Mandarin duck chick with birth defect?

[upstatemandarins]

Hi guys,
We have one out of 14 ducklings that hatched 5 days ago is eating and drinking well but has some balance issues as well as only walks in one direction in circles.
It seems like he had a stroke and was born this way.
We seperated him from the others briefly yesterday but he seems fine being with the others. We are keeping an eye on him so he doesn’t get picked on.
Is there anything we can do to help him?
They are drinking and on mazuri starter and all jumped first day of being chicks.
Any advice appreciated!
ThanksVideo of chick here

 

[ruthhope]

Hi guys,
We have one out of 14 ducklings that hatched 5 days ago is eating and drinking well but has some balance issues as well as only walks in one direction in circles.
It seems like he had a stroke and was born this way.
We seperated him from the others briefly yesterday but he seems fine being with the others. We are keeping an eye on him so he doesn’t get picked on.
Is there anything we can do to help him?
They are drinking and on mazuri starter and all jumped first day of being chicks.
Any advice appreciated!
ThanksVideo of chick here

Welcome to BYC. Sorry it has taken so long to get you a response.

It's hard to know what is causing your mandarin's issues. I have never raised mandarins but I doubt that it is a mandrin specific issue. Just like in other animals, ducks can have congenital problems. We have no way of knowing what caused your duckling's issues, but they could be congenital or a hatching injury. I would keep it warm, fed and hydrated and add Vitamin B3 niacin to its feed. You might be treating me rather than the duckling with the niacin [that is it might do no good] but it won't do any harm. You might use 1ml a day Durvet high level Vit B complex soaked into a few mealworms. Or a human vit B complex: 100mg of niacin daily.

Good luck and let us know how you get on