After observing some strange behavior, I diagnosed one of my ducklings with a niacin deficiency today. She is just over 3 weeks old. But I also noticed she’s been panting almost all day.
when I search this group, it seems everybody says panting is because they’re too hot or because their nostrils aren’t clear. She has deep enough water to clear her nostrils.
I’ve tried putting her head in the water for her to get a drink but she only takes a sip and then moves away. They are inside our 70 degree living room with a heat plate. The plate does not warm the ambient air, they have to go sit next to it to get warm. She was sitting right next to the heat plate and didn’t move for several hours (maybe cause shes reluctant to move because of her weak legs??), so I unplugged it for several hours but she was still panting.
I took them outside for a while and she seemed to stop panting, however they were outside so I didn’t observe her as diligently. We had a high of 66 degrees today. Then as soon as I brought them back inside for the night, she started panting again. I had turned the heat plate back on when I brought them in because usually they’re cold and a little wet when they come in from outside.
Anyone have any ideas of why she’s doing this? She’ll try to sleep and hang her head, but then quickly lifts her head up again and starts panting. should I turn off the heat plate for the night? Like I said, I also realized she is suffering from a niacin deficiency today and is reluctant to walk around. could this be related to the niacin deficiency?
when I search this group, it seems everybody says panting is because they’re too hot or because their nostrils aren’t clear. She has deep enough water to clear her nostrils.
I’ve tried putting her head in the water for her to get a drink but she only takes a sip and then moves away. They are inside our 70 degree living room with a heat plate. The plate does not warm the ambient air, they have to go sit next to it to get warm. She was sitting right next to the heat plate and didn’t move for several hours (maybe cause shes reluctant to move because of her weak legs??), so I unplugged it for several hours but she was still panting.
I took them outside for a while and she seemed to stop panting, however they were outside so I didn’t observe her as diligently. We had a high of 66 degrees today. Then as soon as I brought them back inside for the night, she started panting again. I had turned the heat plate back on when I brought them in because usually they’re cold and a little wet when they come in from outside.
Anyone have any ideas of why she’s doing this? She’ll try to sleep and hang her head, but then quickly lifts her head up again and starts panting. should I turn off the heat plate for the night? Like I said, I also realized she is suffering from a niacin deficiency today and is reluctant to walk around. could this be related to the niacin deficiency?