Unwell duckling, please help.

[chickens really]

Thank you all, although I'm in the UK and the Durvet product you mentioned does not appear to be easily available here we managed to find "poultry nutri-drops" at a nearby farming shop (even though it was 3pm on Christmas eve!).

Although I don't have the means to setup something like the paddling pool with shavings before Snowflake developed their current condition they really were doing well walking around despite their initial troubles, so I'm hoping that that, and the fact that I plan to move them out onto some grass soon (they'll be 4 weeks on Friday) should allow them to recover just fine in addition to allowing them to forage a bit.

Just before I went out to the farming shop the duck/goose grower/finisher food that I ordered also arrived so hopefully they'll both have a more appropriate diet. Thanks all, I wish there was more I could do immediately to help Snowflake walk around a bit easier but I'll have to go with what I've laid out here.

I really appreciate all your help, if you watch this space I may update you all on how they're doing. (They're Aylesbury ducks btw in case anyone is wondering (although not pure Aylesburies))

I saw they were Alsbury..
Best wishes

 

[Miss Lydia]

Also some nice warm swims in the tub can help with building up leg strength along with vitamins and duck feed. Hoping to see an update very soon! I’d def try and get them off of slick surface. Merry Christmas

 

[DuckyDonna]

Merry Christmas and I wish you the best in getting your little one well again! Please keep us posted because we really do care!

 

[CindyJax]

Can you get nutritional yeast at the health food store? I mixed some in with my chick crumbles when my ducks were growing so fast. It has B vitamins and extra protein. I couldn’t get over how fast ducklings grow! Or how messy they are Also when my grandfather had a duck with splayed legs that couldn’t walk he gently tied sticks to them to brace them. I was surprised that the duck grew up and did just fine. There may be hope for the little one yet! Good luck!

 

[johntfs]

Hi all, just registered, first time posting, on the 29th of November I hatched two new ducklings, other than one (now named Snowflake) having slightly splayed legs all had seemed fine, for about the first week they were fed a crumb / mashed boiled egg mixture and Snowflake gradually made a recovery on the leg front and was walking around just fine.

After the first week we switched them over to just crumb, for the remainder of this week everything seemed fine. At the beginning of week 3 there was a noticeable, although not considerable, size difference between Snowflake (smaller) and Snowball (larger), it was the Tuesday / Wednesday of that week that I noticed Snowflake was limping a bit, at first we thought it was sprain it had probably acquired when we last let them swim so left it for a few days. By Friday it had gotten considerably worse, Snowflake was now holding it very oddly and was barely willing to put any pressure on it.

Since this is my first time raising ducklings it wasn't until a couple of days later that I learned it could've been a niacin deficiency (the ducklings are currently being kept inside in a run due to it being Winter where I am), so I've now tried supplementing their normal food with chia seeds (which I checked the nurtritional information of and are very high in niacin), since I started that it's been a few days and I've seen very little, if any, improvement and I'm really worried we could lose this duckling. Here's a short video of the two of them running around in their run (apologies for the mess, I've cleaned it out since), I'm hoping somebody here could give me some insight as to what to do.

Thanks,
- Q

Maybe this might help?

 

[Miss Lydia]

That is a great video @johntfs

 

[Miss Lydia]

How’s your duckling doing?

 

[johntfs]

That is a great video @johntfs

I have zero firsthand experience with poultry, but I can Google like a mother-ducker.

 

[MyNameIsQ]

Okay, it's been a bit longer than I intended before giving you an update, we gave Snowflake the vitamin complex once for 5 days as per the maximum recommendation on the bottle, unfortunately improvement appears to have been minimal. I fear that it may be perosis as @casportpony and @Miss Lydia mentioned so I've been trying to get my mum to allow me to take Snowflake to the vet to get it checked out but my mother doesn't think the life of a duck is worth it. Is there anything I can do to help the duck recover if it is perosis without taking them to the vet?

 

[Miss Lydia]

When you feel down the back of your ducklings leg and then the normal leg can you feel any difference? With perosis you maybe able to feel the tendon has slipped off the bone. Can you do this and let us know. Is your duckling growing? Eating well drinking?