Ducks with leg problems!

[GumBranchChick]

Okay, hang in there with me. I promise I'll get to the leg issues. Want to give a little background. I got these young drakes from a local farmer & friend who got a straight run & only wanted the females. He thought they would look good on our pond. I didn't know what I was getting into. He thought free-ranging would be okay. The more I learn the more I worry about that. They're in their own coop inside our chicken yard until they get bigger. But I noticed right away the runt had funky legs. Then I noticed a week or so later that another one had the same thing. It's like then lean back & walk on their elbows. And one has a bit of supination also (where the feet turn in...I don't know if the human anatomical terminology translates). I've started giving niacin bc I know he has had them on chick starter/grower their whole lives & said that was fine, but I've learned otherwise on here. I've got a local feed store ordering me some Mazuri waterfowl maintenance feed, so I'm working on remedying the food situation. They seem to cough & sneeze a lot when they eat that chicken feed also. Have only been putting the crushed 250mg niacin per gallon water for 24 hours, but I'm crossing my fingers it helps. I've posted videos on Vimeo & im going to try & remember how I post that here. I can also post photos. I've taken plenty. They're super adorable!! My friend has offered me All of the other ducks also bc his wife doesn't want to take care of them when he's out of town. So that's 6 females & 1 more male. But I know their fate if I don't take them. So I would love to be able to make it work for them to live here. But first I want to make sure I fix these first 2 babies. They're happy & seem healthy otherwise. Good appetite, etc. Any observations or advice is welcomed & much appreciated!!

 

[GumBranchChick]

I Think this is how I did it last time! If it doesn't work let me know. Sorry one doesn't rotate when I upload it to Vimeo, but it rotates on my phone no problem.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Looks to me to be a vitamin deficiency and most likely niacin. Were you able to get the plain niacin not time released or flush free because the plain is the only one that will work. You can also use Nutritional yeast and add 1 Tab per cup of feed they will need this till they are at least 10 weeks old. Hopefully in a week you will see noticeable difference. They are precious.

 

[GumBranchChick]

Thank you for the help! Im just so in love with them. I'm relieved that it doesn't look like something else, but I hope it's not too late to fix it. They are probably close to 10 weeks, based on what I was told. I assume the niacin should be in all water for a week, not just 1x/day, right? Fingers crossed, when they show improvement, how often should I put niacin in then. I got some waterfowl maintenance feed today, but will probably use up the chick starter/grower first. After that, will it work to mix or interchange purina flock raiser with mazuri floating waterfowl feed. The mazuri is so much more expensive that I would love to use something else with it. Would I still need to supplement after that? Should I do any vitamins to help them along? I have poultry nutri-drench, but it's got iron sulfate in the ingredients, is that okay? I've read that iron is bad for them, right?
I actually Was able to find plain niacin , but it took me Forever!! I had to call every pharmacy in two towns to find a small older local pharmacy that had it. I got the 500mg & I've been putting half of one of those (crushed) in a ~2 gallon water dish. Started with 250mg/gallon the first day bc that was what I found on here first, but am finding more & more that say 100-150mg/gallon, so I've dropped back to one half pill per water dish. Truth be told, they wear more of their water than they drink but it's in there for when they do. Sorry I feel like that was a million questions, I just know from the other posts I've read that you are a go-to duck guru so I wanted to be sure I'm doing this right.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Niacin daily in fresh water. 150 mgs to 1 gal. Just because they are 10 weeks doesn't mean they still can't have it. Mine are all adults and I still put Nutritional yeast on my ducks feed 2X a week so keep on with the niacin till they are walking again normally . Hopefully they will fully recover but there is always a chance they may not get 100% but lets hope they will do better than now. Give them chances to swim which will also help build their leg muscles. Just make sure they can get in and out of their pool easy. Yes good vitamins will help too I use Poultry Nutri Drench with my flock. Purina Flock Raiser is a good feed for water fowl so mix the 2 together. Maybe limit their running around till you see some improvement . Just thinking they may injure their ankles or knees by walking on their legs like they are. Don't want a permanent injury. LOL they do wear a lot of the water put out for them. I keep down the splashing some by covering half of their water buckets with a piece of scrap board and put a large rock on top to keep it there.

Please keep us updated on how they are doing. Your a hero for rescuing them Bless you!

 

[GumBranchChick]

You are a hero yourself for taking the time to help everybody on here!!! I have been planning to set up a kiddie pool for them soon for that very reason. Their legs tire faster than the others for sure. We did have a little pond 'adventure' last weekend. It took them Forever to decide they were willing to even touch the water. Once we made them stand there a while, they started to play, and pretty soon started to swim. It was absolutely adorable to watch!! And I guess we were hidden under a small tree just enough, bc not 5 minutes after one ventured out from the edge a hawk dive-bombed him. Bless his little heart, he has never been in the water before, yet he knew to dive & stay down!! Phew! I would've been so beside myself & traumatized. It kept me up all night that night. I torture myself with what-ifs all the time. Had I thought for one second that would happen with us there I never would have done it!! But litle duckie boy still didn't want to come in, so I went out into the pond with him so the hawk knew I was there! Have lived there for 2 years & had never been in that pond until then.
I will definitely keep you posted! I can't stop taking videos & pictures of them.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Your very sweet, but you know we all think every animal needs a chance and if we can help then so be it. Hopefully these little ones will benefit from all your doing to help. TLC can go a long way too.
Oh my gosh Hawks are so brave and will come down right in front of us. I had one swoop in through some thick trees and snatch one of my bantam hens I would have never thought something that large and it looked like a 747 flying over the goose house could get through those trees. We can never let our guard down. Ever. So sweet of you to go into the pond with them. Also beware of what is under the water Snapping turtles will attack and kill or maim water fowl also. I know always something.

Pics lots of pics and videos we never get tired of seeing honest.

 

[GumBranchChick]

In that case, I'm going to upload their super cute (pre-hawk) pond video! When we first put them in they were Terrified!!! We have never Seen a snapping turtle in there. Honestly the people we bought it from said there weren't fish in there. There's tons of fish in there now. We just had to feed them. Even had a huge soft shell girlie for almost a year that would come right up to me at the edge. She might still come & go, but she left during breeding season this spring & came back 2-3 months later for a few days. But haven't seen her since then. It's only about 1/4 acre but even during a big drought last year it didn't dry up like everyone else's, so there must be a natural source.
(Pond video to come later, it's still uploading)

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sure are happy babies.

 

[GumBranchChick]