pen flooring for a duck in a wheelchair?

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AceWeasel

AceWeasel

Chirping
May 15, 2015
61
19
64
Michigan
so we have two rouen ducks a little over a month old and one injured his leg and can't put weight on it. we're planning to bring him to the vet, but there's no emergency vet nearby and none of the vets in town can fit him in until sometime next week. but since he's eating, drinking, preening, and pooping we're not too worried at this point. we're thinking of making him a duck wheelchair (hopefully he'll only need it temporarily, either with the issue only being something that will heal up or he'll learn to balance on one leg) and we were wondering what would be good flooring in the pen we're going to keep them in that would best allow him to use his wheelchair in it. right now there's thick grass in the bottom and I'm not sure how well that'll work with it.
 
I'm not sure.

But I do want to ask, are you giving your ducklings any niacin supplements such as brewers yeast, or nutritional yeast? It might not be injured, it might just have a niacin deficiency, which is quite common especially if you are feeding your ducklings something like chick feed.
 
we checked at the feed store and luckily someone who knows about ducks was there. he said the starter they recommend may not have enough niacin for ducks (it was a gamebird starter). he said they didn't have any suppliments in stock and sent us to another feed store in the area, which also didn't have it. we wound up getting some nutritional yeast to try that. (the health food store on the north side of town has it, and right now staying on the north end of town is the only way to avoid thick traffic since it's tourist week here. holy crap are the roads crazy packed in the main part of town!)
 
AceWeasel said:
we checked at the feed store and luckily someone who knows about ducks was there. he said the starter they recommend may not have enough niacin for ducks (it was a gamebird starter). he said they didn't have any suppliments in stock and sent us to another feed store in the area, which also didn't have it. we wound up getting some nutritional yeast to try that. (the health food store on the north side of town has it, and right now staying on the north end of town is the only way to avoid thick traffic since it's tourist week here. holy crap are the roads crazy packed in the main part of town!)
Click to expand...

I'm sorry you got the run around! My gut feeling is that your duckling isn't hurt, it just has a niacin defeciency. It's quite common, especially since many of us duck owners, jump into getting ducks not knowing that they need an extra vitamin that many poultry foods do not have. :) Good luck! You should start to see improvement in a few days. I'd give it to them 2 or 3 times a day to begin with. Just sprinkle a couple of pinches on their food. It worked for me. :)
 
Jujubeans2008 said:
I'm sorry you got the run around! My gut feeling is that your duckling isn't hurt, it just has a niacin defeciency. It's quite common, especially since many of us duck owners, jump into getting ducks not knowing that they need an extra vitamin that many poultry foods do not have. :) Good luck! You should start to see improvement in a few days. I'd give it to them 2 or 3 times a day to begin with. Just sprinkle a couple of pinches on their food. It worked for me. :)
Click to expand...
it is likely, even with the other duckling not showing any leg issues. looking more into it it seems they get most of it from bugs and stuff outside, and the one with the leg problem is actually scared of that kind of stuff (he climbed up onto my lap, up me, and hid his head in my hair the last time my dad tried to give him a worm). the other one eats every bug she can get very enthusiastically.
 
AceWeasel said:
it is likely, even with the other duckling not showing any leg issues. looking more into it it seems they get most of it from bugs and stuff outside, and the one with the leg problem is actually scared of that kind of stuff (he climbed up onto my lap, up me, and hid his head in my hair the last time my dad tried to give him a worm). the other one eats every bug she can get very enthusiastically.
Click to expand...

Aww. It makes sense. Have you seen any improvement at all? Even if it's just small?
 
Jujubeans2008 said:
Aww. It makes sense. Have you seen any improvement at all? Even if it's just small?
Click to expand...
his leg seems to maybe be a little less limp today. it's hard to tell tho, especially since he's been getting a little tired from trying to balance on his good leg (especially with the other duck bumping into him all the time, she's a bit nosy and bossy). he's eating up the extra attention he's getting right now tho. he loves the extra time snuggling in my lap.
 

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