Pekin Duck with niacin deficiency and unknown if able to recover

[AFamal]

Hello! I am new here and my husband spontaneously acquired some Pekin ducks from a family member which we were not prepared for. His cousin bought the ducklings from Rural King and planned to take them to a friends farm but her plans fell threw so we now have the ducks. However she was feeding them chick feed so after research I am assuming the duck had a niacin deficiency which is causing him to not walk right. We took him to the vet and they showed us how to splint his legs and we changed his food and are also supplementing with peas. It has been 10 days since we took the poor boy to the vet and he still just doesn’t walk right. The vet told us he would always have trouble. But this poor duck scoots around and if we do not have his legs wrapped they often times get tangled up together. My question is if anyone has any advice or recommendations. We have had the ducks for 2 weeks now and we have really become attached. The duck is living in our garage away from the other 4 ducks so he doesn’t have to strain to walk around. He seems relatively healthy except not being able to walk. He does have some sores on his feet which the vet believes to just be from him scooting his feet around and we treat the areas with wound spray. It is looking much better. We are thinking about buying the duck some splints to wear during the day but he is only 10 weeks old right now and I’m sure he will quickly outgrow them and I’m not sure if he will benefit since both of his legs are affected. Thank you so much for your help.

 

[Isaac 0]

Could you a few pictures of the duck, and the sores you're seeing on his legs?

Pekins can suffer from a wide variety of leg problems due to their fast growth, and heavyweight. Their nutritional needs aren't often met, and instead, they are fed feeds formulated for chicks. You will often see leg problems associated with deficiencies in niacin, but other leg problem like slipped tendons, septic arthritis, varus-valgus, tibial dyschondroplasia (TB), along with a few more, can also be seen.

Most of the conditions mentioned above, present themselves with swelling of the hock joint, bowing of the leg, or a pigeon-toed appearance. After some time, the conditions worsen, the birds legs become more set in place, and the condition gets to the point where it can't be corrected solely on vitamin supplementation. Ducks affected with leg problems tend to develop sores on their feet, and hocks due to excessive, and prolonged pressure of weight on the ground. Often times, you'll also see wet feather, sticky eye, and general dirtiness in these birds.

Regardless of the direct cause, high emphasis should be put on providing the birds with vitamin B supplementation, specifically niacin (B3), and ensuring the bird has adequate, soft padded grounds to live on to reduce the pressure of the hock joints, and lastly provide the duck with swimming water in which the bird can practice normal hygiene without having to move too far. If surgery is not an option, and regardless of the effort to provide supportive care often times these birds continually get worse, in the way that their hock joint may swell, and cause severe pain. It may be best to euthanize.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

 

[AFamal]

Could you a few pictures of the duck, and the sores you're seeing on his legs?

Pekins can suffer from a wide variety of leg problems due to their fast growth, and heavyweight. Their nutritional needs aren't often met, and instead, they are fed feeds formulated for chicks. You will often see leg problems associated with deficiencies in niacin, but other leg problem like slipped tendons, septic arthritis, varus-valgus, tibial dyschondroplasia (TB), along with a few more, can also be seen.

Most of the conditions mentioned above, present themselves with swelling of the hock joint, bowing of the leg, or a pigeon-toed appearance. After some time, the conditions worsen, the birds legs become more set in place, and the condition gets to the point where it can't be corrected solely on vitamin supplementation. Ducks affected with leg problems tend to develop sores on their feet, and hocks due to excessive, and prolonged pressure of weight on the ground. Often times, you'll also see wet feather, sticky eye, and general dirtiness in these birds.

Regardless of the direct cause, high emphasis should be put on providing the birds with vitamin B supplementation, specifically niacin (B3), and ensuring the bird has adequate, soft padded grounds to live on to reduce the pressure of the hock joints, and lastly provide the duck with swimming water in which the bird can practice normal hygiene without having to move too far. If surgery is not an option, and regardless of the effort to provide supportive care often times these birds continually get worse, in the way that their hock joint may swell, and cause severe pain. It may be best to euthanize.

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https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

He does have some bowing in his legs. My husband had a vet who owns ducks himself come out and look at him and unfortunately it is recommended that he be put down Thank you so much for your time though

 

[Isaac 0]

He does have some bowing in his legs. My husband had a vet who owns ducks himself come out and look at him and unfortunately it is recommended that he be put down Thank you so much for your time though

Very sorry for your loss. Sometimes when you have a bird who's had the problem for so long, it's hard to be able to correct the issue without doing very dramatic measures.