Help please! Ducklings legs are crossed…

[Ccalvert08]

I got 3 Pekin ducklings at tractor supply on March 17th. 2 of them are growing normal and don’t seem to have any issues. 1 of them is not growing as fast and can’t walk. Its legs cross over each other at its “ankles” and it gets tangled and just falls over. It’s still eating and drinking. I first suspected niacin deficiency a couple weeks ago and started them on nutritional yeast and B complex but this duckling is not improving.

Any ideas of what it could be or how I can help it? I thought about splinting its legs while it grows but am unsure how to do it to where it will help.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This is a niacin deficiency most likely. Pekins because they grow so fast can come down with it pretty easy. And out of a group usually, it will be just one. Are you feeding a grower starter if so you need to be supplementing with some kind of niacin? With the little one with crossed legs one needs liquid B complex asap. Give them swim times so they can keep their leg muscles strong and this one having trouble will really help it to get strength while recovering. It's very important you get this one on the Liquid B complex quickly though. For all 3 buy Nutritional yeast and start adding it to their feed at 1 tablespoon per cup of feed and for the one with leg problems 1 ml over a small amount of a tasty treat. Daily until at least 12 weeks of age, Pekins may need Nutritional yeast for the extra niacin all their lives.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

 

[Ccalvert08]

This is a niacin deficiency most likely. Pekins because they grow so fast can come down with it pretty easy. And out of a group usually, it will be just one. Are you feeding a grower starter if so you need to be supplementing with some kind of niacin? With the little one with crossed legs one needs liquid B complex asap. Give them swim times so they can keep their leg muscles strong and this one having trouble will really help it to get strength while recovering. It's very important you get this one on the Liquid B complex quickly though. For all 3 buy Nutritional yeast and start adding it to their feed at 1 tablespoon per cup of feed and for the one with leg problems 1 ml over a small amount of a tasty treat. Daily until at least 12 weeks of age, Pekins may need Nutritional yeast for the extra niacin all their lives.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

Thank you. I already have them on niacin and liquid B complex. They are about 4 weeks old. Is there a chance they can still improve or is the damage typically permanent? I don’t want the little one to suffer.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@CoriM do you think hobbles would help? I wonder if there is a way to make hobbles so the legs are kept a normal space and given time will straighten out enough the duckling can walk?

thinking out loud here
putting something solid across where the hobbles go from one leg to other to keep the legs at normal space maybe something like a pop cycle stick wrapped in vet wrap to keep the duckling from chewing on the wood. it would probably have to be cut down a bit.

 

[CoriM]

I'm sorry, that is so sad. Poor baby! I'm not sure if you could make something work, but you could sure give it a try. I didn't have the same issue - I had splay leg where my girls legs went out to the side and she had a hard time standing up and walking. I made sure she got the liquid vitamin B complex, short swims in a lukewarm bathtub to help strengthen her legs (I had to support her body as she preened herself afterwards), and then I made hobbles like @Miss Lydia mentioned, by putting a small piece of vet wrap around each leg, pulling her legs into proper position, then looping them together there with a larger piece of vet wrap. Maybe as Miss Lydia suggested, you could put some sort of a spacer between her legs to keep them from crossing. Of course you would have to monitor her closely to make sure it worked and didn't trip her up and make it worse. Here's a picture of what my hobbles looked like:

 

[Ccalvert08]

Just an update: we were supplementing with liquid b complex and nutritional yeast at first sign of issues but nothing improved. Took it to the vet and they braces its legs. Sadly, Flopsy passed 2.5 weeks later.

 

[CoriM]

So sorry! Bless you for trying to help the little one! I hope the other two are happy and healthy.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So sorry you lost Flopsy