HELP PLEASE! in the middle of an assist hatch & my guide is unavailble now!

[Lacrystol]

The rocking and wobbling I wouldn't worry right now, they don't quite have the strength in there little legs, although they are working on it. But not quite there.. I love the video, I'm just sitting here at work playing it over and over again. LOL

can't believe how hungry those poor babies are LOL..

 

[Duckee]

@Lacrystol ... I NEED YOUR HELP AGAIN

When i posted the video earlier my Scoodie was fine....now he is not! I just checked on him & his neck is bent and it isn't straightening out! He is doing everything normal though. Is it a nutrition deficency? Is that why they are eating so much constantly??? I'm giving them game starter & polyvisol ( 1 dropper in the water once a day (for both to share) and then water with just save a chic electrolites ( 1 pouch per gallon of boiled & cooled down water). Am I over or under doing it???

Or, could it possibly be an injury? maybe he hurt himself on the water bowl I have in there? He is forever jumping all over it!

I'm so lost with this lil guy

thanks so much for hanging in there with me.

 

[Duckee]

I swear they have fresh food & water constantly....I"m not starving them at all. I just figured they were eating like that because they are 1/2 jumbo pekin. When their daddy was a duckling he ate like that....and STILL DOES! lol

As far as standing...once he wobbles and leans back, that's when his ends up on the bend of his legs. But he gets his bearings together and gets back up and stands normal again.

 

[Amiga]

Sounds to me he may need B vitamin supplements, especially niacin. Storey recommends 100 to 150 mg niacin per gallon of drinking water for 8 weeks.

 

[Duckee]

@Amiga do i use human vitamins or do they make them especially for ducks? Have a brand name I can go by? the polyvisol has Niacin, B4 & B12. Is that not enough?

 

[Amiga]

Use the human supplements - plain niacin, not no-flush, or timed release, just niacin. Capsules are easiest, open them up and mix the powder into the water.

Something else some folks use is B Complex - same thing, not the no-flush kind, but use the niacin (B3) in it to figure the dosage (100 to 150 mg niacin/B3 per gallon of water).

If you cannot find niacin, brewer's yeast (not baking yeast) has B vitamins in it. For a little duckling I would start with a teaspoon a day in the food. I calculated it out, and I think that would give about 100 mg of niacin.

 

[Amiga]

How much niacin is the little one getting? In milligrams, with the poly vi sol?

 

[Duckee]

the bottle says 1mg (1 dropper full) of poly vis sol has 8 mg of niacin.

 

[Duckee]

Sent hubby to store to get the Niacin...he said the bottle says flush free. Is that the right one? Should I discontinue the poly vi sol and just use the niacin and electrolytes?

Ii know this duckling was an assist hatch, but his sibling isn't having this issue at all. Wouldn't that one show signs being defecient as well?....i'm so confused

 

[Amiga]

And what is the recommended daily dosage? How much is Scoodie getting?

Here are the numbers I looked up a while back.

Two tablespoons of brewer's yeast contains 10 mg of niacin, based on this page http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/custom/1323569/2

The guesswork is in how much water a duckling actually ingests in a day. If a duckling actually drinks a half a cup of water a day, it would be getting (16 cups in a gallon, 32 half cups in a gallon . . . . 150 divided by 30, more or less) 5 mg of niacin from water with 150 mg niacin per gallon. Which would be about a tablespoon of brewer's yeast.
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Or, about a dropper full of what you are giving. So you are already giving a good amount of niacin, if my estimates are near right.

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There are other vitamins that could be helpful, perhaps E.

Another line of thought is that there are infections that can cause these symptoms. I am not well versed on antibiotic dosages, especially for ducklings.

And Scoodie has access to water all the time? As well as food? I think I remember you writing this, but my memory . . . well, it's not what it used to be.