Mallard is failing

[KansasKid]

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.

Thats the big problem right there, loads of carbohydrates. You need to start them on a maintenance crumble like flock raiser and lay of the cracked corn and stuff till winter when you want to put weight on them. Also leafy greens are good to.

 

[valley ranch]

So how do you prevent Bumblefoot? We have alot of rocks in our yard, as fast as we rake them up the goats and horses expose more. Are we going to have issues with this poor boy from now on?

Right now I have Lily and James in a cage with a rubber mat for flooring and thick bedding. We'll fix the bumblefoot today.

 

[bt03]

I don't know if it will come back. I read some ducks it never happens again and some ducks that have it often. I think most ducks have the problems with bumble foot because of walking on concrete often. I think they will be ok with the rocks because he could have started it before you got him.

Good luck with the surgery and let me know how it goes.

 

[KansasKid]

Rocks are actually part of the problem, its like you constantly walking bare foot on them.

 

[jenny_kap]

Quote:
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.

Thats the big problem right there, loads of carbohydrates. You need to start them on a maintenance crumble like flock raiser and lay of the cracked corn and stuff till winter when you want to put weight on them. Also leafy greens are good to.

they have plenty of grass in the yard and they love it. after they are 2-3 weeks old, i don't buy food for my birds anymore, i feed them cereals that i produce.

 

[valley ranch]

So we followed the directions to remove the Bumblefoot scab. But there didn't seem to be any yellowy cheesy stuff under the scab. We dug around and couldn't find it. So we dosed it in betadine, wiped antibiotic cream on and wrapped it up. We did this yesterday and we'll unwrap and check tomorrow. We are hoping that if it is just deeper now that is is open it may begin to come out itself. If there is no improvement in a couple of days we'll cut deeper.
He is also on tetracycline. He is on a soft mat and has a dry bench to get to. He is eating well.
So now I guess we wait and see.
Boy ducks are strong. I did the holding while Richard did the cutting. And he fought me the whole time. Not to mention gave me the stink eye too. He was a very uphappy duck. And afterwards sat and slept on the kitchen floor. I guess the poor boy was exhausted, I know I was!!

 

[ducks_rcool329]

It may be just me, but I would not recommend giving ducks grit, Mine do just fine without it.

 

[ducks_rcool329]

Quote:
I know how you feel..... my mallards can be very hard to handle when your trying to fix them up, i once had one with a broken wing. now that was hard. Good luck

 

[valley ranch]

thanks
The grit is in a seperate dish for them if they want it. I don't mix it in their food. I was told they need grit. Is that false?

James is doing ok today. He is eating and playing in his water dish. We currently have a water dish he can blow bubbles etc in but not jump in. We are trying to keep the wound dry. Yeah right that is possible with a duck!! He is still limping. We are going to take the dressing off today and check out the wound.

 

[bt03]

Quote:
I believe they are just like chickens and need grit if they are on pellets and no free ranging. If they have crumbles and free range then they don't have to have it but I still leave it out just in case because I like safe better than I like sorry.

A dry duck

That is a good joke. But I'm glad y'all managed to do the surgery even with him flopping around. I can't wait to see how it goes with his foot