Help! Duckling with a bad leg

[jilligan]

Hi everyone! We just picked up some ducklings that needed a good home. There is one I am concerned about. He is apparently about 4 weeks old and seems to have a bad leg. He gets around ok but not as easily as the other 2 we got him with (all the same age). The leg does not seem to be painful, only his left leg is affected. We are fairly new to ducks we have 4 khaki females that are just over a year old and we haven't seen anything like this before. From the research I've done online it seems like maybe he has a niacin (B3) deficiency, I'm hoping someone can confirm that's issue or point me in the right direction. The people we got him from said they noticed his leg was bad but didn't know of any trauma that would gave caused a fracture or injury. The leg is held away from the body and the foot is rotated inward.I appreciate any help and information that you can offer. Thank you!

I have attached 2 pictures of his left (bad) leg.

 

[Tenrec]

That hock looks pretty swollen. You need to supplement him and his siblings with B vitamins ASAP. If it's gone on too long, it's probably not going to cure it, but it will prevent it from getting worse.

Once you get him settled, try palpating his tendon back there, see if it's slipped.

 

[Chickens 4Ever]

Hey, I have a Mama and baby's. The dad keeps chasing them and there. The Mama kinda just walks away, idk if cause we have chickens and she thinks they're safe of not. Anything I could do to stop him?​

 

[Tenrec]

If he's being a problem, he needs to be separated. Drakes can be nasty.

 

[Chickens 4Ever]

Actually, he's my Black Runner, he was also the one who would eat out of ur hand, but he is just being a devil to the baby's

 

[Chickens 4Ever]

Actually, he's my Black Runner, he was also the one who would eat out of ur hand, but he is just being a devil to the baby's

Oh, and yes. I will speperate him

 

[jilligan]

That hock looks pretty swollen. You need to supplement him and his siblings with B vitamins ASAP. If it's gone on too long, it's probably not going to cure it, but it will prevent it from getting worse.

Once you get him settled, try palpating his tendon back there, see if it's slipped.

Thank you so much! Is there a product you recommend?

 

[Tenrec]

Thank you so much! Is there a product you recommend?

Brewer's yeast either in powder form or ground up from pill form on their food will do. Make sure it isn't settling to the bottom of the dish - you might have to wet it. Any sort of poultry vitamin in their water (dilute since they're eating and drinking okay) will also benefit them. If you can't find either of these, you can get some B complex vitamins (pill form) from the store and grind them up...I once had to do this for some goslings.

What are you feeding them? What was their previous owner feeding them? Did they have them in an area where they were able forage?

Also make sure the ducks are on fairly clean substrate. Swollen tissue can become compromised more easily, and you don't want an infection near that joint.

 

[jilligan]

Brewer's yeast either in powder form or ground up from pill form on their food will do. Make sure it isn't settling to the bottom of the dish - you might have to wet it. Any sort of poultry vitamin in their water (dilute since they're eating and drinking okay) will also benefit them. If you can't find either of these, you can get some B complex vitamins (pill form) from the store and grind them up...I once had to do this for some goslings.

What are you feeding them? What was their previous owner feeding them? Did they have them in an area where they were able forage?

Also make sure the ducks are on fairly clean substrate. Swollen tissue can become compromised more easily, and you don't want an infection near that joint.

We are feeding them starter/grower from Tractor Supply. I am not sure what the previous owners were feeding them. I don't think they did much foraging at their old home and once we can mix them in with our older birds they will be able to forage. I have continued to research and I think I may start supplementing him with a liquid b complex so that I know how much he is getting and that he is definitely getting enough. I am concerned that supplementing the food or water may not be good enough, they spill so much of their water and I don't know how much they actually eat. I truly appreciate you taking the time to help me and my ducks out! Thank you!

 

[Tenrec]

If it's poultry formulated, supplementing the water in concentrations according to the directions ensures that they get enough of whatever you're giving them. It is assumed the bird is drinking an appropriate amount of water proportional to weight, so the concentration of solution is going to be universal across weight of birds...If that makes sense. The only time you really need to worry about if they're getting enough is if the bird isn't drinking by itself, or drinking very well. In that case, most vitamins and medications have an alternate set of directions for what's called a drench...Which is something you put directly down his gullet.

As for brewer's yeast, there is no exact dosage to hash out. It's very hard to overdose on brewer's yeast. I add a couple of teaspoons to every cup.

The liquid B should be okay! I understand wanting to be exact, especially with cases that are going to need some extra care.

Starter/grower combo is appropriate for his age (some will tell you different), but it will not provide the B vitamins he needs. You must make sure it's not medicated...The dosage in medicated feed is very toxic to waterfowl. He doesn't need to be foraging now, but it won't hurt to take him outside from time to time if you have the time...I was mostly asking to see if he was able to get bugs and other nutritious goodies at his own home, to see if we could hash out cause of this.

Let us know how it goes!