Urgent Duckling Cant Walk

[sandracollins]

One of my call ducklings that hatched yesterday cant walk.it was slower than the others to come around after hatching but it can eat and drink but just keeps falling over and rolls onto its back ,I tried letting it swim to see how it uses both legs but it kind of leans on one side so I had to take it out ,please dont say to cull it as I have to give it a chance,it is very aleart should i tape its legs in case it has splayed leg?. Its legs are not out to the side but one seems to go behind him when he trys to walk and he ends up on his back. Sorry for the long post but its my first time to hatch call ducks and I was terrified because everyone says they are so hard to hatch

 

[chicmom]

I would give the little duckling some more time......It's so cramped in the egg......Maybe time will help. I'm a chicken person, so my post will give you a "bump" so other duck people can see this and respond.

Good luck!

 

[duckyfromoz]

I have read somewhere about them falling over - but more to do with their naturally round little bodies than something actually being wrong with them.
Its hard to say for sure what the issue is- but I know that " stargazing" is an issue caused by thiamine deficiency. Ducklings with the problem will often be unbalanced- fall over- and more characteristically " flip" over backwards- especially when drinking. If you have some vitamins handy- the duckling could benefit from a boost - Sometimes they can be up and running around from the time they fluff up- and others can take a little longer even if nothing is wrong. Tapping the legs could impede its ability to start getting around more- and they can be very unsteady n their legs when tapped as well. At least without tapping they have more of a chance to right themselves. Thinking of culling at this age is too early- give it at least another day or two for it to find its legs and work out if it does in fact need - or could benefit from further treatment first.

 

[destinduck]

I just had the same problem with one of my fulvous treeduck babies. For 3 days he acted goofy. Honestly figured he would die. The problem corrected itself. So dont give up as long as hes eating and drinking. I didnt change anything. Dont know what causes it. Sometimes they will step all over each other when you have a batch and maybe they just get hurt that way.

 

[furbabiesinc]

i bought 4 ancona ducklings from a farm supply. got them home and the next morning the smallest of them couldn't stand. and he was SOAKED! we dried him off of course.... but since then he acts drunk. stumbles around, walks sorta sideways and ends up flipped over on his back. has the hardest time making it back to his feet. He (we arent sure what sex it is) braces himself against the water dish or side of the cage and cleans himself. he drinks and eats, but its all done stumbling around and falling. and his wings seem to flutter up and down uncontrollably and sort of trembles. these ducklings cant be more than 3-6 days old.. the rest of them are all fine. but I do notice they push him away, step right on him when hes down and peck a little at him. he acts like he doesn't want to quit so I wont. but I need some help or advice. will it always be this way? do they recover? I've been feeding him normal unmedicated chick crumbles. and I've been hand feeding some banana and electrolyte water with some duramycin-10 in it just today. and we're getting ready to hopefully eat some hardboiled eggs in a minute. has anyone else heard of this affliction? and is it treatable? I hate to say its a neurological disorder but it kind of looks that way to me. could he of gotten too wet too cold and something happened to his head? I do have a high output chick light over these guys. it keeps it pretty warm in there. 94-97 degrees. I just need to know whats the humane way to handle this. I hate to think I'm making him suffer by keeping him alive when there wont be any quality of life.

 

[Miss Lydia]

i bought 4 ancona ducklings from a farm supply. got them home and the next morning the smallest of them couldn't stand. and he was SOAKED! we dried him off of course.... but since then he acts drunk. stumbles around, walks sorta sideways and ends up flipped over on his back. has the hardest time making it back to his feet. He (we arent sure what sex it is) braces himself against the water dish or side of the cage and cleans himself. he drinks and eats, but its all done stumbling around and falling. and his wings seem to flutter up and down uncontrollably and sort of trembles. these ducklings cant be more than 3-6 days old.. the rest of them are all fine. but I do notice they push him away, step right on him when hes down and peck a little at him. he acts like he doesn't want to quit so I wont. but I need some help or advice. will it always be this way? do they recover? I've been feeding him normal unmedicated chick crumbles. and I've been hand feeding some banana and electrolyte water with some duramycin-10 in it just today. and we're getting ready to hopefully eat some hardboiled eggs in a minute. has anyone else heard of this affliction? and is it treatable? I hate to say its a neurological disorder but it kind of looks that way to me. could he of gotten too wet too cold and something happened to his head? I do have a high output chick light over these guys. it keeps it pretty warm in there. 94-97 degrees. I just need to know whats the humane way to handle this. I hate to think I'm making him suffer by keeping him alive when there wont be any quality of life.

Get some B complex vitamins and open the capsule and pour into a gal of water then put into their water, make sure duckling can get as much water as possible, and at what your describing he can drown if he can't get out of the water on his own so watch him closely but the B complex is what he needs the niacin or B3 is important for neurological development and also strong legs or go to TSC and buy Poultry Nutri drench and give him some straight into his mouth being careful not to force it down his throat since he can aspirate it,. This is a nutrient deficiency and they usually recover in a much as 3-5 days once started. Chick feed just doesnt 't have what ducklings need in the B's and some ducklings just need more than others, But I'd give it to all of them in their water but straight to the one showing the signs. 1-2 drops a couple a times a day plus what he gets in their water. Direction of bottle. Keep us updated.

 

[furbabiesinc]

UPDATE: I've been feeding this little one for a few days now. kept him separated with his own light. staying up all night thinking extra attention might help.... I put a brick in the corner and one in the middle so he has something to lean on if he needs it. he does flip over on occasion and panics on his back. still wanders drunk looking. but his wings aren't flapping up and down as much. and he seems calmer after he eats.
I've given him chick quench, duramyacin, bananas, cooked egg yolk, and I got some niacin B3 tablets that I crushed and fed to him with his food. about 25mg twice a day.
I don't think this guy is going to recover. but we're in this together. i'll keep updating as we go along. maybe it will help someone else down the road. thank you for the suggestions! we really appreciate how quickly we got an answer. its a hard thing to go through.

 

[Miss Lydia]

UPDATE: I've been feeding this little one for a few days now. kept him separated with his own light. staying up all night thinking extra attention might help.... I put a brick in the corner and one in the middle so he has something to lean on if he needs it. he does flip over on occasion and panics on his back. still wanders drunk looking. but his wings aren't flapping up and down as much. and he seems calmer after he eats.
I've given him chick quench, duramyacin, bananas, cooked egg yolk, and I got some niacin B3 tablets that I crushed and fed to him with his food. about 25mg twice a day.
I don't think this guy is going to recover. but we're in this together. i'll keep updating as we go along. maybe it will help someone else down the road. thank you for the suggestions! we really appreciate how quickly we got an answer. its a hard thing to go through.

UPDATE: I've been feeding this little one for a few days now. kept him separated with his own light. staying up all night thinking extra attention might help.... I put a brick in the corner and one in the middle so he has something to lean on if he needs it. he does flip over on occasion and panics on his back. still wanders drunk looking. but his wings aren't flapping up and down as much. and he seems calmer after he eats.
I've given him chick quench, duramyacin, bananas, cooked egg yolk, and I got some niacin B3 tablets that I crushed and fed to him with his food. about 25mg twice a day.
I don't think this guy is going to recover. but we're in this together. i'll keep updating as we go along. maybe it will help someone else down the road. thank you for the suggestions! we really appreciate how quickly we got an answer. its a hard thing to go through.

I'm sorry your not seeing big improvements yet but glad to hear your not giving up. Maybe it will kick in eventually. you can also make a donut out of a towel and place the lil one down inside to keep him upright especially at night so you can get some sleep. just make sure his head isn't down in the towel.Thanks for the update.