Duckling walking issue/injury?

[duckdog]

One of my 5 pekin ducklings (almost 4 weeks old) is having a walking issue. Just a short while ago I went to feed them, all of them went to run to the corner of the pen away from me (as usual, I have been working on them getting used to me, but it is taking time). One of them took a while to get up, and when she did she weakly made her way to the corner with the rest of the ducklings. After the ducklings calmed and realized I had placed food in their pen all of them made their way to the food except for her. She stayed sitting facing the corner (she since has moved under the brooder not too far from where she was). It was as if her legs just were not strong enough (btw the ducklings are huge, about 2/3 the size of a mallard). The first day I had the ducklings didn't go well. 1 of them escaped twice, and fell of the table each time, another one jumped out of my hands when transferring them to a more secure cage, fell, twisting her neck and her legs spraddled (? I think that is what is called, her legs spread out as she slipped trying to run away, the duckling that escaped had the same happen when I tried to coral her).

I think the one who had issues getting up tonight, has been the one that seemingly was slower to get up then the rest, but she always made her way to the fresh water and food, so I hoped it wasn't anything more than her being slower/less dominate.

She is quacking loudly, and besides for being weak, does not seem to be showing pain. These are my first ducks/poultry so I am clueless. Any ideas about what is wrong or resources I can look at (I have Storey's guide and will be going through it after posting)?

Thank you

 

[ruthhope]

[Edited to correct dose of brewer's yeast below]

Sounds like a niacin deficiency issue. what are you feeding the ducklings? They need duckling starter crumble not chick crumbles as ducklings have much higher niacin needs than chicks. But some ducks -- particularly pekins -- need more niacin than in duck starter crumbles.

It is a ducky medical emergency to get niacin into your little fluffy with gait problems. You need durvet high level Vitamin B complex from Tractor Supply or other feed store. It is marked intravenous on the lable, but in ducks we use it orally. You need to feed you duckling 1ml every day, soaked into a few crumbles so that you can watch it eat the crumbles and know it has taken the dose. Keep feeding Durvet until the gait is normal.

Meanwhile, to prevent further niacin deficiency problems, please start all your ducklings on brewer's yeast or nutritional yeast in their food. The dose is 1 tablespoon on top of each cup of ducky crumbles. Nutritional yeast provides a larger amount of niacin than brewer's yeast but is much more expensive as it is human food grade. I use Josh's Frogs brand brewer's yeast. I get it from Amazon as I have free delivery through Amazon prime. If you do not have Amazon prime, buy it directly from Josh's Frogs website as it is chepaer there but you pay for delivery.

 

[duckdog]

Thank you

 

[ruthhope]

Thank you

Please update us on your progress!

 

[duckdog]

ent furth

Please update us on your progress!

I will, btw, everything is closed right now, is there something in my kitchen/supermarket I can give her to get through the night?

 

[CoriM]

Yes, on the advice you received above. I remember my first day bringing home my pekin ducklings - they were very jumpy! Are yours pets? They were bred to be meat birds, so grow super fast, ready to harvest at 8 weeks. Unfortunately that means that many of them need extra niacin to support their leg strength. My pekins were/are pets, and I had one that developed slay leg about the age yours are. She just started walking less and had lots of trouble standing up. What I did was start the liquid vitamin B complex right away. You can't over dose on this. I tried to give it to that specific duck over treats - a piece of bread, peas, meal worms, but I also added it to small drinking water dishes for them, and on top of their feed. If your duck truly has splay leg you can use vet wrap to create hobbles which will hold her legs in proper position. But it may be that her legs are just weak. You can get your ducks to feel comfortable around you by spending lots of time near them, talking quietly to them, and especially bringing them treats. You can introduce meal worms and peas in small quantities to them at this stage - also small bits of zuchinni, watermelon, tiny pieces of herbs or kale. Also, take them out a couple at a time and see if they will settle in on your lap. Ducks don't like change, loud scary things, quick movements, etc. so just take your time and eventually they will get to feel comfortable around you!

 

[CoriM]

Also, don't worry about getting something for her tonight - check with your local feed store, Tractor supply, etc. tomorrow and if you can't buy something local order it on Amazon.

 

[ruthhope]

I will, btw, everything is closed right now, is there something in my kitchen/supermarket I can give her to get through the night?

You can use human vit B capsules from your supermarket pharmacy

"When buying any niacin supplement it is important none of them are labeled as Flush Free, No Flush, Time released or extended-release, all would not benefit your duck in any way." [No flush no good]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

 

[Ourgosling22]

[Edited to correct dose of brewer's yeast below]

Sounds like a niacin deficiency issue. what are you feeding the ducklings? They need duckling starter crumble not chick crumbles as ducklings have much higher niacin needs than chicks. But some ducks -- particularly pekins -- need more niacin than in duck starter crumbles.

It is a ducky medical emergency to get niacin into your little fluffy with gait problems. You need durvet high level Vitamin B complex from Tractor Supply or other feed store. It is marked intravenous on the lable, but in ducks we use it orally. You need to feed you duckling 1ml every day, soaked into a few crumbles so that you can watch it eat the crumbles and know it has taken the dose. Keep feeding Durvet until the gait is normal.

Meanwhile, to prevent further niacin deficiency problems, please start all your ducklings on brewer's yeast or nutritional yeast in their food. The dose is 1 tablespoon on top of each cup of ducky crumbles. Nutritional yeast provides a larger amount of niacin than brewer's yeast but is much more expensive as it is human food grade. I use Josh's Frogs brand brewer's yeast. I get it from Amazon as I have free delivery through Amazon prime. If you do not have Amazon prime, buy it directly from Josh's Frogs website as it is chepaer there but you pay for delivery.

I agree with all that ruthhope said. Get that vit b complex in them as soon as you can! If taking too long to get the brewers yeast you want, Walmart usually has nutritional yeast flakes in stock. Its usually by the baking soda and yeast.

 

[duckdog]

Thank you to everyone who has replied. I was able to get nutritional yeast flakes last night and sprinkled it over crumbled soft bread. They were already feed but overnight ate it. I got the B complex this a.m. I could not get it in the weak duckling she was too petrified for me to get the soaked crumbles to her (even after I put it down she wouldn't even look at it. But I did put a large does of the complex in their water. 30 mls. diluted in about a gallon of water, they drink about a quarter of it before I dumped it and give them fresh water. I had to shoo away the stronger ducks from blocking her. She took advantage of the path and made a slow, but fast for her weak legs, beeline to the water where she sat and drank and ate the chopped lettuce I put in it. She's not making it to the food after fleeing with the rest of the flock to the far corner when I put it in the pen. She's stayed in the corner. The pen is big enough for me to separate her with dividers into a 2 x 3 space, with my smaller brooder in it, her own water and her own food, but in order to do so I have to become Godzilla and walk into their pen to set up the wire dividers. Still I can't think of any way to have her close to the medicated food and to stop her from getting run over every time the ducklings get spooked. I hope my next post is about her recovery.