Little Duckling Health Issues

[Kaw]

Thank you for your reply. I am not using a no flush niacin. We are using the B Complex with Rooster Booster and now the nutri-drench. I have the DirvetvB complex on order, but it is out of stock until next week. I will get to TSC asap.
It’s odd how one from a batch has issues with niacin and, if this is the issue, perhaps it‘s bc he is so small and might not be as developed when he hatched.
He still only peeps when the others have their adult voices,

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Thank you for your reply. I am not using a no flush niacin. We are using the B Complex with Rooster Booster and now the nutri-drench. I have the DirvetvB complex on order, but it is out of stock until next week. I will get to TSC asap.
It’s odd how one from a batch has issues with niacin and, if this is the issue, perhaps it‘s bc he is so small and might not be as developed when he hatched.
He still only peeps when the others have their adult voices,

Aw sorry I read that wrong. Hopefully the new Durvet B complex helps the little one! I noticed the same trend as well with some batches (particularly with my one breed) seemingly having niacin deficiencies at hatch. When I first noticed it I started to document my thoughts and what I was seeing. I know it's not a problem during incubation since I only collect clean, fresh and correctly shaped eggs out of the nesting boxes for hatching. I use nurture right 360s which are pretty reliable and I pre calibrate analog instruments to ensure correct temp/humidity to keep everything uniform across the board. This spring I plan to try dosing my breeding ducks for two weeks before egg collecting starts with Poultry Cell (one of my favorite supplements with B3) and also bump their protein starting a month prior. I'm curious to see if it will change anything.

 

[Miss Lydia]

How is your little on e doing today ?

 

[Kaw]

Aw sorry I read that wrong. Hopefully the new Durvet B complex helps the little one! I noticed the same trend as well with some batches (particularly with my one breed) seemingly having niacin deficiencies at hatch. When I first noticed it I started to document my thoughts and what I was seeing. I know it's not a problem during incubation since I only collect clean, fresh and correctly shaped eggs out of the nesting boxes for hatching. I use nurture right 360s which are pretty reliable and I pre calibrate analog instruments to ensure correct temp/humidity to keep everything uniform across the board. This spring I plan to try dosing my breeding ducks for two weeks before egg collecting starts with Poultry Cell (one of my favorite supplements with B3) and also bump their protein starting a month prior. I'm curious to see if it will change anything.

Thank you for the support and information. We have hatched about 80 and this is our first experience with something like what this little is experiencing. This one hatched from an egg I found in the coop and couldn‘t toss as I could see it was developing. The other four that hatched the same week were also found eggs and they are all healthy.
I feel he is stronger but there is no change in his legs or neck. When I give him a bath hos head goes forward and it‘s almost too stiff. He can‘t pull it back up. This also happens periodically when he eats. His heart beats so hard after a bath that I can hear it thumping.
And he doesn‘t have an adult voice like the other hatchlings from the same week. He has a little sound like a whistle. If he is hingry and hears me in the morning, he makes three short whistles and I whistle back. Even if we could make a wheel chair device, he could not move it.
Everyday he goes outside and sits in a pen where he can see the other ducks. We have a number of ducks and he cries out if they go around the corner and he can‘t see them. Two of the hatchlings from that week were adopted and the two left (including the largest hatchling we have seen) will sit outside his pen.
At night he is inside in a clear plastic tub. I hold him while he eats to ensure he gets enough. He eats and drinks well. He is always hungry.
I have bought puppy pads (he doesn’t chew on them like other ducklings might) so I can easily take out a dirty pad and he isn‘t sitting in his own mess. I rinse off his bottom (whatever that area is for a duck).
He has such a will to live but his quality of life is so poor. I think we may need to put him down, but it is heartbreaking. I am hoping he will get better soon. I also wonder because of his voice if he was born this way and it is showing more as he grows. I didn‘t notice anything unusual the first week exceot that he was so small. He did sit on his tail a lot before I noticed the other signs with his legs, but his legs do seem like a niacin deficiency. I am hoping he improves soon.

 

[Kaw]

How is your little on e doing today ?

Thank you so much for asking. He is not doing well but still has a will to live. He eats and drinks readily. I am at a loss. Today he caught his beak in the chicken wire of the outside pen and it was scraped on top from the odd angle and his struggle. I will need to block the chicken wire.
I just answered astroduck with a more detailed description.

 

[Miss Lydia]

It's so hard to know what to do when they show a strong will to live. Many years ago We had a clutch of Muscovy ducklings hatch here. Just a small hatch of 4, 3 were doing great growing hanging out with mama when she foraged. One would just lay around rarely followed the others. When she was around 8 weeks old she just had no energy I began to think she had a heart problem, just a guess though. Finally, we decided to put her down and the day we were going to she passed on her own. It's such a hard decision because you want to give them every chance. I just wanted you to know many of us have been where you are now and how hard it can be.

 

[Kaw]

It's so hard to know what to do when they show a strong will to live. Many years ago We had a clutch of Muscovy ducklings hatch here. Just a small hatch of 4, 3 were doing great growing hanging out with mama when she foraged. One would just lay around rarely followed the others. When she was around 8 weeks old she just had no energy I began to think she had a heart problem, just a guess though. Finally, we decided to put her down and the day we were going to she passed on her own. It's such a hard decision because you want to give them every chance. I just wanted you to know many of us have been where you are now and how hard it can be.

Thank you. I inow intellectually that sometimes ww need to do this when we raise animals. I have had to put down a very special dog who became sick from cancer. He lost his sight and his smell. He was 110 lbs. I don‘t I waited too long, but I may have—he would rallie when he saw me, but that last week he would only eat roast beef from the deli. One day I woke up and knew it was the day. Somehow putting down a growing animal who wants to live does make it harder to know what to do when they might have a chance. My bottom line is that I don‘t want him to suffer; and I realize he is suffering some now. Over the last few days it seems clear he isn‘t getting better. A little stronger though and I don’t know what I don‘t know, so I am looking forward to a conversation with the vet.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Please keep us updated

 

[Kaw]

Some good news which may mean he us improving or just adapting. Typically he lists to the side or sits straight up, paddling his feet in front of him and looking up at me. Last night in the bath he righted himself, and bobbed his head in and out (sometimes not all the out. He now tips forward and I helped him out a few times). He also used his beak to push himself away from the side because he can‘t change direction quickly. He enjoyed swimming underneath the running faucet several times. I do feed him twice a day bit first I let him try and he can becsuse he will learn diferent ways to manage it and it might make him stronger. it‘s just he can‘t always control his head and I am not sure if he gets enough so then I feed him.
This morning he is making little happy noises while he eats.
I mentioned a wheel chair before, if it was possible, but I can‘t inagine a duck would be content in a wheelchair. Fingers crossed that he‘s improving.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Look up Lemon the duck. That sounds awesome love to hear this.

and here is more info
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffsb&q=ducks+with+handicaps&atb=v263-1&ia=web