Walking on hocks, niacin deficient, should I cull?

[Chickenfeeder22]

Doing physical therapy in warm water and also observing how he swims if he can move around your doing great sure hope it pays off. Maybe massage to while in the water or right after when his muscles are still warm. Coconut oil or almond oil for massage.

So it has been a little over 3 days of his being in the chick chair. I let him out 3 times a day to play in the water for about 30 minutes each time. Afterwards I take him out, dry him with a towel, let him stand on his hocks to dry himself for about 30-45 minutes (the chick chair is made of fabric so I give him a long time to dry so he's not sitting there wet and cold) and then I put him back in the chair, tape up his legs (I untape them while he's in the water) and leave him in there for a few hours before I repeat the process. I also massage and stretch his legs while he's in the tub. As for vitamins I've been giving him electrolytes in his water but am thinking of switching him to poultry booster. I guess my question is: am I doing anything wrong? Can I improve on anything? And when should I begin to see results, if results come out of this? He only turned 4 weeks this week so he has had splay leg untreated for about 3 weeks now.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I honestly don't know if you'll ever see any change since it went for so long. I'd love to be able to say yes keep it up and soon he'll be up walking like a normal duck but I can't, I sure wish I could. But what are your alternatives if he doesn't ever get better? Does he enjoy life is he eating and drinking fine or seem depressed and not eating well? These are all things your going to have to weigh out and also the biggest of all taking care of him/her for the rest of his life if he stays this way and isn't able to walk normal. Can you post a good pic of how your wrapping his legs. Will the one leg open all the way?

 

[Miss Lydia]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...the-craziest-duck-lady.1234021/#post-19803893

 

[Chickenfeeder22]

I honestly don't know if you'll ever see any change since it went for so long. I'd love to be able to say yes keep it up and soon he'll be up walking like a normal duck but I can't, I sure wish I could. But what are your alternatives if he doesn't ever get better? Does he enjoy life is he eating and drinking fine or seem depressed and not eating well? These are all things your going to have to weigh out and also the biggest of all taking care of him/her for the rest of his life if he stays this way and isn't able to walk normal. Can you post a good pic of how your wrapping his legs. Will the one leg open all the way?

I believe my alternative would be to cull. I don't want to have to do it but he isn't happy. He barely eats, which has stunted his development, and he's starting to get mean. I can sense he's miserable and probably depressed from being alone (no other ducks) most of his short life. We also have cats and can't afford to take him any further than the bathroom/bedroom area he's in now, so most of the day when we're busy he is alone. I don't want to do it, but leaving him alive to live a life like this seems selfish to me. Also, his hocks are blistered and dry so if he continues to put pressure on them it'll only get worse. I stopped wrapping his legs because he's in the chick chair anyway and he was going crazy with his legs wrapped and kept getting stuck. Since I have stopped wrapping he seems alot calmer while in the chair, but all the same problems are still there. The only difference is his mood has gotten slightly better. When I take him out of the chair he's happy. I stay with him while he's in the bathtub, dry him and let him lay next to me for about 2 hours, 3 times a day and he loves those times. However, my biggest concern is his hocks and putting too much pressure on them.

 

[bluejeans]

Hi all,
I have a month old rouen duck who has been walking on his hocks for about 3 weeks now. We got him and 3 others from TSC and in the beginning he was the strongest, but after a few days he was weak and couldn't walk. Granted this is my first time raising ducks so I didn't know about giving him brewer's yeast or niacin. Once this happened we gave him brewer's yeast and then moved to niacin pills. After about a week and a half, after posting on here, I found out I was giving him the wrong type of niacin (time-released niacin). I have since moved to B-12 and Nutri-drench for poultry. I took him to the vet (after 3 weeks of blowing me off) and he didn't seem to know what was going on. He claimed my duck has been like this since he was an egg which I know is false since he was the strongest when we got him.
The duckling walks on his hocks and other than the frustration of walking on his hocks he seems fine. He's developing normally and eating and drinking just fine. My question to all of you is: should I cull him or can he still live a long and happy life even though he's walking on his hocks? Or, even better, does anyone have any other ideas of what I can do to try and heal him? I have spent hours researching and have literally lost sleep over this trying to find the answer but I can't find anything. Like I said, he's been like this for about 3 weeks now so I don't know if it's too late to fix his legs. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!!

I would cull him .

 

[bluejeans]

Sorry about your duckling sounds like the others are doing good correct?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I believe my alternative would be to cull. I don't want to have to do it but he isn't happy. He barely eats, which has stunted his development, and he's starting to get mean. I can sense he's miserable and probably depressed from being alone (no other ducks) most of his short life. We also have cats and can't afford to take him any further than the bathroom/bedroom area he's in now, so most of the day when we're busy he is alone. I don't want to do it, but leaving him alive to live a life like this seems selfish to me. Also, his hocks are blistered and dry so if he continues to put pressure on them it'll only get worse. I stopped wrapping his legs because he's in the chick chair anyway and he was going crazy with his legs wrapped and kept getting stuck. Since I have stopped wrapping he seems alot calmer while in the chair, but all the same problems are still there. The only difference is his mood has gotten slightly better. When I take him out of the chair he's happy. I stay with him while he's in the bathtub, dry him and let him lay next to me for about 2 hours, 3 times a day and he loves those times. However, my biggest concern is his hocks and putting too much pressure on them.

A decision only you can make.