Rescued baby mallard with bad legs. NEED HELP!

[AmandaR]

A friend of mine rescued this baby mallard from a parking lot, unable to care for the poor thing he gave it to me . I have raised plenty of chicken in my 25 years of life but this little guy has stumped me. When he came to me he was walking normally a few days after his arrival he has started to limp and a day after that he sat done And refuses to walk. Now he has both of his legs tucked up towards his wings and waddles around on this knees. I really do not know how to help him and I feel time is of the essence. I will post pic as soon as I can. any advice would be great. I fear if we can't get him walking he won't make it as an adult.

 

[Basskids08]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Here is a thread to help you along, https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/10/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures. Hope everything turns out good! Also the duck thread to talk to other duck owners, https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/42/ducks!

 

[chooks4life]

Hello and

As far as I know this is probably a deficiency problem. There are a bunch of threads on this forum about it. Most people seem to add a multivit supplement to their water to treat it.

Best wishes.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Basskids08 gave you some good links to find help on, there is also a very nice caring for ducklings thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings it talks about the niacin that ducklings should be supplemented with if on chick food chooks4life mentioned

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

Glad you joined us! I think your duckling may have a niacin deficiency. That is a known cause of leg and foot problems in ducklings. Here is a good discussion on the topic:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...n-goslings-ducklings-growth-leg-problems/0_30

Best of luck!

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

Great that you found this baby duckling, but I am sorry he is having such troubles. You have been given some great links and advice here. I hope you can get him back to good health soon.

 

[Amiga]

Sounds like niacin deficiency - we see it often on the Duck Forum. I won't rule out other problems but I would immediately put 150 mg plain niacin per gallon of drinking water. Is the little eating anything?

 

[gander007]

Sounds like he needs some water to ply in to get better ...
This will get the weight of his leg and allow movement ....
A hard boiled egg for vitamins and protein ......

 

[Notchman]

I had one little duck with the same problem. I used niacin and it didnt help. I was going to cull little "Wobbles" as I named him. Then when I let the flock free range in my farm pond and yard he perked up. I figure the little guy ended up getting the nutrients he needed naturally and all the exercise he wanted. He is a almost 17 weeks now and doing great! These are my first ducks but I recommend swimming and greens.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! Try the emergency and diseases section or the duck section. Hope this helps!