Mallard is failing

[valley ranch]

Greetings, A couple month ago, wifey was given a male mallard, his mate had died. we later got a female.
Problem: a week or two ago he started limping on one leg I can't see or feel anything wrong with the leg. He is having more and more trouble putting weight on the foot or leg. The girls say he is loosing weight. And he is loosing his color. He is not eating enough. he looks depressed. Could this be happening because of the loss of his girl friend?

What can we do to pump him up? Have any ideas?

We had him in the bathtub just now, he seemed not to be floating as high in the water as he should be. We will be thankful for your opinion.

 

[bt03]

I didn't know you had ducks to?! Did you check for bumble foot yet? With his original mate being gone for so long I don't see him getting depressed now but it could happen. Poly-vi-sol (infant vitamin but the one with no iron) may be what he needs. I have been told 3 drops 2 times a day and that might help him. If not he may be needing a little bit of extra niacin in his diet for his legs. I believe its one 100 mg tablet to 1 gallon of water but you have to get the one that is not flush-free. I'm not a duck expert but maybe one of local experts will come along. duckyfromoz, gofasterstripe, TLWR & nettie are some of the ones that come to mind that know a ton more than I do and may know what is going on.

 

[jenny_kap]

i have the same problem with a pekin duck, 4 weeks old. they grew too much, too fast, i think. i'm waiting for an expert here to tell us what to do. any advice would be very appreciated.

 

[bt03]

Quote:
Pekins grow faster than any other duck I have seen. What kind of feed do you have them on? It may be that they need extra niacin. Their legs need a lot of help sometimes because the rest of them grows so fast. By the time mine were 8 weeks old they were almost done growing.

 

[jenny_kap]

Quote:
Pekins grow faster than any other duck I have seen. What kind of feed do you have them on? It may be that they need extra niacin. Their legs need a lot of help sometimes because the rest of them grows so fast. By the time mine were 8 weeks old they were almost done growing.

for the last 2 weeks i fed them cracked corn, wheat and sun-flower seeds. it is the first time when i have pekins and they surprised me too. now, when they are only 4 weeks old, they look like the ducks i had last fall and those were 5 months old. i had read that they reach 11 pounds when they are 12 weeks old. i won't wait that long to process them. i think i'll do it when they will be 8 weeks old. anyway, i'll try to get niacin tomorrow and ask the vet how to use it. i hope they have it in the store. thank you for your advice.

 

[valley ranch]

Hi, We did find cuts and scrapes on his feet, not sure how he got them, we'll check the barn. He stayed in the house while drying, ate some peas and cranberries. Wifey is fixing him a place where he can be alone to heal. He has been eating Flock Raiser and Fortified Grit and also scratch is out there as well.

What is bumble foot? Can We give him a bit of human niacin?

 

[bt03]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=236611

Post #7 is a picture of what it looks like. It is little cuts in the foot but then it turns into this "bumble" thing that needs to be taken out and post number # 9 is a link about how to do the surgery if it is in fact bumble. He may want his new companion with him because ducks are super flock oriented but if that's not possible then you may want to put a mirror in with him so he thinks he has someone with him.

People niacin is exactly what you can put in his water but it needs to be the one that is NOT flush free. That one doesn't work at all for ducks.

 

[valley ranch]

Greetings, Wifey is convinced, having looked at the post, that he does have bumble foot. So we'll take care of that, I have what it takes in my kit. I also looked at the post she's done the step by step well.

Thankyou for that!

Richard

 

[bt03]

Any time! Ducks have kind of become my favorite pet and we have 5 new Pekin babies in the brooder (bathtub)

so I have looked up everything possible about them to keep them healthy. Let me know how it goes with your mallard.

Brenda

 

[valley ranch]

Sure. I hope we have gotten it in good time. I very much like ducks! We raised Moscovys when I was a boy. They were all white. I see them on the forum with splashes of black or brown, never knew there was such a thing as color one these birds.
I would like to get some white ones.

We have a bator going with chook eggs, might be nice to find someone close who has white moscovy, for the eggs.

Good talking with you again.

Richard