What could be wrong with my duck?

[willowbirdks]

My Anconas are 3-4 weeks old, and all have been happy and healthy until today. We allow carefully supervised swim time and supervised outside time, but they spend most of each day in their duck coop. Plenty warm from the heat lamp, no drafts, ventilation through an upper window during the day, closed at night as it has still been in the 40s.

So today we came home to find one duckling walking kind of funny, with her tail end pointed down. This is the duck in the front of the picture. All the others have always walked happily, tails up. She was also unsteady on her feet and not walking as much as the others. (She or he, no clue at this point.)

What could be causing this? Should we be concerned? After a little foraging she perked up, but we did notice some runny poop. Thoughts? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My Anconas are 3-4 weeks old, and all have been happy and healthy until today. We allow carefully supervised swim time and supervised outside time, but they spend most of each day in their duck coop. Plenty warm from the heat lamp, no drafts, ventilation through an upper window during the day, closed at night as it has still been in the 40s.

So today we came home to find one duckling walking kind of funny, with her tail end pointed down. This is the duck in the front of the picture. All the others have always walked happily, tails up. She was also unsteady on her feet and not walking as much as the others. (She or he, no clue at this point.)

What could be causing this? Should we be concerned? After a little foraging she perked up, but we did notice some runny poop. Thoughts? Thanks in advance for any help.

What are you feeding them? reason asking they may need to have some niacin added to their diet. especially if they are eating chick feed, which doesn't have the amount of niacin that ducklings need, 150-200 mgs to 1 gal of water for 3/4 week ducklings, be sure if you get niacin to buy plain not time released or flush free and it has to be crushed if pill and mixed really well into the water. Or you can get nutritional or brewers yeast[ no baking yeast] and sprinkle over their feed 1 tab to 1 cup of feed given daily. If it's a deficiency you should notice improvement in as little as 2-3 days or as long a 5 days but most show improvement really quick. please keep us updated.

 

[willowbirdks]

What are you feeding them? reason asking they may need to have some niacin added to their diet. especially if they are eating chick feed, which doesn't have the amount of niacin that ducklings need, 150-200 mgs to 1 gal of water for 3/4 week ducklings, be sure if you get niacin to buy plain not time released or flush free and it has to be crushed if pill and mixed really well into the water. Or you can get nutritional or brewers yeast[ no baking yeast] and sprinkle over their feed 1 tab to 1 cup of feed given daily. If it's a deficiency you should notice improvement in as little as 2-3 days or as long a 5 days but most show improvement really quick. please keep us updated.

They are on a Multi-Flock Starter/Grower from Blue Seal. It's not a chick-only starter, it's also supposed to be for ducks and geese. I did wonder about the niacin issue, but I was thinking that this feed might be better formulated to meet their needs. Perhaps not? :-/

We were honestly just as concerned about how she was pointing her tail down as about the awkward walking, although I would say both are not a good sign. Do you think it could all be nutritional? Niacin was my first thought, but again with being on a multi-flock feed I wasn't sure if this was as much of an issue.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They are on a Multi-Flock Starter/Grower from Blue Seal. It's not a chick-only starter, it's also supposed to be for ducks and geese. I did wonder about the niacin issue, but I was thinking that this feed might be better formulated to meet their needs. Perhaps not? :-/

We were honestly just as concerned about how she was pointing her tail down as about the awkward walking, although I would say both are not a good sign. Do you think it could all be nutritional? Niacin was my first thought, but again with being on a multi-flock feed I wasn't sure if this was as much of an issue.

I use an all flock and have never had a niacin issue but some ducklings even on the best feed formulated for them can still have a problem so i'd try them on some extra B3 niacin and see if it makes any difference. Hopefully that's all it is.

 

[willowbirdks]

I use an all flock and have never had a niacin issue but some ducklings even on the best feed formulated for them can still have a problem so i'd try them on some extra B3 niacin and see if it makes any difference. Hopefully that's all it is.

Where would I be able to get that, do you think? In what format? I have heard mention of "brewer's yeast", but I don't actually know what that is... Is it a powder? Do I get it at the beer brewing store? Etc. Sorry to be so unclear, I just want to do whatever will have the best chance of helping clear this up quickly...

Or making it clear if it's not niacin but perhaps something else instead. :-/ Do you think it should be time to switch them over to a Grow & Show type of feed vs the starter? That's the other thing I'm considering, nutritionally... First time duck owner here, so it's all new to me and I have found so much conflicting information. I know a lot can be learned through trial and error, but I'd really like to have all healthy adult ducks at the end of the summer if I can manage it!

 

[aurora14]

I buy brewers yeast at a vitamin store like Vitamin Shop or GNC. I get the powder for my dogs. It's $13-18 dollars per very large can (can't remember the exact price off the top of my head.....lol)

 

[Miss Lydia]

Where would I be able to get that, do you think? In what format? I have heard mention of "brewer's yeast", but I don't actually know what that is... Is it a powder? Do I get it at the beer brewing store? Etc. Sorry to be so unclear, I just want to do whatever will have the best chance of helping clear this up quickly...

Or making it clear if it's not niacin but perhaps something else instead. :-/ Do you think it should be time to switch them over to a Grow & Show type of feed vs the starter? That's the other thing I'm considering, nutritionally... First time duck owner here, so it's all new to me and I have found so much conflicting information. I know a lot can be learned through trial and error, but I'd really like to have all healthy adult ducks at the end of the summer if I can manage it!

you'll have to do the research on the feed I have always used Flock Raiser from hatch on and have mama ducks who raise their own, except for 1 my dh and I raised inside, so not real familiar with other formulas I think at 3 weeks you need to change them off of chick starter though for those that use it. as for the brewers yeast you could probably find it at a beer brewing store I bought my first at the natural food store. You can also buy it on line but you want to get it asap. I only have used the Brewers yeast since It was easier to find than the plain niacin. and easier to use to. And Brewers yeast comes in powder.

 

[willowbirdks]

Thank you. I really appreciate your patient help.

Open to any other feedback about the walking and tail, as well as feed, but it certainly seems like it wouldn't hurt to add brewers yeast... And we have a brewing store nearby, so we can pick some up tomorrow.

 

[Amiga]

This may be out in left field, but the ducklings have been going outside, yes? Do you have black flies and mosquitoes around? Sometimes they carry infectious diseases, and without full feathering, they can bit ducklings. Not the most likely situation, but if the niacin - brewer's yeast doesn't help right away I would seek help from a vet.

 

[willowbirdks]

This may be out in left field, but the ducklings have been going outside, yes?  Do you have black flies and mosquitoes around?  Sometimes they carry infectious diseases, and without full feathering, they can bit ducklings.  Not the most likely situation, but if the niacin - brewer's yeast doesn't help right away I would seek help from a vet.

Black flies just started showing up this week... Yikes! Should the ducks not be going outside in black fly season? Or is that relatively oncommon?

Guess we will keep an eye on it, and keep our fingers crossed that the niacin does the trick...