Pigeon toed duckling

[Fowl0909]

I have a duckling who was severely pigeon toed, Which I figured was from a niacin deficiency after about a week and a half of adding more niacin to his diet I noticed improvement. He’s nearly 5 weeks old but he’s half the size of the other ducks , he’s been smaller then the other ducklings ever since he hatched. I had put him with another younger duck but even he’s starting to grow bigger than him. Any ideas to help his growth?

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Can you attach a picture? Some additional vitamins might help. It seems we've had lots of tiny ducks this year. @WVduckchick , @Isaac 0 , @Miss Lydia

 

[Fowl0909]

He’s the one in black in these photos, the yellow one is about 2 weeks old so there’s about a 3 week age difference yet they’re about the same size. I also give him some electrolytes in his water and feed him mealworms nothings really worked yet.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Ooh he is tiny.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Also, search this forum for tiny duckling and you'll find several folks with this issue.

 

[Fowl0909]

Ok thank you for your help!

 

[Isaac 0]

Welcome to BackYard Chickens!

Sorry to hear about your duckling.

May I ask what niacin supplement you are using specifically? Sadly, there not all made equal, and I tend to see a lot on here giving flush-free type forms of niacin which not readily absorbed into their system. If you could also provide the dosage you were giving it to her at, and how you were "supplementing" the niacin into her diet.

Did you hatch her yourself. if the answer is yes, did you notice walking problems then, or did it develop later on?

If it was somewhat noticeable after she hatched, that might point towards some type of genetic abnormality, or malposition that caused a greater muscle pull to the leg in question.

Would you mind taking a video of the duckling walking, and uploading it to a video platform like Youtube or vimeo, and copy/pasting the link here?

 

[Fowl0909]

I was giving him the flush free capsules but have now changed to different ones after realizing they were the wrong ones, I did hatch her myself and I noticed that she couldn’t walk immediately, I sold her and her siblings to a family member, but since she’s so tiny I took her back just until she’s ready to be put back with the bigger ducks. She’s learned to walk better even with her legs being messed up but sometimes she still has some trouble. Someone did suggest a tendon slip but I still don’t think it explains her stunted growth.

 

[Fowl0909]

Welcome to BackYard Chickens!

Sorry to hear about your duckling.

May I ask what niacin supplement you are using specifically? Sadly, there not all made equal, and I tend to see a lot on here giving flush-free type forms of niacin which not readily absorbed into their system. If you could also provide the dosage you were giving it to her at, and how you were "supplementing" the niacin into her diet.

Did you hatch her yourself. if the answer is yes, did you notice walking problems then, or did it develop later on?

If it was somewhat noticeable after she hatched, that might point towards some type of genetic abnormality, or malposition that caused a greater muscle pull to the leg in question.

Would you mind taking a video of the duckling walking, and uploading it to a video platform like Youtube or vimeo, and copy/pasting the link here?

I also am crushing one niacin pill and mixing it with her food every day

 

[Isaac 0]

I was giving him the flush free capsules but have now changed to different ones after realizing they were the wrong ones, I did hatch her myself and I noticed that she couldn’t walk immediately, I sold her and her siblings to a family member, but since she’s so tiny I took her back just until she’s ready to be put back with the bigger ducks. She’s learned to walk better even with her legs being messed up but sometimes she still has some trouble. Someone did suggest a tendon slip but I still don’t think it explains her stunted growth.

That does kind of look like a slipped tendon me, or some sort of incubation malposition deformity. Is a vet an option?