Would You Supplement with Niacin in This Case?

[Knucker Hatch Farms]

Hi there!

You all have been so helpful in getting me prepared for my first ducks, and this week I finally received them! They have been a pure joy to watch. I am consulting you all today, as I have one Chocolate Runner among the other nine ducklings (runners, swedish and peking) who stands out in the crowd. She is often sitting, even to eat, and is still quite wobbly on her feet at about six days old. When she does manage to get up on her feet and walk somewhere, she often looks like she is straining. She is pooping. Walking just seems to wear her out. The others seem to be growing by leaps and bounds, while she is definitely becoming one of the littlest in the Quack Pack.

The ducklings have been on medicated chick starter for the last 5 days until I received my Mazuri Starter Duck feed in the mail yesterday. They are now all gobbling up their duck feed with gusto. I noticed that it does have a niacin supplement in it. Should I just have a wait and see stance now that she is consuming the duck feed, or should I add niacin to their water immediately. Or do you all think I might be dealing with something else?

Since the beginning of the week we pegged her as the more laid back girl, but maybe it's not her personality and more of how she is feeling. What do all think I should do?


Thanks so much!!

Warm Regards,

Mama Knucker Hatch

 

[xke4]

If all but one is healthy and acting normally and they have all been on the same feed, I would doubt that it is a niacin deficiency. Mazuri is a very well balanced diet. We import it to use at the wildlife rehab centre because it is so good. I suspect that there might be something else going on with your ducky. Something genetic perhaps. I think all you can do is watch and wait and keep a close eye that the others don't recognize the difference and start picking on him.

 

[Amiga]

I have a feeling that some ducklings are more sensitive to niacin deficiency than others, based on many comments from people about their flock always having problems, never having problems, etc.

I would give the duckling a vitamin electrolyte supplement for a few days. A teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in a gallon of water may work as a tonic - I have not tried it but others on this forum recommend it. A little yogurt in water may help, also. Sometimes just some extra TLC works wonders.

Can you bring in some bugs? Those are a natural source of niacin. I don't know if you are squeamish, so don't worry if you cannot bring yourself to try that.

I think Nettie uses some kind of koi pellets . . . not sure about that . . .

 

[xke4]

Turkeys, ducks, pheasants, and goslings are much more severely affected by niacin deficiency than are chickens. Their apparently higher requirements are likely related to their less efficient conversion of tryptophan to niacin. Ducks and turkeys with a niacin deficiency show a severe bowing of the legs and an enlargement of the hock joint. The main difference between the leg seen in niacin deficiency and perosis seen in manganese and choline deficiency is that with niacin deficiency the Achilles tendon seldom slips from its condyles.

Copied and pasted from the Merck Veterinary manual. Is this how your duck is presenting?

 

[mstricer]

I don't think you are supposed to feed ducklings medicated feed.

Quote:

 

[Knucker Hatch Farms]

To answer you Xke4, it is hard to tell. Our neighbor's duckling who is now about two months old has an obvious deficiency in niacin. Poor guy has angel wing going on and enlarged hocks. So I've seen first hand the behavior and the enlarged hock joint. It is so much harder to discern in my runner as she has the skinniest legs in the whole bunch. She looks like she is walking on toothpicks compared to the others.

Here's a few more things I noticed today. When she drops down, it is almost like a collapse. It's not unexpected to her it just looks like she's thinking, "I've gotta sit, right now!", and then she hits the deck. Tonight she seems a little less wobbly, but it appears that she might be favoring one side as she looks like she leans to the right when she sits. I can't tell any difference between the two legs though.

I'm gonna give her a few more days of Mazuri feed under her belt and see if there is any improvement. If not, we'll start giving that extra TLC. Fingers crossed for my "Lady Godiva" chocolate runner girl.

Mama Knucker Hatch

 

[Amiga]

Love that name!

I have six chocolate runners (and five blacks). I noticed the strange way some of them sat down. They would walk a few steps, stop, almost wobble, then plunk down backwards. Sometimes they would stop in mid-sit, like sitting on their "heels." I was giving them vitamins and electrolytes once or twice a week after a big day, by the way. After a few weeks this multi-step sitting behavior seemed to go away, or perhaps I just did not notice it any more. I have a few runners with very skinny legs, too.