Rescued duck SEVERE niacin deficiency

[Kirstenfuller]

PLEASE HELP,
Took a duck from a family members house due to the duck not being able to walk after researching found that was probably a niacin deficiency, started duck on vitamins and niacin that day, added the supplements to feed and water, niacin drops are given orally through dropper. His strength in legs is better but he refuses to stand. I do exercises with him everyday, we swim, scoot in the grass and I manually stretch his legs. Still he refuses to stand or walk, I have taped his legs to try to get them to straighten out nothing seems to be working. Please see pictures, I’m at a loss and I want him to have a good life but I’m now debating if this is a good quality of life.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Was the duckling ever able to stand?
Is he using the legs in the water?
If his legs are entirely limp and he never stood, he might be paralyzed from birth and then there is not much hope for a normal life, unfortunately.
If he is moving the legs in the water, then you should continue with swimming exercises and high doses of Niacin, he may recover.
I have never seen a duckling sitting like that.
@casportpony @WVduckchick

 

[Kirstenfuller]

Was the duckling ever able to stand?
Is he using the legs in the water?
If his legs are entirely limp and he never stood, he might be paralyzed from birth and then there is not much hope for a normal life, unfortunately.
If he is moving the legs in the water, then you should continue with swimming exercises and high doses of Niacin, he may recover.
I have never seen a duckling sitting like that.
@casportpony @WVduckchick

I have never seen him stand, the family members house I got him from has about 3 mating pairs of Muscovy we were there for the 4th and an uncle caught Pablo (that’s his name) to show to the kids, when he took Pablo back to the group he just sat down and that’s when we noticed. My only issue is I have been doing the niacin and supps since the 4th. However he can move his legs and does paddle in the water, he just won’t straighten them.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I have never seen him stand, the family members house I got him from has about 3 mating pairs of Muscovy we were there for the 4th and an uncle caught Pablo (that’s his name) to show to the kids, when he took Pablo back to the group he just sat down and that’s when we noticed. My only issue is I have been doing the niacin and supps since the 4th. However he can move his legs and does paddle in the water, he just won’t straighten them.

Could it be that the uncle was a bit rough when he caught Pablo?
It sounds to me like this is a problem with his hips, if he is moving his legs in the water he has a chance to recover. I would continue with physical therapy in warm water to relax his muscles and tendons and hope for the best.

 

[Kirstenfuller]

We thought that but there is no injury and he has no pain. We believe he was so easy to catch because he was already lane. I will try the warm water.
Thanks

 

[WVduckchick]

I had a call duckling that wouldn’t unfold it’s legs. It hopped like a frog. I eventually put it down, after about 10 days of trying everything. It’s siblings were noticeably larger. I tried splints, braces, every wrap I could think of, vitamins, niacin, etc but nothing worked for me.
Does yours do this?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

We thought that but there is no injury and he has no pain. We believe he was so easy to catch because he was already lane. I will try the warm water.
Thanks

Ducks are incredibly good in hiding even extreme pain! Can you move Pablo's legs into their normal position? Careful, of course. If yes, his chances are relatively good, but it also means a lot of care from you. Additionally to the water therapy a duckling chair may help to fix his legs in their normal position.
He kind of looks cute, sitting on his butt with his webbed feet in front of him, but we want a cute running duckling, not a just cute one!

 

[Kirstenfuller]

I had a call duckling that wouldn’t unfold it’s legs. It hopped like a frog. I eventually put it down, after about 10 days of trying everything. It’s siblings were noticeably larger. I tried splints, braces, every wrap I could think of, vitamins, niacin, etc but nothing worked for me.
Does yours do this?

Yes that is how he gets around. Or he will just slide on his belly using his wings and the stronger leg. But he does mostly hop.

 

[Kirstenfuller]

Ducks are incredibly good in hiding even extreme pain! Can you move Pablo's legs into their normal position? Careful, of course. If yes, his chances are relatively good, but it also means a lot of care from you. Additionally to the water therapy a duckling chair may help to fix his legs in their normal position.
He kind of looks cute, sitting on his butt with his webbed feet in front of him, but we want a cute running duckling, not a just cute one!

Yes, but it is becoming harder too his joints are starting to swell and the curvature of his feet it becoming more difficult to return to normal. He does not peep or show any signs of distress when I do the stretching with him. I’ll I could find on it was that it was niacin. But when you mentioned his hips I started looking into that I’m thinking it might have been splayed with maybe a combo of niacin deficiency, I’m thinking the splay was pretty advanced when I got him. I’m going to try to brace them and see if I can get him to stand if not I’ve accepted that we might have to put him down. Which is disheartening but I don’t want him in pain.

 

[FowlWitch]

Yes, but it is becoming harder too his joints are starting to swell and the curvature of his feet it becoming more difficult to return to normal. He does not peep or show any signs of distress when I do the stretching with him. I’ll I could find on it was that it was niacin. But when you mentioned his hips I started looking into that I’m thinking it might have been splayed with maybe a combo of niacin deficiency, I’m thinking the splay was pretty advanced when I got him. I’m going to try to brace them and see if I can get him to stand if not I’ve accepted that we might have to put him down. Which is disheartening but I don’t want him in pain.

I bet you could make him a little wheelchair like people make for disabled dogs if you really wanted to