HELP! Harlequin duck's bottom is dragging

[Miss Lydia]

Mating age should begin with laying age usually 4.5 months on.

 

[kmanndel]

Mating age should begin with laying age usually 4.5 months on.

So is it possible the drake hurt her then trying to mate?

 

[Miss Lydia]

It's possible. How is she today?

 

[kmanndel]

I've been at work since 7am so I haven't seen her yet since we keep them in the cage until mid morning. But according to my parents, she seems to be about the same as yesterday.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Have you given any form of niacin to them since they were tiny? Just to rule out niacin deficiency why not get some Liquid b complex TSC carries it and start giving her 1 ml over a favorite treat. Just enough treat she gets full dose of Liquid B.complex it’s definitely worth a try.

 

[Miss Lydia]

It says injectable but we give it orally just get a 1 ml syringe to pull the liquid out of the bottle no needle required

 

[Miss Lydia]

This may not be her problem but it's one that can happen to just one in the flock and sometimes it's not so noticeable until they can't walk well or are completely lame. I'd def keep all your young females separate from your drake unless supervised to prevent breeding.

 

[kmanndel]

The ducks have gotten Niacin ever since they were babies since it was in their feed. And now we put a pinch of Niacin powder in their feed now. Our Peking ducks were always having a problem with Niacin deficiency so we've been staying on top of giving them Niacin daily.
I'll give the liquid B complex a shot then. Should that be given daily?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yes every day till you see significant improvement. They need at least 100mgs of niacin per duckling a day. Especially while growing. Mine are all adults and still get Nutritional yeast sprinkled over their feed a couple times a week. It's just so good for them. A pinch of niacin powder may not be enough.