Not sure if this is an issue or not? (Possible?) Duckling problem?

[nao57]

So I'm in the backyard under the tree watching the ducklings...

And then I see one of them has a leg that's vibrating. I was like ...what is that?

It kind of was similar to how they vibrate their tails but not the tail but just the leg. She(?) walks around just fine. And she's already about 4 weeks old, so I hadn't even noticed this whole time. And it seems to go away, which is why I partly didn't notice it it until now.

So I don't know if its behavioral, a niacin thing, or even if its a real problem.

The other ducklings don't do it. It was also very hard to get these ducklings, so I don't want to lose even one of them. (These are also black runners.)

The one with this issue seems to act just fine.

But now that I think about it, the other day she wasn't walking around as much as the others. (I didn't realize it might be the same one.)

And also I had them sleeping in the kiddie pool in the basement and I kept hearing like a tiny vibration sound sometimes the last few days. Now I think its her that was doing it.

Is it possible for them to just be nervous and do this, and is this a real issue? (Pic won't show it well. And its hard to spot when she's doing this because its not going on all the time. Could it be niacin deficiency?

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Mine have done this. I think it's normal

 

[Miss Lydia]

Are you supplying any form of niacin? What are you feeding them?

 

[nao57]

Are you supplying any form of niacin? What are you feeding them?

Chick starter, the normal stuff from Cal Ranch. I haven't had any trouble with it prior to now.

Did you think that could be related?

 

[nao57]

Mine have done this. I think it's normal

OK.

Do they grow out of this later on then? And if so, will there be a certain point where I should know they should be grown out of it by then?

I'd been a bit surprised by it. And should I still give them something just in case?

They sure are fun to watch.

And I haven't seen any adult ducks do this, which probably coorelates with what you said.

Anyway, I've got an open mind to hearing how it was for others.

Thanks so much for all the comments on this.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Chick starter doesn’t have near the niacin that waterfowl need Some can do find on it sometimes there will be one that can’t. I would rather give mine a supplement to make sure they are getting what they need even though we might not see any deficiency just because they need it to have strong legs. Once one is showing symptoms it’s best to use the liquid b complex over a treat 1 ml a day for each duckling and yes I would treat them all.

 

[nao57]

So I thought I would post something else in follow up on this.

We're working through the issue. And I believe this duck will live, though its possible it may have a limp for probably part of its life.

However, I found out something really helpful to share with you all, for those of you that may have this problem in the future. And it is likely that many of you will have this if you are into raising ducklings...

*First* I found out that you can look at the legs of the ducklings to partly also help spot the injury. In another case similar to this one, I observed with a knee socket injury, it can look like a hip injury, but may reveal itself to be (possibly?) more knee related, or just hip related and confirmed with as a reaction to the duckling not wanting to put weight on the injured leg it will put more weight on the other leg. And in so doing, as the duckling is growing one leg will look thicker than the other! (And this leg thickness difference could be signifigant.) However, it is still possible that whether or not the injury can be the knee or the hip may probably still have both have this leg tissue difference develop, so its not a perfect indicator.

But I still believe that being aware of it may help others like myself in the future, in trying to troubleshoot issues. Also the family relative who is a vet told me that the hip joints of poultry are supposed to be pretty sturdy, so some injuries that look like a hip may actually be knee injuries.

(I'm still working this through and unsure which it is. But again this could be helpful to those of you like me.)

I had almost missed the leg thickness difference also.

I may end up trying to see if I can make a splint of some kind...but it will be hard to do because the injury I believe possibly to have come about in part because this particular duckling panics more and easier than the others.

Thanks also to those of you who posted comments about this!

#2, Still unsure if the injury came from the wet slippery tile directly, or from moving them in and out of the yard to play. Its possible that either could have done it. I personally like the slippery tile idea as a culprit, but this has also made me question the logic in having a better way to move ducklings in and out of boxes (which panics them) when bringing them out to the back yard to play.