Help please! Duckling doing back flips

[lilnghtyangel]

We just hatched our baby ducklings. Not even 24 hours old and one of the ducklings is doing constant backflips. He eats, and drinks just fine. It started with him.just staring up a lot after just hatching 12 hrs ago. Now it's constant back flips. He can't even rest properly because he can't seem to be able to control it. What is wrong? Is there anything I can do?

 

[Poultry parent]

i don't know but isolate him just to be safe!

 

[Amiga]

Sounds like star gazing. Often it is a B vitamin deficiency. Here is what I have written up about B vitamin supplements.

People often get confused about what to use, so please stick with me here

.

You have some options.

For a duckling who is eating (so they would be a couple of days old or so) I would go with brewer's yeast. Forgive me for using capital letters, but for anyone else who may casually look over this thread, NOT baking yeast, NOT winemaking yeast. Brewer's yeast is a nutritional supplement and it provides niacin and a few other vitamins.

Generally, folks who supplement with brewer’s yeast use a tablespoon per cup of food. - for an hours-old duckling, I would mix it into water at first.

Ducklings need about three times the niacin chicks do. And some ducklings get leg problems or seizures if they don't have enough niacin.

If you cannot find the brewer's yeast, or if you happen to have (here come the capital letters again, please forgive me) PLAIN niacin - NOT no-flush, NOT timed release, then dissolve 150 mg niacin per gallon of water for the duckling’s drinking water.

Another approach is to use B Complex capsules, and use the B3 - niacin - levels as a guide. Again, 150 mg B3 per gallon of drinking water.


Keep the little one on the supplements for about 8 weeks.

Sometimes it only takes a few days to see improvement.

You can also see how it went for Qwackers and Bentley from these threads.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/857143/treating-wry-neck-in-crested-duckling-edited-title

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/761308/peking-duckling-with-crooked-neck-help

Please feel free to join us at the Duck Forum.