye on her and if it starts getting worse, maybe put the bands on her legs. Glad you're doing the vitamin B - just make sure that little one for sure gets enough. They're adorable.

Thank you! No she doesn’t seem to have problems standing or walking. Just doesn’t do it as much as the others but she is growing a lot faster than the rest. I gave them a bigger area to run tonight and she had the full on zoomies so that was reassuring. Thanks for the advice! I’ll just make sure she is getting plenty of the B Complex.