male muscovy duckling tired?

[petjem]

I have noticed that my male muscovy duckling (about 15 weeks old) which has got bigger-taller legs than the girl and looks like he doesn't know what to do with them, gets tired more easily when he walks, than the female who is more active and agile and trying to fly and dosn't lie down on the grass that often. Also when they run together he looks to be so clumsy with those tall legs and when he stops, his legs start trembling and lies down almost imediately after. He looks to be perfectly healthy apart from that, he has a huge apetite and everything looks normal about him.

 

[Going Quackers]

Well 'Scovies drakes are big boys they'll never be as agile as the girls. That said it varies, i have some boys more flight capable and others like my biggest/oldest guy who cannot at all.

What are you feeding him, does it get plenty of foraging? My guys are all pretty active.. even the big guy lol

 

[petjem]

They graze in the field everyday and twice a day I feed them a mix of ground corn,wheat,barley,bran and soy 10% of the mix. They also eat bugs and worms that they find in the field and I usually add some tomatoes from our garden when I put them back in their pen. I also add a vitamin supplement for domestic fowl in their water 3 times a week.

 

[Going Quackers]

hmm.. well he clearly gets an opportunity to be active, i feed my birds a flock raiser and a grain mix that is organic, plus BOSS.

I don't add vitamins or anything with mine.. how does he seem otherwise? overall health i mean, appearance, feathers... body condition.

 

[Going Quackers]

do you mean the feed is only 10%? protein? My flock raiser is 18%.. have to look at my grain mix...

 

[keeperofthehearth]

It's a phase. Most of my boys go through it...though a few have not. They grow so fast and their legs need to "catch up."

Pretty soon you will notice that he can get his balance better and his body, legs & feet will balance out....another month or so. He will start foraging more and not need to rest nearly so often. Most of my girls just "zoom" around until they are egg heavy.... the boys "zoom" around once they have grown up & figured out how to walk on those big'ol feet. You can add some extra niacin into his diet if you're worried... but it sounds like a growth phase to me. You can also give him a bit more protein in the form of dog kibble and see if that helps him to build up his leg strength a bit.

 

[petjem]

10% is the soy in the mix not the protein. The guy from the feed store told me that I should add only 10-20% soy of the amount they eat daily. I am trying to keep it down to 10% cuz I'm afraid of too much protein in their food. They've had soy meal added for a week or so. I started adding it recently as I thought they were a bit thin comparing to the muscovy ducklings of the same age I found on the internet. Do you think I should stop adding soy in their food?

 

[Going Quackers]

It's a phase. Most of my boys go through it...though a few have not. They grow so fast and their legs need to "catch up."

Pretty soon you will notice that he can get his balance better and his body, legs & feet will balance out....another month or so. He will start foraging more and not need to rest nearly so often. Most of my girls just "zoom" around until they are egg heavy.... the boys "zoom" around once they have grown up & figured out how to walk on those big'ol feet. You can add some extra niacin into his diet if you're worried... but it sounds like a growth phase to me. You can also give him a bit more protein in the form of dog kibble and see if that helps him to build up his leg strength a bit.

That's interesting, as i have yet to see that in any of mine.. if anything they are too freakin' active lol I wonder whether the protein level is a touch low?

 

[petjem]

It's a phase. Most of my boys go through it...though a few have not. They grow so fast and their legs need to "catch up."

Pretty soon you will notice that he can get his balance better and his body, legs & feet will balance out....another month or so. He will start foraging more and not need to rest nearly so often. Most of my girls just "zoom" around until they are egg heavy.... the boys "zoom" around once they have grown up & figured out how to walk on those big'ol feet. You can add some extra niacin into his diet if you're worried... but it sounds like a growth phase to me. You can also give him a bit more protein in the form of dog kibble and see if that helps him to build up his leg strength a bit.

Really? Never heard about feeding dog food to the ducks... It contains animal protein, is it still safe for them? Isn't it possible that they choke?

 

[Going Quackers]

10% is the soy in the mix not the protein. The guy from the feed store told me that I should add only 10-20% soy of the amount they eat daily. I am trying to keep it down to 10% cuz I'm afraid of too much protein in their food. They've had soy meal added for a week or so. I started adding it recently as I thought they were a bit thin comparing to the muscovy ducklings of the same age I found on the internet. Do you think I should stop adding soy in their food?

I know nothing about adding soy nor feeding it. What is the protein in your feed... as i said my flock raiser is 18% and then it's cut with my grain mix and BOSS<