MY DUCK hasn't been able to walk for 6 MONTHS.

[Cristian_01]

Hello everyone. I’d like to ask for some advice to help my Mallard drake, who has been with me for more than two years. I had already written in this forum group over two years ago: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/duckling-with-overlapping-legs.1583868/

He’s a duck born with hips dysplasia, which I didn’t know how to treat when he was a duckling; in fact, while trying to help him, I injured his left leg, and it developed with a deformity: one claw didn’t grow, and the claw of the middle toe curved sideways.

Despite this, he has always managed to walk in his own way and move around the garden.

At the beginning of last June, out of nowhere, one morning he stopped walking, and since then he hasn’t started again.

This had already happened in December because I left him outdoors even though it was pouring rain—twice. I housed him in a cardboard box lined with bedding and, following the vet’s advice, gave him a liquid B-vitamin complex and an antibiotic tablet. He started standing up again after about a month.

This time, the situation doesn’t seem to be improving. During the summer he molted, and both his tail and wing feathers grew back, but about a month ago he lost the white feathers on his tail and began losing a large portion of the feathers on his belly and around the cloaca. I’m not sure whether the loss is only due to friction, since I often lay him on a pet pad. As of today, it’s been two winters in a row that he hasn’t undergone the winter molt, and he keeps the same faded, summer-colored plumage. I don’t know how to intervene! His wings are getting damaged from using them like crutches.

I’ve given him Nutricost Niacin powder (“Niacinamide 500 mg capsules”); I’ve also given him BeTotal B syrup (the same I used during his first recovery), and sometimes the avian multivitamin powder “Vitasol.” Recently, I bought a jar of Niacin, again from Nutricost. I’m also trying to get him to eat grit.

Additionally, I’m avoiding letting him swim in the small pool because the water is cold. Instead, when possible, I’ve started using a tub filled with lukewarm water.

Despite these issues, he still has plenty of energy and liveliness: he drinks, eats, and bites the zipper of my coat when I hold him in my hand.

I should add that this drake lives with a female Mallard who, unlike him, is in good health.

I’m getting back in touch with the veterinarian. Unfortunately, the clinic is more than an hour’s drive from my town.

He has really struggled to find a comfortable position over the past few days. He kept using his wing as a crutch.