What is wrong with my pekin?

[housechickensdaily]

I have a beautiful 4 month old pekin named Trip. I got him and a few others back in March. He has a leg problem. His right leg is turned inward(the other one is fine) and he can walk but he does trip a lot(hence the name) so I knew he couldnt be that independent about being outdoors. I kept him inside when he was a duckling, constantly feeding and watering him. Basically waiting on him hand and foot. I know some might say a niacin deficiency, but he has been supplemented with that his whole life. (Which is why i guess one of his legs is normal? I used the capsules and ive used brewers yeast, changed it up a little) He wasnt on a hard surface, i know that can splay their legs. He never had any injury occur, nothing like that. Well, fast forward. He refuses to be outside. I guess since I spoiled him and gave him constant attention all his life he decided he wants to be indoors? I mean it, anytime he is taken outside and i go inside he will scream and nearly hurt himself trying to get back to me. He has a very very strong bond to me, which i dont mind because i dont have much to do. So i kept him inside. He sits either on my lap or on the bed(hes potty trained) and will quack to let me know when he wants a drink or some food. He doesnt move much, he just lays there and sleeps or he will cuddle into me and make lots of happy peeping. I have however tried to 'water therapy him.' he has his own pool 6 ft × 6 ft and about 3 ft deep. I take him to swim a couple times a day. Sometimes i lower the water to where he can float but still have to use his legs if he wants to go forward in an attempt to try and get him to use them better. He is an amazing swimmer even with his foot being turned in. He can also fly. He is a fat duck, not underweight like most ducks with legs problems. He never seems to be in pain, he always just wobbles around and follows me. I have tried giving him ibuprofen just in case he was hurting, but he acted no different. His diet consists of his regular duck food, meal worms, and fresh fruits, vegetables, and occasionally fish. Sorry for this being so long, I wanted to be thorough with information. I was just wondering, why is his leg doing this? (It started at one month of age) and will it ever get better?

 

[housechickensdaily]

I'm new here! But have been using this site for info for months now. Thanks to all who respond.

 

[obsessedwithchickens!]

I don't know what to say I think that if it doesn't bother you taking care of him think it will be fine. Have you tried taking him to a poultry vet they may be able to give you some information.

 

[housechickensdaily]

I don't know what to say I think that if it doesn't bother you taking care of him think it will be fine. Have you tried taking him to a poultry vet they may be able to give you some information.

We dont have places like that whete i live. Quite literally all it is around here is farms and mountains for miles. I have asked people at my local tractor supply co, lets just say they didnt even know what niacin was and that was my que to get out because they had no clue what they were talking about. But yeah i dont mind taking care of him. Its actually very nice, hes like my best friend. We go on car rides together and i take him to parks. We have fun haha

 

[Frutfarm]

I have a beautiful 4 month old pekin named Trip. I got him and a few others back in March. He has a leg problem. His right leg is turned inward(the other one is fine) and he can walk but he does trip a lot(hence the name) so I knew he couldnt be that independent about being outdoors. I kept him inside when he was a duckling, constantly feeding and watering him. Basically waiting on him hand and foot. I know some might say a niacin deficiency, but he has been supplemented with that his whole life. (Which is why i guess one of his legs is normal? I used the capsules and ive used brewers yeast, changed it up a little) He wasnt on a hard surface, i know that can splay their legs. He never had any injury occur, nothing like that. Well, fast forward. He refuses to be outside. I guess since I spoiled him and gave him constant attention all his life he decided he wants to be indoors? I mean it, anytime he is taken outside and i go inside he will scream and nearly hurt himself trying to get back to me. He has a very very strong bond to me, which i dont mind because i dont have much to do. So i kept him inside. He sits either on my lap or on the bed(hes potty trained) and will quack to let me know when he wants a drink or some food. He doesnt move much, he just lays there and sleeps or he will cuddle into me and make lots of happy peeping. I have however tried to 'water therapy him.' he has his own pool 6 ft × 6 ft and about 3 ft deep. I take him to swim a couple times a day. Sometimes i lower the water to where he can float but still have to use his legs if he wants to go forward in an attempt to try and get him to use them better. He is an amazing swimmer even with his foot being turned in. He can also fly. He is a fat duck, not underweight like most ducks with legs problems. He never seems to be in pain, he always just wobbles around and follows me. I have tried giving him ibuprofen just in case he was hurting, but he acted no different. His diet consists of his regular duck food, meal worms, and fresh fruits, vegetables, and occasionally fish. Sorry for this being so long, I wanted to be thorough with information. I was just wondering, why is his leg doing this? (It started at one month of age) and will it ever get better?

We had Pekins before we moved and gave them to friends with a pond-so many leg issues! I think it's genetic. We had one we called Wobbles and she had both turned in and it looked so sad. She is fine out on the pond, but looks miserable on land. We had another one with a limp that passed away after she moved to our friends' pond. She just never looked healthy compared to the others. I did all kinds of stuff to help them out, but I think those were just genetic issues and we just didn't see them right away because of our particular deep bedding brooder spot for them early on. I never thought Wobbles would still be here, but she is and that gives me hope for any leg issue.

 

[housechickensdaily]

We had Pekins before we moved and gave them to friends with a pond-so many leg issues! I think it's genetic. We had one we called Wobbles and she had both turned in and it looked so sad. She is fine out on the pond, but looks miserable on land. We had another one with a limp that passed away after she moved to our friends' pond. She just never looked healthy compared to the others. I did all kinds of stuff to help them out, but I think those were just genetic issues and we just didn't see them right away because of our particular deep bedding brooder spot for them early on. I never thought Wobbles would still be here, but she is and that gives me hope for any leg issue.

Thank you for responding! I'm terribly sorry to hear that. I agree with you, there is hope with leg problems. I've read so many things that say if the duckling has messed up legs you should just snap it's neck because it is going to have a horrible life. I totally disagree, the owners just have to be dedicated to their special needs. I get it if the duck cant stand or swim, I'd put it out of it's misery. But if they can stand and get around, let them live!

 

[Frutfarm]

Wobbles gets lots of special attention and was the most vocal when she saw us walk out the door. I think for her, it looks worse than it feels and she seemed to be our most content Duck. She asserted herself to be the only one in the pool when it was freshly cleaned and refilled. So, she wasn't at the bottom of the flock even.

 

[housechickensdaily]

Wobbles gets lots of special attention and was the most vocal when she saw us walk out the door. I think for her, it looks worse than it feels and she seemed to be our most content Duck. She asserted herself to be the only one in the pool when it was freshly cleaned and refilled. So, she wasn't at the bottom of the flock even.

Exactly, it looks painful but if it really was they wouldn't be standing and swimming. Theyd lay there and get very skinny, and if they are in some pain just give them ibuprofen and send them on their way. Trip does not like other ducks. He doesnt like chickens, anything. The only other animal he likes is my pitbull/lab mix. Trip is a female, I've always referred to him as a "he" though.

 

[Frutfarm]

That's awesome that Trip prefers the dog! That is so crazy to me. 3 neighbor dogs around when we had our ducks were just a fence away from having a Pekin dinner and the ducks knew it! Those dogs would wear my ducks out something fierce with the chasing. It's like the ducks didn't understand that the dogs couldn't get through that fence. Always running for their lives. We did have one Great Pyrenees that decided our livestock and children were his to keep watch over and he'd chase every strange dog and coyote away. I hope your Trip continues to do well! Ducks are so wonderful