Pekin with symptoms of niacin deficiency even with consistent supplementation. Please advise!

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

If you aren't already feeding your birds 24% protein feed before adding a little bit of nutritional yeast to their diet, its not a concern. Some of us (self included) do for the first months, and that's real high (according to an old study, much maligned). If you are feeding a more typical 18-20% feed and add a bit of nutritional yeast, your total protein will still be below the levels I feed. Nor is high protein a guarantee of angel wing, only one old study suggests it becomes more frequent at very high (above 25%) protein levels.

White bread/high carbs and a vitamin deficiency are other strongly suspected causes.

Thank you for such great information! I feed them Nature's Best Organic Duck Crumbles at 18% protein, though I have been adding oats for the past week to get the protein closer to 16% (I eyeball it, though). I'm feeding fortified nutritional yeast, which has synthetic B vitamins, and I'm fine with continuing this, though I keep wondering if these domestic ducks can do okay without the synthetic vitamins (I am not opposed to continuing to feed them synthetic vitamins...just curious if they CAN thrive without the synthetics).

Anyway, this thread has given me food for thought! I find it quite fun to learn about duck nutrition. Thanks to all who have contributed!

 

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

Duck eggs are great, but it takes too long, they produce too few, and and the production drops like a stone after a year. My opinion only.

One more question for you! I'm curious...what bird are you most happy with regarding egg production and ease of care? I love these ducks and so do my children, but they've become pets somehow (whoops), so we'll be (likely) keeping them whether or not they are high producers of yummy eggs. But the original intention was for eggs...I'm sure opinions on this vary, but are there chickens out there that are easier to care for and produce more food? Because if so, I want those lol.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

One more question for you! I'm curious...what bird are you most happy with regarding egg production and ease of care? I love these ducks and so do my children, but they've become pets somehow (whoops), so we'll be (likely) keeping them whether or not they are high producers of yummy eggs. But the original intention was for eggs...I'm sure opinions on this vary, but are there chickens out there that are easier to care for and produce more food? Because if so, I want those lol.

I have Comets for egg production, but I'm years into a culling process to try and get a good dual purpose sustainable bird for my area. Its slow going, as expected. Comets were but one of the birds I used as genetic stock (because I bought during the pandemic, and choices were limited)

 

[CoriM]

Seems like you're on the right track. Keep making sure she definitely consumes 1 ml a day of the liquid vitamin B complex - like others said, it's okay if she gets a little extra in her water or whatever because her body will just get rid of it, but don't offer her the 1 ml in water because it will be too diluted and she needs the full amount. Let her swim at least once a day for 10-15 minutes to strengthen the leg - I would try for two times in a lukewarm bathtub. Don't make her overdo it by having to run/walk too far, and make sure she's not on a slippery surface. If you see that she's struggling to stand up and her legs are going out to the side, she has splay leg and then you need to hobble her with vet wrap. Best of luck.

 

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

Seems like you're on the right track. Keep making sure she definitely consumes 1 ml a day of the liquid vitamin B complex - like others said, it's okay if she gets a little extra in her water or whatever because her body will just get rid of it, but don't offer her the 1 ml in water because it will be too diluted and she needs the full amount. Let her swim at least once a day for 10-15 minutes to strengthen the leg - I would try for two times in a lukewarm bathtub. Don't make her overdo it by having to run/walk too far, and make sure she's not on a slippery surface. If you see that she's struggling to stand up and her legs are going out to the side, she has splay leg and then you need to hobble her with vet wrap. Best of luck.

Thank you! I cleaned their brooder today and when I put her in her playpen outside (on the grass), I noticed she was a lot more steady on her feet! She was not wobbling backwards AT ALL. This makes me feel so much better--I think the B complex is working! She is also growing super fast right now, and though she was smaller than her Buff and Blue Swedish sisters for the first three weeks, she has now surpassed them in size. She's also a cuddle bug. I love these ducks.

 

[CoriM]

Pekins are the sweetest ducks! And they do grow so much faster than the other ones. My first ducks were pekins and welsh harlequins and one of my pekins developed splay leg, which thanks to BYC kind advisers, we were able to reverse. She used to sit on our laps, calm as can be. To this day she has been my favorite girl! I would just keep her on the liquid vitamin B until she's fully grown and feathered, then you can probably switch to just sprinkling nutritional yeast off and on on their food if you have a duck-specific feed that has niacin.

 

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

Pekins are the sweetest ducks! And they do grow so much faster than the other ones. My first ducks were pekins and welsh harlequins and one of my pekins developed splay leg, which thanks to BYC kind advisers, we were able to reverse. She used to sit on our laps, calm as can be. To this day she has been my favorite girl! I would just keep her on the liquid vitamin B until she's fully grown and feathered, then you can probably switch to just sprinkling nutritional yeast off and on on their food if you have a duck-specific feed that has niacin.

I will do just that--thank you!

 

[jxp]

WOWSERS SHE'S HUGE! She is getting so big so fast! I can see why Jumbo Pekins need extra vitamins. Her rate of growth is much faster than her sisters'.

I know, right!?! Last spring I could only resist the little darlings at Tractor Supply for so long before bringing 3 home. My Pekin, Daffodil, is as big as the other 2 put together. And he's still a cutie. Hope your Mae gets better and better.

 

[Secnars85]

Hi @Jenbirdee , thank you for replying!

They are getting some swim time, not every day though. They were swimming yesterday and loving it! Mae does very well in the water.

It's funny...I read your comment and thought, "Little leg? She's got BIG legs!" LOL! Her legs seem so thick for her age, definitely thicker than her sisters' legs. I imagine that is normal with Pekins? But these symptoms she is having now don't seem related to her previous leg injury. She looks bow-legged and both legs wobble a bit when she stands. This seems different, though I am certainly no vet and have only 4 weeks worth of experience with poultry.

I will give her more swim time! Thank you!

Hi @Jenbirdee , thank you for replying!

They are getting some swim time, not every day though. They were swimming yesterday and loving it! Mae does very well in the water.

It's funny...I read your comment and thought, "Little leg? She's got BIG legs!" LOL! Her legs seem so thick for her age, definitely thicker than her sisters' legs. I imagine that is normal with Pekins? But these symptoms she is having now don't seem related to her previous leg injury. She looks bow-legged and both legs wobble a bit when she stands. This seems different, though I am certainly no vet and have only 4 weeks worth of experience with poultry.

I will give her more swim time! Thank you!

Hi, I was reading through this and I’m having the same problem with my almost 4 week Pekin duck. I have two and noticed one kept slipping. And doing the splits and I started the niacin for both because the other one started wobbling, but Mr egg has the same problem as your leg as are very far apart and wobbles and then lays down. Did you eve have luck with the liquid B? Thank you

 

[CoriM]

Make sure you have a proper duckling food. If you are already using the liquid vitamin B complex you are on the right track. Make sure he gets at least 1 ml per day and consumes it all. If they get extra it's alright, their body won't absorb it. If the legs are spreading apart he might have splay leg. You can research that. I had a pekin who developed it as a baby. The way I cured it was to make a little splint with vet wrap, wrapping a little piece around each leg, then a bigger loop that went around the leg wraps and pulled the legs into proper position. This is very important if the duck truly has splay leg or they will develop improperly and the duck could be lame. Also, make sure they are on a no-slip surface like towels or something that is easy to walk on. It's important that your duck gets exercise but doesn't have to overdo it as his legs get stronger. I let my pekin have bathtub swim time a couple times a day for maybe 15 minutes to build leg strength. Her legs were initially so weak I had to support her body as she preened herself. With the hobbles and vitamins she eventually got strong and was able to get around just fine.