(Help) Duck limping

[patak123]

Hello!

I have 2 Pekin ducks, one male, one female. I keep them in my garden where they have more than enough space.
Yesterday, in the middle of the day, the male duck started limping
Today, it's gotten worse, and now he's mostly sitting down, only getting up to drink (from a tall cup I have for him to clean his nose in) on one leg, while he holds his other one up.
There's no signs of any damage on his foot as far as I see, and I can't feel anything weird by touch either.
He's not making any unusual noises either, and he isn't running away.

How can I help him? Last time the female duck had some health issues we bought some vitamins (that are put into water) so we gave them those again.

 

[Jenbirdee]

what is their diet? do you regularly supplement their feed with extra niacin in the form of something like nutritional yeast ?

your duck may have just sprained his foot or ankle, rest and extra niacin will help. The fastest and best way to give him some extra niacin now is liquid B complex. I get Durvet brand from tractor supply. They also sell it on Amazon, one ML a day on some yummy treats like meal worms. Make sure he gets it all. You can also give him a nice Epson salt water foot bath soak to ease the swelling and pain and speed up healing . just make sure he doesn’t drink too much of the water it will dehydrate him.

 

[patak123]

I posted a reply earlier but it looks like it didn't post. So here it is again:

Thanks!
I'll get em the liquid B complex as you said.
To answer the diet question:
I feed them tomatoes, cucumber, and those small snails you find everywhere (atleast here in Croatia) when I manage to pick some up from outside.

Oh, and I wanted to ask what's up with my female duck not laying eggs anymore? She started laying 2 weeks ago but has stopped a week ago. I looked everywhere for a hidden nest, but I didn't find anything. I tried upping their diet, but still nothing.

Again, much thanks for the help!

 

[CoriM]

Is it possible for you to get duck feed or chicken feed? They aren't getting enough nutrition with what you're feeding them, and that could possibly be the cause of the limp as well as the egg laying - although they often taper in the fall and stop for the winter, especially after the first year.

 

[patak123]

Oh I forgot to mention I give them sunflower/barley seeds as well. Though if that isn't enough I can get duck/chicken feed.

 

[CoriM]

You should definitely be giving them duck feed if at all possible - pellets or crumbles, and if you can't get that, chicken feed is okay but you have to supplement extra niacin. Because pekins are heavy weight birds you probably should supplement extra niacin no matter what - their legs need the support.

 

[patak123]

Alright, much thanks for the help!

 

[Miss Lydia]

 

[patak123]

One more thing.
Just got home - the vitamins I was giving them earlier are called "Muvisel". Per 100g it has 1800mg of niacin, is that enough?

 

[CoriM]

Also, you should have oyster shell available in a seperate dish for your female. She will crave it and her body needs it as long as she's producing eggs. She will just eat what she needs.