Help! Young Peking (6-7 wks) walks on the joints/"knee" of his legs

[BrittAppalachia]

We recently bought our first ducklings from TSC. 3 of them. We had them on chick starter (medicated w/ Amprolium -- this is what the lady at TSC said to do) for the first week, and then chick feed & brewer's yeast for the next three weeks before buying purina flock raiser last week and supplementing their diet with niacin in their water.

Two of our ducklings have grown up absolutely fine with no problems, but our Peking grew unbelievably fast and about three weeks ago stopped walking on his feet. He already had a bit of trouble walking, but at least he was walking. He does fine in the bath too.

Now, at 5-7 weeks old he doesn't use his feet at all (they're turned in to balance him) and struggles to move around on the joints or knees of his legs. He doesn't seem to be in any pain, but regardless it makes me worry. We haven't moved them outside yet from the brooder (it's been so cold!), but we have let them out from time to time and he mostly sits around (like he does mostly in the brooder).

What do I do? Is he just too heavy?? I haven't seen any forums where anyone has had a similar problem so I don't know what to do.

Has anyone else had or heard of a problem like this that they were able to fix?

We're bringing him to the vet tomorrow to see if they can do anything for him.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Sorry you are having trouble.

I don't have the answer... but will share that the Purina flock raiser has the correct amount of niacin, as I contacted them and asked. That is what my ducklings ate from day with no issues or supplements. But Peking are much heavier meat birds.

What was the protein % in your starter? I know some are as low as 18% which I think could be an issue...

Hope this resolves for your little's!

 

[HuskerHens18]

I have been told by my vet and feed supplier to never give ducks medicated feed, I guess I was too ignorant to ask why, I just did what they said.
I fed them chick starter(not medicated) and then have now begun the flock raiser at 6 weeks.
When you pick up this duck and try to set him in his feet, will he even try to stand? Definitely keep your vet appointment, they should know what to do. My Cayuga runner had problems walking for a while and would often sit on his joints, but I always made him get up and now he never does it and he's doing fantastic. Good luck with your baby, I hope all goes well

 

[Miss Lydia]

Here is info on B complex not sure if your going to be able to reverse this in your duckling but maybe it can help. How much niacin or brewers yeast have you been giving them and what form of niacin because time released or flush free aren't the same as reg niacin. and won't help.
I think taking your lil one to the vet is a good idea.
Ducks are amazing at over coming healthy related issues so don't give up.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...s-niacin-riboflavin-deficiency.1228833/page-3
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

 

[chickens really]

Pekin are meat birds..Fast growing and need proper balance in diet. Might be too late now for his legs. Medicated feed should not be fed. Niacin and B vitamin If feeding Chick starter..

 

[BrittAppalachia]

I have been told by my vet and feed supplier to never give ducks medicated feed, I guess I was too ignorant to ask why, I just did what they said.
I fed them chick starter(not medicated) and then have now begun the flock raiser at 6 weeks.
When you pick up this duck and try to set him in his feet, will he even try to stand? Definitely keep your vet appointment, they should know what to do. My Cayuga runner had problems walking for a while and would often sit on his joints, but I always made him get up and now he never does it and he's doing fantastic. Good luck with your baby, I hope all goes well

We found out not to give them medicated feed too, but we also read that Amprolium is okay for ducks. We stopped giving it to them after the first week and these problems started mostly about three weeks ago, so hopefully it's not because of the medicated feed.

And when I try to pick him up he just kind of squirms onto his breast and lies back down. The problem is that he doesn't put the weight on his feet and won't even try.

Thanks for the advice & well wishes!

 

[BrittAppalachia]

Sorry you are having trouble.

I don't have the answer... but will share that the Purina flock raiser has the correct amount of niacin, as I contacted them and asked. That is what my ducklings ate from day with no issues or supplements. But Peking are much heavier meat birds.

What was the protein % in your starter? I know some are as low as 18% which I think could be an issue...

Hope this resolves for your little's!

Thanks! We've been adding extra brewer's yeast to the purina and about 100mg of NOT flush-free (or time released) niacin in the water every day.

The chick starter had 20%. We were putting brewer's yeast in that too, but we did just begin a week ago with the flock raiser and added niacin.

 

[casportpony]

I have been told by my vet and feed supplier to never give ducks medicated feed, I guess I was too ignorant to ask why, I just did what they said.
I fed them chick starter(not medicated) and then have now begun the flock raiser at 6 weeks.
When you pick up this duck and try to set him in his feet, will he even try to stand? Definitely keep your vet appointment, they should know what to do. My Cayuga runner had problems walking for a while and would often sit on his joints, but I always made him get up and now he never does it and he's doing fantastic. Good luck with your baby, I hope all goes well

Feeds medicated with amprolium, bacitracin, and a few other drugs are perfectly fine for ducks, but chick feed does not have enough niacin for ducklings, so some ducklings will develop leg problems if they eat chick starter.

 

[casportpony]

We found out not to give them medicated feed too, but we also read that Amprolium is okay for ducks. We stopped giving it to them after the first week and these problems started mostly about three weeks ago, so hopefully it's not because of the medicated feed.

And when I try to pick him up he just kind of squirms onto his breast and lies back down. The problem is that he doesn't put the weight on his feet and won't even try.

Thanks for the advice & well wishes!

Amprolium will not cause leg problems.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

We found out not to give them medicated feed too, but we also read that Amprolium is okay for ducks.

This is also my understanding.

The reason for not feeding medicated is because ducks eat much more than chicks so proportion may not be right. But I guess amprolium isn't the medication they are talking about. As I was recently told by a respected person that this is another one of those perpetuated myth things. I didn't know there were other types of "medicated" feed available.