Niacin deficiency in a “teenage” duck

[Ella_r_ab]

On of my baby ducks has a little problem with his feet (turned in) and I didn’t realize this was a niacin deffiency thing. I was hoping if anyone on here could tell me if my little baby is going to be hurt with the feet forever. Here’s some pictures and we are making sure to add niacin into her food. The picture I added isn’t the worst of how turned in it’s been, but an example.

 

[Ratchnick]

If your worried about it start supplementing b complex.

 

[Ella_r_ab]

If your worried about it start supplementing b complex.

How would you give that to the duck?

 

[bevyjo]

You can supplement her feed with nutritional yeast. It's a great source of Niacin (which is the B vitamin they need) by sprinkling it on her food. You can buy it online or at your nearest health food store. Brewer's yeast also works, but is not as high in niacin. I just learned a lot about this because I hatched 9 ducklings in my incubator and needed to make sure they were getting enough.

A duckling needs 10mg of niacin per day. (An adult human needs 14. Amazing, isn't it?) 1 Tablespoon of Nutritional Yeast has 38mg. Peas are also an excellent source of niacin. I'm feeding my ducks frozen peas, which I thaw before feeding. They go crazy for them!

Lastly, Purina makes duck food. I switched to that while they are growing because I felt this was so important. It's about $1.20 a pound and they eat a LOT, so it may not be affordable for everyone. When they finally go outside I'm going to get a special feed mix that's in the Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks. It should be much cheaper.

Here's an article that I found very helpful.

https://homeinthefingerlakes.com/go...uch Niacin Do Duckling,10mg of niacin per day.

From what I've read, this is reversible if you correct the deficiency. My babies are doing great, growing like weeds. Good luck!

 

[CoriM]

Liquid Vitamin B complex is great for reversing the niacin deficiency. I put it in their water and feed, but you can also just give it to them with a little syringe if you can be careful so they don't aspirate it. It worked miracles for my pekin with splay leg - along with hobbling her. One of my other pekins is slightly pigeon toed, probably also a niacin deficiency, and will sometimes stand on her feet like that. I was adding brewer's yeast to their food but it just wasn't enough. Now that she's grown she walks and gets around just fine, just a slight piegon toe stance at times.

 

[Ratchnick]

How would you give that to the duck?

https://www.metzerfarms.com/blogs/D...nt_Your_Ducks_Diet_with_Niacin.cfm?article=67


Personaly i like the durvet b complex. Its very concentrated so its easy to guarantee they eat it. 2 drops contains 10mg of niacin. Best to put over treats. I don't like yeast for 3 reasons.

1. Different products have different amounts of niacin.
2. The yeast sinks to the bottom of the dish and lots is not consumed
3. Its expensive!

https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail...V5b3CXzGY4n5ALCpelgtH0fNtPfeiAAhoCYWQQAvD_BwE

 

[Wrangler4]

I would like to give hope to anyone with a niacin deficiency duck. I have mainly raised chickens and recently raised a few ducklings for a family member. I know next to nothing about ducks. I purchased duckling from Tractor Supply and unfortunately they do not tell you what type of duck it is. I had no idea that I had a Penkin. It was raised with 5 chicks. They were all feed a mix of chick starter and duck food. Yes it grew very quickly but that meant nothing to me. I noticed it laid down a lot, had a wide stance, was pigeon toed but did not know what was “normal” vs what was signs of trouble. At 11 weeks it would walk about 4 feet and lay down. I started realizing there was problem and went to this site and found answers. THANK YOU!
Now a lot of what I read talked about starting treatment early and one tread gave little hope of helping the duck this late. I had to try though. I started with b complex pill by crushing it and putting it in a cheery tomato which the duck loves. In the mean time I ordered Durvet liquid vit b complex which arrived 2 days later. I gave 1ml everyday. I either hide it in a few cherry tomatoes, put it on watermelon pieces or on top of a scrambled egg. During the first week the duck got worse and was using it wings to scoot around. I thought it was in pain too due to inflammation. I found a site by a vet who takes care of birds and it stated a Penkin could have 50mg of ibuprofen a day for 2 weeks to help reduce inflammation. I started that right away too. After a week I noticed slight improvement and diffidently not getting worse.
SO here I am 5 weeks later and the duck only has a slight limp on right leg. Still getting 100ml b complex a day and probably that much for awhile while more and then back down some.
Please don’t give up hope. My duck was not well off at all and I can not believe the turn around.

 

[CoriM]

Oh wow, it's so encouraging to hear this success story! Keep up the good care - nice job!