Pekin unable to walk??

[PekinProblems]

Hi, I purchased a couple pekin ducks from someone who was not able to care for them anymore and since day one one of the ducks has had trouble walking. They are about 10 weeks old and the one duck has slowly gotten worse and worse. He now cannot walk at all. He stumbles and drags himself with his wings to get around now. I’ve been giving him niacin and have not seen any improvement. It’s almost appears that his legs are spread too far apart and he cannot support his weight anymore. I checked his feet for possible bumble foot but he does not have and signs of it. Does anyone have any other ideas? He is the duck on the far left “standing”

 

[Isaac 0]

Have you read this?

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

 

[Isaac 0]

Ok, thank you so much! I will try this tomorrow. How long do you think it will take before he shows improvement?

We recommend for novice duck keepers to give them the complex over treats, to reduce the risk of aspiration if given orally with a syringe. Duck seems to enjoy mealworms, peas, lettuce, tomatoes the most, it can also be mixed into a wet soupy feed. The reason we recommend not giving it in water is most of the time ducks spill around half of the water, so it makes it hard to calculate the dosage, and birds that are in poor condition may not be able to get around to drink often. If your duck is not able to get around or is so debilitated, you may need to administer orally with a syringe/eyedropper, the easiest and safest way I have found is to drop the B complex onto the side of their bill, the sensation of the water droplets often will make them drink the liquid, another technique is to dip their bill for a short second in some of the liquid. If this doesn't work you may need to stick the syringe in their mouth, I will provide an article on the bottom on how to do that correctly.

I can not stress enough how important it is to be very careful when giving birds fluids orally, they can easily die of aspiration, especially ducklings that are on the younger side. Always be gentle with the bird, avoid putting pressure on their crop, and give them plenty of short breaks during the administration so they can get everything down.

The dosage

The dosage will vary accordingly to age, currently, we go:

• 1/4ml, once a day, for ducklings 1-7 days old
• 1/2ml, once a day, for ducklings 7-14 days old
• 1.0ml, once a day for duck(lings) older than 14 day
  
  This is once a day, although if you have a hard time getting the complex into the duckling you can split the dosage in half and give some in the morning and evening. This seems to work well with ducklings that are disgusted by the taste of the complex.

Possible overdose

The effects of giving to much niacin are somewhat limited, it does seem, however, that you would need to give a large amount to the duck for it to have a damaging effect

This is a quote from John Metzer:
"We have been asked if it is possible to overdose on niacin. Because of how small the amount is, it is easy to think you can give your birds too much. The answer is that you would need a lot to overdose. We don't have an exact amount to point towards, but humans can overdose on niacin and that can cause bowel problems. If your birds start having digestive issues, then it's a possibility, but is unlikely."

Note that this is referring to niacin only, there are other ingredients in B complex that should be used more carefully like thiamine(B1).

The duration

Treatment should still proceed daily for a few weeks even after the birds aren't showing symptoms anymore, it would, however, be wise to keep them on Nutritional Yeast or niacin supplement until they are of eight/ten weeks of age or older, simply sprinkle one to two tablespoons over one cup of their feed.

Recovery time

Recovery time will vary with each individual, generally the younger the bird is the quicker the recovery time. With young ducklings, complete recovery can be seen within hours or days, with older birds a few weeks is common.

How to keep your duck comfortable while recovering

It’s important during treatment for the birds to have soft clean bedding, and offered food/water often. Pain and discomfort in the legs of niacin deficient birds is quite common so letting them exercise and relive the weight off their legs may help significantly during treatment.
Birds that tend sit around most of the day aren't able to able to practice hygiene and are going to be more likely to end up with other problems like wet feather, bumblefoot, sticky eye, or external parasites, letting them in the water may help to prevent most of these problems for occurring. When doing water therapy, given that the duck's leg is most likely weak, they should be watched the whole time they are in the water to ensure they don't drown.


Prevention:

Prevention is key to keep these problems from occurring, we have noticed that problems most commonly arise when the owner mistakingly thinks that ducks have the same niacin dietary needs as chick's, as cited in "Holdrreads Storey Guide" growing ducks require two to three times more niacin then growing chicks, too often ducklings are fed chicks starters low in niacin, and that is when problems most often occur. Sadly, with heavyweight breeds like Pekins feeding them duck starter is still not enough, most duck starters contain 55mg of niacin per kilo of feed, and while that reaches the niacin requirement for most other medium to smaller wight breeds, Pekins and other heavyweight breeds should have at least 70mg of niacin per kilo, to achieve that goal, in addition to the duck starter/all poultry feed, a niacin supplement such as brewer's yeast, nutritional yeast, B complex, or a poultry vitamin should be added to their diet until at least ten weeks of age when the niacin content drops. For nutritional yeast, simply add one to two tablespoons per cup of feed, if the yeast has added garlic flavoring you may consider only one tablespoon per cup of feed as the taste may be too strong for ducks. Liquid B complex can be added over treats and feed as a preventative too, a few drops over feed/treats is usually sufficient. B complex tablets can also be used, one 500mg tablet can be added to eight/ten gallons of drinking water.


Links,

Administering Oral Fluids

Metzer Farms Niacin Deficiency

Safe Treats for Waterfowl

Durvet High-Level B Complex

Aspen VITA-JEC B Complex

Vitamin B Complex Generic Brand

Vitamin B Complex HP by Vet One

Whats better Brewer's Yeast or Nutritional Yeast?

 

[PekinProblems]

Yes, I have been giving him niacin in his drinking water but he is still getting worse

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

I would directly give him the Niacin. Make sure he gets enough.

 

[PekinProblems]

I would directly give him the Niacin. Make sure he gets enough.

How much would you recommend giving him? I’ve been putting one capsule in his drinking water

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

How much would you recommend giving him? I’ve been putting one capsule in his drinking water

I would go and read through the threads on this stuff. I don’t keep ducks, so I wouldn’t know. I just know the basics from reading through the threads on here.

 

[Isaac 0]

Yes, I have been giving him niacin in his drinking water but he is still getting worse

How much would you recommend giving him? I’ve been putting one capsule in his drinking water

Could you share the brand, and how much water have you been putting it in with?

 

[PekinProblems]

Could you share the brand, and how much water have you been putting it in with?

I’ve been putting the whole capsule in the 5 gallon waterer but I have recently separated him from the flock and have him his own 5 quart waterer and have been putting in a half capsule

 

[Isaac 0]

The capsules are "flush-free" and thus won't work since they don't stay in the system long enough to be properly absorbed, you need plain niacin pills.