please help, duckling's legs turned inward

[Aleah913]

hi everyone, I'm new to raising ducklings, I got these little ones 2 weeks ago (8/23/20) at first I thought it was a normal duck walk but now that they've gotten bigger and more comfortable with me I have been letting them walk around the livingroom and noticed that my ducklings legs are turned in, neither one of its legs seem to bother it or seem to hurt but it's definitely having some issues walking around...i let them swim in the bathtub for a little bit (almost daily thing) it seems to swim around okay. I did some research and found that it could be a vitamin B issue but also heard that it could be because their legs can't support their body weight....please let me know what you guys think. Also please ignore the mess in the photo my daughter spilled their food everywhere.

 

[ducksinvt]

Hello, good morning and welcome to BYC!!!! a cpl questions to get started, what are you feeding your new ducks, what is their housing situation, can you get some better pics or maybe a video of it walking, you can post it to YouTube or vimeo and copy and paste the link here, here is an awesome and super informative link to niacin deficiency, which is pretty common, especially with new ducks and new duck owners!!!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

 

[Isaac 0]

Could you post a video of the duckling walking as @ducksinvt suggested?

 

[Aleah913]

I'm so sorry i haven't been able to respond until now, yesterday and today were very busy days...i took the ducklings to a friend's house so they could take a look at them. My friend said she's never seen anything like that before and neither has her husband. Her husband checked out their joints and nothing seems dislocated, hot to the touch, no signs or injuries, and nothing seems painful for them but its hard to tell but I'm assuming its painful since they're not wanting to walk much. We filled up a pool for them to swim (they could barely touch the bottom) they try to swim but didn't really go anywhere and didn't seem interested in the water or the adult ducks that were around, both of my friends female ducks were very interested in protecting the ducklings though! I switched their bedding from pine chips to hay the pine chips were getting very soggy extremely fast and since theyre mostly laying down their feathers on their chest and stomach aren't coming in like the rest (I think thats why atleast) I did put a Tupperware container with water in their cage so they could get in and out as they please, the smaller one has only gotten in once the larger one hasn't at all. They have also been panting with their mouth open a lot today, their heat lamp is turned off and the temperature is about 70-75 degrees (don't have a thermometer but getting one tomorrow) so I don't think they're hot I moved their water closer to them they both drank some but didn't stop panting, the larger one is panting more than the smaller but they're cuddled up next to eachother which makes me wonder if they're cold...I did put niacin in their water today around dinner time (500ml for 5gal) I'm really hoping it helps them!! Also the larger one was laying like that for about 20 minutes I moved it to make sure it wasn't stuck or anything it stood for a second and laid back down in the same position and on its elbow was just dirt not cuts or anything

 

[Aleah913]

I did manage to get one video of them walking some and one of them panting but it wont let me post it.

 

[ducksinvt]

I'm so sorry i haven't been able to respond until now, yesterday and today were very busy days...i took the ducklings to a friend's house so they could take a look at them. My friend said she's never seen anything like that before and neither has her husband. Her husband checked out their joints and nothing seems dislocated, hot to the touch, no signs or injuries, and nothing seems painful for them but its hard to tell but I'm assuming its painful since they're not wanting to walk much. We filled up a pool for them to swim (they could barely touch the bottom) they try to swim but didn't really go anywhere and didn't seem interested in the water or the adult ducks that were around, both of my friends female ducks were very interested in protecting the ducklings though! I switched their bedding from pine chips to hay the pine chips were getting very soggy extremely fast and since theyre mostly laying down their feathers on their chest and stomach aren't coming in like the rest (I think thats why atleast) I did put a Tupperware container with water in their cage so they could get in and out as they please, the smaller one has only gotten in once the larger one hasn't at all. They have also been panting with their mouth open a lot today, their heat lamp is turned off and the temperature is about 70-75 degrees (don't have a thermometer but getting one tomorrow) so I don't think they're hot I moved their water closer to them they both drank some but didn't stop panting, the larger one is panting more than the smaller but they're cuddled up next to eachother which makes me wonder if they're cold...I did put niacin in their water today around dinner time (500ml for 5gal) I'm really hoping it helps them!! Also the larger one was laying like that for about 20 minutes I moved it to make sure it wasn't stuck or anything it stood for a second and laid back down in the same position and on its elbow was just dirt not cuts or anything

What kind of feed aRe you giving your ducks?? Pekings require a really high niacin content for strong development of their bones, they grow very fast, and if their legs don't keep up, they cant hold themselves up, if you didn't look at the niacin thread, you really should, because your duckling could most likely use some durvets vitamin b complex, anything that is not formulated specifically for ducks will not have the niacin and vitamin requirements for ducks

 

[ducksinvt]

You have to post on YouTube or vimeo

 

[Aleah913]

Video of them panting

Video of them walking

 

[Aleah913]

What kind of feed aRe you giving your ducks?? Pekings require a really high niacin content for strong development of their bones, they grow very fast, and if their legs don't keep up, they cant hold themselves up, if you didn't look at the niacin thread, you really should, because your duckling could most likely use some durvets vitamin b complex, anything that is not formulated specifically for ducks will not have the niacin and vitamin requirements for ducks

I started them on niacin today i did 500ml per 5gal. Yes they are Pekins and are on Dumor Pultry chick starter/grower 20% it says for chicks, ducks, and geese until 10 weeks old im not sure how old they are but I got them from tractor supply 2 weeks ago im assuming they're close to 3 weeks but thats a complete guess

 

[ducksinvt]

Look up some videos on how to give it orally, at this point they should prob be dosed directly instead of in the water, if your using b complex, it doesnt exactly taste or smell great, so it may turn them off to the water, then they will be lacking water as well, there are some good videos on how to give it orally, you just have to make sure you do it correctly!!!