Floppy takes a walk

[RJKnott]

So Floppy is the duckling I took in and raised that someone had dumped at a marina and had a sever niacin deficiency

Her legs and feet were like cheap plastic and felt like she didn’t have any bones at all.

We’ve given her niacin regularly but 3 months later and she still couldn’t take more than a couple steps without stepping on her own feet. One leg is twisted. And the knee doesn’t bend well. The other the knee moves way too much side to side and I was always afraid it would just snap. We had her in a sling and braced her leg for 3 weeks

Then last night I put her on the ground outside on the driveway to clean out the crate we have her in and she started to walk a bit. I had started to doubt she’d get this far but so happy for her progression

Hope this video of her taking a stroll works. It made me so happy to see her walk. If she goes too fast she trips but if she stays slow she can move pretty well

 

[Canadian Wind]

That was absolutely heartwarming! Thank you for the update!

 

[Lor]

Happy to hear there is some improvement.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So precious

 

[Redbirdacres]

So Floppy is the duckling I took in and raised that someone had dumped at a marina and had a sever niacin deficiency

Her legs and feet were like cheap plastic and felt like she didn’t have any bones at all.

We’ve given her niacin regularly but 3 months later and she still couldn’t take more than a couple steps without stepping on her own feet. One leg is twisted. And the knee doesn’t bend well. The other the knee moves way too much side to side and I was always afraid it would just snap. We had her in a sling and braced her leg for 3 weeks

Then last night I put her on the ground outside on the driveway to clean out the crate we have her in and she started to walk a bit. I had started to doubt she’d get this far but so happy for her progression

Hope this video of her taking a stroll works. It made me so happy to see her walk. If she goes too fast she trips but if she stays slow she can move pretty well

RJ I absolutely love this video so so much and would love to speak with you about floppy and what you've done as I have two with bad legs, one getting stronger but bow legged, and one who can't stand. I'd love to learn from you. My husband is concerned about the toll this is taking on me and thinking we shpuld "move on" if you know what I mean. If there's real true hope for them, I'd love to show him and get my two better

 

[RJKnott]

RJ I absolutely love this video so so much and would love to speak with you about floppy and what you've done as I have two with bad legs, one getting stronger but bow legged, and one who can't stand. I'd love to learn from you. My husband is concerned about the toll this is taking on me and thinking we shpuld "move on" if you know what I mean. If there's real true hope for them, I'd love to show him and get my two better

Absolutely. Everyone here has been so helpful in my duck adventures I love to help others when I can now

To be honest it’s been about 3 months and she may never be able to go out in the pen with the other ducks as a male on top of her mating her may be too much for those legs to bare, but her being mobile is awesome and means she doesn’t have to be in a sling all day.

we wound up making her a hammock to sit in for a few weeks out of pvc piping. That allowed us to split the legs and keep them in vaguely the right position

We used something called a SAM Solint a friend showed me. It’s fairly cheap off Amazon. It’s firm but moldable so you can position it as needed. We were able to put the brace on the inside of the leg to keep it from turning/bending inward. Molded to the inside of the leg as needed and used vet wrap to hold in place.

A few weeks of that and her legs were straightened enough to let her out of it. Then just keeping up with the niacin.

Can give a more detailed run down if you want but that’s the gist of it

 

[ruthhope]

So Floppy is the duckling I took in and raised that someone had dumped at a marina and had a sever niacin deficiency

Her legs and feet were like cheap plastic and felt like she didn’t have any bones at all.

We’ve given her niacin regularly but 3 months later and she still couldn’t take more than a couple steps without stepping on her own feet. One leg is twisted. And the knee doesn’t bend well. The other the knee moves way too much side to side and I was always afraid it would just snap. We had her in a sling and braced her leg for 3 weeks

Then last night I put her on the ground outside on the driveway to clean out the crate we have her in and she started to walk a bit. I had started to doubt she’d get this far but so happy for her progression

Hope this video of her taking a stroll works. It made me so happy to see her walk. If she goes too fast she trips but if she stays slow she can move pretty well

I am so glad for you and Floppy!! And it is inspiring me as I am having problems with my PingyWingy. Ping is a special needs Pekin drake that has "gone off his legs". This was sudden about 5 days after I opened a new sack of purina duck pellets. Two of my muscovy started limping too, and so I thought acute Niacin deficiency from a defective batch of purina. The muscovy got better within a week of getting High Level Vit B Complex, but Pingy is still not walking -- his wings have get very ratty from the two journeys he made trying to walk to the duck house down the back garden using his wings, and now he is just sitting around passively. He does express his displeasure at me approaching him but he only eats and drinks when I hold his food and water bowls up infront of him, when he is in the bath for physiotherapy, three times a day.

I am really getting concerned that Ping isn't getting better -- although he is not getting worse either. I am taking inspiration from your experience with floppy -- thank you for sharing this update.

 

[Better with thyme]

I know this post is a little older. I stumbled in looking for a solution for my boyfriend lol. (Sebastopol Male named Greyson)
Sorry in advance for the length of this question.
He was a class project we inherited from a friend. They didn't know about niacin deficiency and never added anything to his feed. When he arrived they brought a scratch mix and said that was his diet with some grazing.

Thing is he was fine. Walked with a little extra waddle in his step but I knew I was changing feed so I wasn't overly concerned. But now that he's been getting niacin regularly he went from waddle to hobble to limp and now he has to lie down to take breaks when walking and he doesn't stand much throughout the day. For the last 2 he's taken his treats lying down and has no interest if he has to work for it. (He was the boss. Always ate first or else)

It seems to be 1 leg. He tore the nail off on something last month. I've been keeping an eye on it and it's healing ok. That is the limp leg though but it looks to me like it his "knee"

Any suggestions? Should I splint it? Our vet thought I was asking for them to cull. They laughed when I said no, I wanted an appointment. (We're deep in farm territory.)
N

 

[Better with thyme]

So Floppy is the duckling I took in and raised that someone had dumped at a marina and had a sever niacin deficiency

Her legs and feet were like cheap plastic and felt like she didn’t have any bones at all.

We’ve given her niacin regularly but 3 months later and she still couldn’t take more than a couple steps without stepping on her own feet. One leg is twisted. And the knee doesn’t bend well. The other the knee moves way too much side to side and I was always afraid it would just snap. We had her in a sling and braced her leg for 3 weeks

Then last night I put her on the ground outside on the driveway to clean out the crate we have her in and she started to walk a bit. I had started to doubt she’d get this far but so happy for her progression

Hope this video of her taking a stroll works. It made me so happy to see her walk. If she goes too fast she trips but if she stays slow she can move pretty well

I commented on your other post before seeing this. This looks a lot like how my Greyson walks now.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Do you have liquid BComplex? It’s really the best to use when one already has a problem.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/