The Special Needs Duck Thread

[localife]

I would like to hear from anyone and everyone who has kept a "special needs" duck. If you'd be willing to describe the unique needs of the duck(s) you have, or have had, why you chose to keep them, and how you accommodated their unique needs, I believe it would be of help to many others (as well as many ducks!).

I have an almost four week old duckling with leg troubles who I intend to keep and raise if her quality of life remains high (she appears to be quite the happy little camper right now). I would love to hear about others' experiences raising ducks with special needs -- ideally not just successes, but also those things that didn't work. My hope is that this could be a thread where those of us who choose to keep such ducks can come to get ideas and support to help us care for our unique needs duck -- and maybe we'll come up with some approaches that help make it an easier choice for others to raise such ducks, which would make it a place where people could come to learn that doing so IS an option. Thanks in advance, and if you have pictures, all the better!

 

[Kevin565]

What are the duck's leg issue? Have you given her niacin supplements?

I haven't had any special needs ducks but did raise a Turkey that couldn't walk.

 

[localife]

It's unclear exactly what Swimmy's leg troubles are because she seems to have had multiple things going on all around the same time. She first appeared to injure her legs in the midst of a duckling stampede when everyone got startled, then she seemed to be recovering from that, but was becoming clearly substantially smaller than all nine of her siblings.

They have all been given Brewer's yeast with their feed from the start, but it is possible that she was simply not getting enough of anything because she was so little. That said, however, she has always been the most courageous of the whole lot and didn't appear to be getting bullied. It has occurred to me that perhaps she isn't able to metabolize feed in the same way, causing both her diminutive size and her leg troubles.

Then I noticed that her legs were troubling her again, and saw that she was frequently getting stepped on by the larger ducklings, so I separated her from the group by making a wire room in the brooder, where she was safe but able to see and interact with everyone else. In addition to Brewer's yeast, she now also gets wheat germ and flaxseed meal, as well as several daily swims to exercise her legs and help her stay clean since she isn't able to move around as much as everyone else. Today she started rising up partially on her legs for the first time in over a week (they are all 4 weeks old now).

How did you manage with your turkey? That sounds quite challenging! Swimmy can still swim quite well, so when she's in the water she is able to get around just fine.

 

[seashoreduck]

It's unclear exactly what Swimmy's leg troubles are because she seems to have had multiple things going on all around the same time. She first appeared to injure her legs in the midst of a duckling stampede when everyone got startled, then she seemed to be recovering from that, but was becoming clearly substantially smaller than all nine of her siblings.

They have all been given Brewer's yeast with their feed from the start, but it is possible that she was simply not getting enough of anything because she was so little. That said, however, she has always been the most courageous of the whole lot and didn't appear to be getting bullied. It has occurred to me that perhaps she isn't able to metabolize feed in the same way, causing both her diminutive size and her leg troubles.

Then I noticed that her legs were troubling her again, and saw that she was frequently getting stepped on by the larger ducklings, so I separated her from the group by making a wire room in the brooder, where she was safe but able to see and interact with everyone else. In addition to Brewer's yeast, she now also gets wheat germ and flaxseed meal, as well as several daily swims to exercise her legs and help her stay clean since she isn't able to move around as much as everyone else. Today she started rising up partially on her legs for the first time in over a week (they are all 4 weeks old now).

How did you manage with your turkey? That sounds quite challenging! Swimmy can still swim quite well, so when she's in the water she is able to get around just fine.

I wouldn't dub her a special needs duck quite yet. 3-4 weeks is quite common for leg problems to appear. With care and the right food it may be unnoticeable by the time the duck is fully grown. My mallard baught at 3.5 weeks, crippled by 5, was healthy and wonderful by 8 weeks. By the end of summer you couldn't tell he had any problems at all.

 

[DucksAndGardens]

I've got a duckling with leg issues as well. Really I haven't a clue what's wrong with her. She hurt her leg at 2 weeks of age and was limping. She stopped eating and drinking so I had a week of syringe feeding her and put her on antibiotics in case she got an infection and treated her for Coccidia in case she had that. She finally started eating again and can walk but she's slower than the others and walks differently. The others are twice her size now as they are all 4 weeks old so now she's separated and in with my gosling who is her size. She doesn't like to walk much and sits a lot but she can walk and get around which is the most important. I make sure she has enough to eat and I give her sav a chic in her water and she has the added niacin. I'm hoping she will grow out of her leg issues. I wouldn't call her a special needs duck, just a slow grower really. She's eating and drinking normally and can walk if she needs to so I'm calling it good. Hopefully she will be able to join the rest of her flock.

 

[localife]

I wouldn't dub her a special needs duck quite yet. 3-4 weeks is quite common for leg problems to appear. With care and the right food it may be unnoticeable by the time the duck is fully grown. My mallard baught at 3.5 weeks, crippled by 5, was healthy and wonderful by 8 weeks. By the end of summer you couldn't tell he had any problems at all.

Thank you -- that's very encouraging! What did you do for your Mallard during the time he was having trouble with his legs?

 

[seashoreduck]

I've got a duckling with leg issues as well. Really I haven't a clue what's wrong with her. She hurt her leg at 2 weeks of age and was limping. She stopped eating and drinking so I had a week of syringe feeding her and put her on antibiotics in case she got an infection and treated her for Coccidia in case she had that. She finally started eating again and can walk but she's slower than the others and walks differently. The others are twice her size now as they are all 4 weeks old so now she's separated and in with my gosling who is her size. She doesn't like to walk much and sits a lot but she can walk and get around which is the most important. I make sure she has enough to eat and I give her sav a chic in her water and she has the added niacin. I'm hoping she will grow out of her leg issues. I wouldn't call her a special needs duck, just a slow grower really. She's eating and drinking normally and can walk if she needs to so I'm calling it good. Hopefully she will be able to join the rest of her flock.

Yep my duck was significantly smaller during his ordeal. He ended up growing to full size. I have a clutch of ducks now and I have one really runty one who has no issues....just a runt.

Thank you -- that's very encouraging! What did you do for your Mallard during the time he was having trouble with his legs?

See my avatar. He was completely lame so he lived in a box in my kitchen. As soon as I woke up I put him in a big tupperware filled with livestock vitimans* and let him swim. Went to work, leaving youtube on loop (he loved Charlie the unicorn). Came home and let him swim in vitaman water again. Dried him off, let him sit with other ducks. Then put him back in the water while I got ready for bed and then he slept in his box.

*I got the vitamans off of amazon where you can make something like 128 gallons for $5. I like them better than the ones aimed towards backyard farmers because I think they are more complete. It's 1/2 tsp for 3 gallons so I usually did about 12 gallons and 2 tsp.

 

[whiteybird]

I'm also wondering about this topic.

I have two pekin ducks, one of each sex (Will and Kate). Kate is a little shy but spunky, lively, and seems to be a perfectly healthy, normal duck.

Will must have had a predator grab at him through an opening in the duck pen one day last summer while we were gone...his leg ended up healing in the sitting position. His knee was twisted outward so he was sitting on the inside of the knee, and couldn't move the joint much at all; he could stand normally on his one good leg, swim fine thought with limited movement in the one leg, and seemed generally himself - kind of skittish, quiet, and watchful...but ready to try to mate once his body hit the water. lol.

His condition has gradually gotten worse though...his bad leg is now twisted even more, so that when he sits the bottom of his foot is just slightly facing the sky, instead of just his body. He no longer stands on his good leg, but almost walks on the entire lower portion of it, as if to walk on two equal height legs. When I have his bad knee wrapped, which is difficult for me to keep up with, he hobbles around the run just fine, but his feathers are so badly damaged that he doesn't really float anymore. He will preen but not enough or 100% effectively, and that combined with dragging his tail on the ground means the few new feathers he's grown in are already damaged.

I'm slowly beginning to wonder if we should put him down and find Kate a healthy girl to accompany her, but I am petrified of taking away Will's life if he's still willing to live it. The only thing I haven't tried that may help would be to install a metal rod at the top of the pen and sling him in a harness so that he could waddle his way back and forth along the rof...but it seems like there's a lot to figure out to get that to work.

I'm also not sure if I have enough time to fully dedicate to his rehab, but I don't know of anyone around here who could and would take on such a needy duck.

 

[localife]

I know what you mean about the challenge of deciding whether to take his life. I'm generally pretty pragmatic about life and death, and I've taken the lives of animals over the years, but this little duckling of mine...there's just some kind of spark in her that keeps me feeling less certain about what's right for her, even though it is a lot of work to keep her. I'm sort of holding out the hope that I will be able to create some kind of pond situation for her in which she will be able to spend most of her time on the water, but be able to get herself out if she needs/wants to -- I can be pretty creative at times (as can you I see, by your harness idea

)

Thanks for sharing your story. It always helps me to know there are others who are grappling with similar things...

 

[riverdaughter13]

It's unclear exactly what Swimmy's leg troubles are because she seems to have had multiple things going on all around the same time. She first appeared to injure her legs in the midst of a duckling stampede when everyone got startled, then she seemed to be recovering from that, but was becoming clearly substantially smaller than all nine of her siblings.

They have all been given Brewer's yeast with their feed from the start, but it is possible that she was simply not getting enough of anything because she was so little. That said, however, she has always been the most courageous of the whole lot and didn't appear to be getting bullied. It has occurred to me that perhaps she isn't able to metabolize feed in the same way, causing both her diminutive size and her leg troubles.

Then I noticed that her legs were troubling her again, and saw that she was frequently getting stepped on by the larger ducklings, so I separated her from the group by making a wire room in the brooder, where she was safe but able to see and interact with everyone else. In addition to Brewer's yeast, she now also gets wheat germ and flaxseed meal, as well as several daily swims to exercise her legs and help her stay clean since she isn't able to move around as much as everyone else. Today she started rising up partially on her legs for the first time in over a week (they are all 4 weeks old now).

How did you manage with your turkey? That sounds quite challenging! Swimmy can still swim quite well, so when she's in the water she is able to get around just fine.

My dear "Lamey" (as my boyfriend calls her) has a very similar story. We wonder whether she has a genetic condition, as she is the only one with problems and does not act or respond like the other ducks. She shows some disinterest in food, especially compared to the other cayuga we have, who is quite beefy.