Help with niacin dosing please

[MamaDuckk]

Hi all!

I have 4 pekin ducklings that are a month old and already large. I have been treating them for upper respiratory issues. They were on bactrim but after one still wheezing badly, they are on oxytetracycline. They get kalmbach farms flock raiser crumble and I have orally been giving them .3 -.4 ml of the Rooster Booster liquid b12 with vitamin k. The vet suggested a full b complex. I came here and started reading and now I am worried I am not giving the right amount. The sickest duckling likes to rest on its hocks. They all can get up and moving and their legs seems fine once they do but they like to plop and not move even when roaming...which is in the garage right now because the weather has been awful. I gave them buckets for water and an open container for their crumble which is raised so they can't lazily dip their beaks in, they have to stand. Still, the 2 smaller ones like to rest on tbeir hocks. If anyone can tell me if I am giving too much, not enough or if there is a better way of doing this all, please let me know. I am so worried about these no so little ones. I want them to have long, happy, healthy lives. Thanks in advance.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They need to be on Liquid B Complex it is the best for treating a niacin deficiency
here is info and doses for the age of your ducklings.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

I am so sorry they have been sick I hope they are recovering.

Once these littles get up and walking good and have been for at least a week you can start back on giving them Nutritional yeast over their feed at 1 Tablespoon per cup of feed you give them and most likely since they are Pekins they will need to be on this for all their lives.
TSC usually carries the Liquid Durvet B Complex. Give this by mouth or over a tasty treat. Not in their water it dilutes it down too much.
info on how to give liquid meds by mouth https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[MamaDuckk]

They need to be on Liquid B Complex it is the best for treating a niacin deficiency
here is info and doses for the age of your ducklings.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

I am so sorry they have been sick I hope they are recovering.

Once these littles get up and walking good and have been for at least a week you can start back on giving them Nutritional yeast over their feed at 1 Tablespoon per cup of feed you give them and most likely since they are Pekins they will need to be on this for all their lives.
TSC usually carries the Liquid Durvet B Complex. Give this by mouth or over a tasty treat. Not in their water it dilutes it down too much.
View attachment 3779795info on how to give liquid meds by mouth https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

THANK YOU! I almost bought this at tsc thursday but the "duck expert" told me I would have to inject it. I am so worried that I was asperating them. I did watch how to dose by mouth making sure to avoid the esophagus. They are getting so tired of me putting stuff down their throats. This has been going on for a month now. What would be a tasty treat that I can give them with this over it? They don't seem to like to try new things. I'm sorry. I am in a full panic over this. I don't want to lose them. According to that chart, 1.0ml of the durvet injectable is good? Do that for a week and then switch to the nutritional yeast over their food? I just want to make sure i am understanding correctly. I appologize if i seem dense.

 

[Miss Lydia]

You are not dense. Give them the liquid B complex until you see them walking normal and then continue for a week more you can even continue with the liquid b Complex if you want it is water-soluble so they will pee out what they don't need. But I'd keep some on hand becasue we just never know when we may need the big guns so to speak again. Then start them on Nutritional yeast over their feed daily after they are up and doing well with walking. We do not inject we give it orally. It takes a bit of work to get the top off but once you do use the stopper to keep it fresh and keep in the frig.

Do you give them any type of treats like mealworms [dried] or Chopped romaine lettuce,or Thawed peas? Try something like that and see how they do maybe they will just slurp it right up and you won't have to use the syringe. Yes, 1 ml for each duckling showing niacin deficiency. If you offer anything other than their starter though they are going to need to have grit in a separate container to be able to process, Chick grit unless you can find small grit .The only girt I can get other than chick grit is too large for ducklings to use. But they will use the grit as they need it.

 

[MamaDuckk]

Thank you so much for this reply. I ran out to tsc early this morning and picked up the injectable durvet Vit B complex. Then I ran over to the grocery store and got a can of sweet peas (no salt added) and a few cans of sardines in water. First I tried them with the plain pea mash. No luck. Then I tried them with sardine mash, no luck. They won't take anything but dried meal worms out of my hand. I took some meal worms and put them in a small plastic container to offer them. One of the 4 ate the meal worms from the container with the Vit B on it. I also added just a little bit of water because it looked like the Vit B was just sitting in the corner of the container. The others wouldn't touch it. The other 3 each got 1.0ml of the complex in a syringe down their throats. They hate getting dosed that way but I am worried that if I put it on mealworms, they won't eat when they are one on one with me, and if they are all together, I have no way of knowing how much each got. I tried my full grown ducks on the pea mash and sardine mash. They'll eat the sardines but not the peas. How can I make things like treats more appealing to them? I wish I could make a little mealworm ball that has the complex in or soaked up in it and offer that to them but the wealworms don't absorb it. Hopefully it will start to work for their legs quickly so I can move on to the nutritional yeast and it will be one less thing for them to tolerate. They get so wriggly and start screaming now. They won't be towel wrapped. I'm worried about hurting them. I take it slow with them because I am nervous about aspirating them. So far, so good though. I just feel bad that even the 2 babies that were sweet with me, enjoyed being held and having their necks rubbed now run from me

I also got some chick grit. The tsc employee that told me not to orally dose the injectable B complex also said to start them on the regular pellets that I feed my adult ducks. They are only a month old so I'm not sure about keeping them on the crumble or not. I had not heard about offering ducks grit before despite my reading. I guess I've been reading the wrong things. I offer my full grown ducks crushed oyster shell in it's own little feeding bowl. I thought they were going through a lot of this but I guess they would know when they have had enough and I don't need to worry about impaction? I am also assuming they don't need grit? What age should I offer the little ones the crushed oyster shell? It seems like the pieces are large despite being "crushed".

Thank you for your help. Truly. I just adore my flocks and want to be the best duck mom I can. My full grown flock consists of a ruen, silver appleyard, welsh harlequin, and a small pekin (or maybe she is a just a white duck - she was a rescue). The new flock consists of 4, one month old pekins. One is a drake for sure. I think he is the only one. I had read that calcium can be poisonous to the drakes...if I put the pekin's calcium in a feeder bowl like I do the others, does he know not to eat it? Sorry for so many questions. I just want to get this right and this site and you guys are truly the authorities even more knowledgeable than the 4 different vets I have been to.

 

[Miss Lydia]

We all use B complex orally and have never had a bit of trouble using it it is the fastest way to get them over a niacin deficiency.
What are you feeding your adult ducks?

My ducks don't like peas much but when buying them go with frozen and thaw them under hot water then drain. Offer them that way.
I have feed Layer ever since I went t to NON GMO only because I can't find NON GMO all flock and My drakes have always eaten it I just lost my oldest drake at going on 13 yrs old about 3 weeks ago. Never been sick I do mix some scracth into their feed to try and keep the calcium down a bit and offer oyster shell on the side for the girls.If you can't find an All flock feed then stick with starter /grower until they are close to laying age.

Oyster shell is set out for the young ones close to laying age.
My young Runners who are 6 months old eat oyster shell like it's candy.
Sounds like your going to have to dose your ducklings individually which they will get over it. Hopefully it won't take long for them to recover from lacking niacin and it will all be behind them, I've always used it to keep from having a niacin deficiency when I have had young ones by adding it to their drinking water but when they already have a deficiency it is best to dose by mouth or over a special treat.Oh and I bought some canned mackerel in water thought my flock would love it the ducks walked over looked at it looked at me and walked off my chickens finally eat it.

 

[MamaDuckk]

We all use B complex orally and have never had a bit of trouble using it it is the fastest way to get them over a niacin deficiency.
What are you feeding your adult ducks?

My ducks don't like peas much but when buying them go with frozen and thaw them under hot water then drain. Offer them that way.
I have feed Layer ever since I went t to NON GMO only because I can't find NON GMO all flock and My drakes have always eaten it I just lost my oldest drake at going on 13 yrs old about 3 weeks ago. Never been sick I do mix some scracth into their feed to try and keep the calcium down a bit and offer oyster shell on the side for the girls.If you can't find an All flock feed then stick with starter /grower until they are close to laying age.

Oyster shell is set out for the young ones close to laying age.
My young Runners who are 6 months old eat oyster shell like it's candy.
Sounds like your going to have to dose your ducklings individually which they will get over it. Hopefully it won't take long for them to recover from lacking niacin and it will all be behind them, I've always used it to keep from having a niacin deficiency when I have had young ones by adding it to their drinking water but when they already have a deficiency it is best to dose by mouth or over a special treat.Oh and I bought some canned mackerel in water thought my flock would love it the ducks walked over looked at it looked at me and walked off my chickens finally eat it.

I had to laugh about your ducks walking away from the mackerel. I am hoping to find some feeder fish for all of them to chase and eat in buckets this summer.

My adult flock is getting the Kalmbach Feeds 18% protein Duck and Goose formula. I toss out some of the dried mealworms as treat in the morning. They have their crushed calcium. I offer watermelon or the sardines in water as a treat the most often. I bought a layer pellet that I tossed down (I think it was 16% Dumor brand) on the ground along with some scratch but they are not interested. I'll be sure to offer the babies the oyster shell once they hit about 6 mos. I'll also switch to frozen peas and see what they think of that.

Thank you again for sharing your knowledge with me. The conflicting info I was finding/hearing had my head spinning.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I’d start the oyster shell about 18-20 weeks. When I put my Runners out with the main flock of course they had to try it but they didn’t really start eating it till they were about to lay. Does your Kalmbach say for all stages? If so once your done with starter start feed the Kalmbach

 

[MamaDuckk]

It does say all stages once they are past 2 weeks. Do I need to worry about the drake with the oyster shell? I don't know how I could keep him apart. Those 4 are so bonded. When I switch the baby pekins to the pellets, put the grit down? Since the pekins will be on the nutritional yeast for life, should I also give it to the other adult flock? I know silver appleyards are considered meat ducks, I do think the one rescue is a small pekin and the welsh harlequin had sprattle leg when I got her as a baby. I did the band-aid thing and she has been fine since. Thanks again for your time and knowledge.

 

[Miss Lydia]

It is awesome when you can feed the whole flock one feed. I have seen my drake try the oyster shell but he doesn't eat it like the girls do.

I have Runners, Buffs 1 Cayuga Muscovy, and chickens and they all eat the same feed and get Nutritional yeast mixed into their feed so all of my birds are eating it. Oh and a goose How could I forget Missy. lol
If you have chick grit and you are feeding veggies or anything else other than their crumble they need to have the chick grit down now not in the feed but in a container close by they will use it as they need.