Help-lame duck

[Ginkat]

We've got a brother and sister Pekin. They are about 6 weeks old. The brother is active and healthy but the sister appears to be lame. She started limping about a week ago. She doesn't appear to be in pain. I was wondering if it could be a niacin deficiency. We've added brewers yeast to their food for about 3 weeks.
What should we do?

 

[Miss Lydia]

How much Brewers yeast are you using? the rec dose is 1 Tablespoon per cup of feed daily. It could be an injury, like CR says they grow super fast and sometimes their legs need a bit of rest till they catch up. @Ginkat

 

[Yooperducker]

Hi, one of my little Pekins had a similar problem. I threw everything I had at her. I put warm water and epsom salt in a cup and plopped her in there twice a day to soak with a hand towel around her body to capture the heat and keep her from drinking it. Helps if they are a good fit in the cup so their hip is covered but not alot of room for movement. About 5 - 10 min. It must have felt good because she was really good through it all. I also gave her hydrotherapy in the sink twice a day too and she did move the leg so I was confident it was not broken but possibly a severe sprain. She held her foot up and the toes were not spread out. Definitely the brewers yeast but they had been on that from day one.

I would also gently massage arnica gel (I think the brand is T-Relief) and stretch her leg very very gently, not full extensions just until there was slight resistance. I think it all made a difference but the hydrotherapy at a minimum really helped. I would also spread her foot out so the webbin was flat and not curled up. She improved. She does have a permanant limp but moves along just fine, swims, keeps up with the group and seems happy. Good luck. You feel so helpless when they are so small. I could never really detct I think her injury was in the hip area, tough to see any swelling through the feathers but there was some inflammation I could see when she was wet. No idea what happened.

 

[Kiki to Nana]

What makes you think she is lame? Anything other than what you mentioned? I can tell you my girls may appear to have a limp when they don't but there is a noticeable difference when they have a real injury limp. I would continue to monitor the diet and give the brewers yeast mixed with the feed, is your lady eating it as much as your drake?

A few people swear by it when raising ducklings and I feel like it helped one of ours through her problem (see below)

One of my girls used to walk then lay down, every few feet and just start eating. She was consistently laying down when her sister was always up. Not sure why, and she was that way for much of her adolescence and she turned out perfectly healthy compared to any other duck.

 

[chickens really]

Pekin Ducks grow fast....Could be niacin deficiency ?...Maybe your using the wrong type or not enough?
I will tag someone....

@Miss Lydia

 

[Ginkat]

When she walks she doesn't appear to be able to put any weight on the bad leg. Her foot just slides, she doesn't put it flat when she walks. When she stands she has her good leg centered under her, the bad leg just helps her balance. It's hard to say if she eats as much as the male, she holds her own. I've started giving them niacin in their water

 

[Miss Lydia]

Could be an injury, Have you picked her up and looked at the leg and foot real close? any swelling or heat redness? Are your Pekins Jumbo Or reg size Pekins?

I'd curtail her activity for now give her plenty of rest and swim time with supervision. So you can make sure she can get in and out of the pool with out making it worse. But water therapy is excellent for helping to take pressure off injuries and also to help build up leg muscles and strength.

I had a Muscovy drake who decided not to use the ramp when coming out of the pool He limped around for over a week from jumping down from the side onto the hard ground.

 

[Yooperducker]

Could be an injury, Have you picked her up and looked at the leg and foot real close? any swelling or heat redness? Are your Pekins Jumbo Or reg size Pekins?

I'd curtail her activity for now give her plenty of rest and swim time with supervision. So you can make sure she can get in and out of the pool with out making it worse. But water therapy is excellent for helping to take pressure off injuries and also to help build up leg muscles and strength.

I had a Muscovy drake who decided not to use the ramp when coming out of the pool He limped around for over a week from jumping down from the side onto the hard ground.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks for sharing and great to hear your duck has improved so much.

 

[Yooperducker]

Thanks for sharing and great to hear your duck has improved so much.

She did. Due mainly from the information provided by You, Miss Lydia and others.