new to raising duck and a question about niacin

[someguyhere]

hello everyone we just got ourselves 6 little duckings a few weeks ago. the first few days all seemed well but then one of the crested ducks started getting wobbly legs. the other 5 are just fine. I live in a very small secluded area and every feed shop around does not carry niacin and looks at me a little crazy when i ask for it. I did buy some vitamins for them and had been putting it in the water since the first day we had them. the wobbly legs seemed to have cleared up for the most part except when he gets really excited then he starts falling all over the place again. Ive read about brewers yeast also here, another thing not available to me so I plan on just ordering some online today. I wondering if anyone could link a good product to buy it would be greatly appreciated. also is it ok for the other ducks to have some also or do i need to separate the one from the others so they dont share water, I dont really want to unless i have to since they are all very much attached to each other.

 

[SlipperyGoose]

You won't need to separate them. It's okay if the others get more niacin too. What's the protein content on their feed? I don't go over 20% for ducklings per Dave Holderread.

 

[quackers619]

Brewers yeast is fine for all the ducklings........ as a owner of two white crested ducks i now know the can have different issues so you may want to do a little research

one of mine is blind in one eye and has a deformed side crest and was very small so we gave both her and her sister brewers yeast and vitamins in the water a saw a big improvement in her. She is now a healthy and happy duck and fits right in to the flock..... i put i table spoon in every time i filled the food dish...I have a thread on here post pictures of your crested ducks and would love to see pictures of yours

 

[someguyhere]

thanks for the help. not close to the bag at the moment but the very first day they had 24% chick starter until the next day when the mazuri feed for duckiling came in. i think its a little more than 20 though so maybe I should try to find something else for them also.

 

[someguyhere]

I will post pictures ! and thank you . I had been lurking this forum for awhile trying to decide if ducks would make a good fit to our family. we wanted 2 but no one could agree on what breed we wanted so we ended up with 2 crested, 2 buff and 2 chocolate runners ! I was a little worried getting so many different ones but it looks like they are all the best of friends thanks for the quick replies, not sure i have ever seen such friendly forum before.

 

[chickens really]

thanks for the help. not close to the bag at the moment but the very first day they had 24% chick starter until the next day when the mazuri feed for duckiling came in. i think its a little more than 20 though so maybe I should try to find something else for them also.

If you have Duckling starter, no need for adding anything...
I feed Ducklings, Duckling starter, free range, Oat and Barley crumble..scratch grains, fruits, veggies...Grit should be supplied if adding other feed besides starter.
Never once had an issue....

Good luck

 

[Amiga]

Some ducklings, especially the cresteds, definitely benefit from extra B vitamins.

Here is what I have written up about it based on what I have read here and other resources.

Forgive me for using capital letters, but for anyone else who may casually look over this thread, NOT baking yeast, NOT winemaking yeast. Brewer's yeast is a nutritional supplement and it provides niacin and a few other vitamins.

Generally, folks who supplement with brewer’s yeast use a tablespoon per cup of food.

Ducklings need about three times the niacin chicks do. And some ducklings get leg problems or seizures if they don't have enough niacin.

If you cannot find the brewer's yeast, or if you happen to have (here come the capital letters again, please forgive me) PLAIN niacin - NOT no-flush, NOT timed release, then dissolve 150 mg niacin per gallon of water for the duckling’s drinking water.

Another approach is to use B Complex capsules, and use the B3 - niacin - levels as a guide. Again, 150 mg B3 per gallon of drinking water.


Keep the little one on the supplements for about 8 weeks.

Sometimes it only takes a few days to see improvement.

You can also see how it went for Qwackers and Bentley from these threads.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/857143/treating-wry-neck-in-crested-duckling-edited-title

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/761308/peking-duckling-with-crooked-neck-help

 

[someguyhere]

hey guys just a little update its been close to a week, maybe shy a day that I have been adding nutritional yeast, I happen to find that locally instead of the brewers. well kinda local as I was out of town shopping. the wobbly legs seem to get a lot better faster.he definatley is the runt. I still think he just might be a little "special" and the other ducks seem to know that and help him out cleaning his feathers or wait for him. sometimes you can see their face like "come on clark !" lol

 

[Amiga]

 

[quackers619]

That is good to hear...... I know i am glad to have gotten the advice i did on here because I know it made all the difference in my duck