Niacin Deficiency in Waterfowl

[Ruemker2]

Will do. This is a different link hope it works! Thank you! https://share.icloud.com/photos/0u0uCHP-_p2bZN3lG0jO8vFaw

 

[Isaac 0]

Definitely some leg issues going on there, get them started on the B complex right away.

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

So I've been giving my (not so) little pekin B complex for some days now, and I've noticed that he has really started to...well, not like it very much. I've been mixing it with treats and that was fine the first few days. Then he ate his B complex treats, grudgingly. The other day when we offered him his bowl of B complex treats he didn't want to eat them and kept turning away, and actually threw up a bit. For the last couple of days I've been giving him 1mL in his water, but this is obviously not ideal for getting him the correct dose. He's a bit older (we noticed the problem developing late) at 5 1/2 weeks and I want to help him out as much as possible.

Does anyone have any suggestions for making his treats more appealing? I've been using a mix of mealworms and peas primarily. The B complex doesn't smell very good so I imagine it must not taste very good either. I want to make sure he gets his vitamins but I feel bad if it's making him sick at all.

 

[Isaac 0]

It does smell bad, so quite often ducks will not eat it even when it's on treat's, the first idea, would be to split the dosage up into small amounts throughout the day so you aren't giving him so much all at once, and if that doesn't work you'll need to administer it orally. Refer to the link in post 1# on how to do that properly without aspirating the duck.

 

[Guernsy]

Wow, that is a lot of good information. My Pekins are about 6/7 weeks old and always hungry. They eat waterfowl maintenance pellets. However, they prefer veggies and the chick starter from the chickens for some reason. Do I have to worry about adding vitamin B or niacin? The black runners are still on baby duck food and get fed separately when they return back to their place in my garage at night. All ducks seem to walk/run find, well the pekins waddle more than that they walk.
Is there a way to just add the niacin to their food since they have a large feeder in their coop? What happens if chickens would eat that?
Thanks

 

[Isaac 0]

Wow, that is a lot of good information. My Pekins are about 6/7 weeks old and always hungry. They eat waterfowl maintenance pellets. However, they prefer veggies and the chick starter from the chickens for some reason. Do I have to worry about adding vitamin B or niacin? The black runners are still on baby duck food and get fed separately when they return back to their place in my garage at night. All ducks seem to walk/run find, well the pekins waddle more than that they walk.
Is there a way to just add the niacin to their food since they have a large feeder in their coop? What happens if chickens would eat that?
Thanks

Hi there!

Could you specify the brand you are feeding? Most waterfowl feed brands only contains around 55mg of niacin per kilo which really isn't enough for growing heavyweight breeds, 70 mg per kilo is more preferable, and you can achieve that by adding brewers yeast or nutritional yeast to their feed at a ratio of one tabl per cup, the only problem with that will be the cost, so a better alternative would be adding 500mg niacin capsules to eight gallons of water until ten weeks of age.

B complex and Niacin are perfectly fine for chickens.

 

[Audrey597]

Where does free ranging fit into all of this? We have several ducks 4 are Pekins. And they all free range from early AM until night. We were fortunate enough to be home during all the covid stuff and were outside with them almost all day everyday to supervise. I kept them chick starter and water at night but wasn’t adding any supplements because I was unaware of niacin deficiency in ducks. At about 5 weeks I noticed one of the Pekins limping. I began reading everything about limping and lame ducks and discovered niacin deficiency. I began giving them all Niacin supplement (I bought the capsules and would sprinkle about 1/2-3/4 over their food at night. I also began giving them broccoli and cabbage leaves from the garden, mealworm omelettes, and sweet potatoes. The limping/lame duck would get extra mealworms and any earthworms I found when working in the garden. She improved slightly the next couple of days then went backwards and refused to get up at all. I noticed one of her legs, first joint seemed a little swollen on the leg she favored. No obvious injuries or sores. On day 5 I took her to the vet. Yes, worst farmer ever I took a 6 dollar duckling to the vet. He said she had a fever (109F- and a normal duck her age should be 104-105F). He gave us antibiotics and Meloxicam. We kept her from the other ducks. Continued with the special diet, adding minnows we trapped and chopped up red and yellow peppers. Also gave her plenty of water/pool time so she would swim and use the leg. She seriously didn’t stand on her own at all for 7-8 days. I was basically carrying the duck everywhere and using puppy pads to wrap around her since we all know how explosive and lovely duck poop can be. We’ve keep her clean and my daughter even uses the blow dryer on her to dry her Her feathers don’t dry out like the others, I’m sure because she doesn’t have any oil on her skin or feathers. She has lost so much weight. Even though she was younger than the other breads she and another (same age) were much bigger. Now she is 1/2 the size of the other Pekin we got at the same time. Today is day 10 on antibiotics. I’ve added probiotics and chick electrolytes to her water. She finally is standing on her own today and actually moving some. I was seriously about to give up and thought all my efforts were just delaying the inevitable.

Anything else I should do or any words of advice from anyone? And since the ducks free range day and are like a pack of wild hogs roaming around should I worry that much about Niacin?
Thanks in advance. Sorry this was so long.

 

[Guernsy]

Hi there!

Could you specify the brand you are feeding? Most waterfowl feed brands only contains around 55mg of niacin per kilo which really isn't enough for growing heavyweight breeds, 70 mg per kilo is more preferable, and you can achieve that by adding brewers yeast or nutritional yeast to their feed at a ratio of one tabl per cup, the only problem with that will be the cost, so a better alternative would be adding 500mg niacin capsules to eight gallons of water until ten weeks of age.

B complex and Niacin are perfectly fine for chickens.

I buy my food from the farm feed store and get it in a brown 25 lbs bag. I will call them tomorrow and find out what brand it is and how much niacin it contains. Adding the niacin capsules to the water is a problem since they have a pipe water system that they share with the chickens (it comes via pipe), they also have a lot of open water aka dishes that they like to turn into mud pools. So I am not sure how the water addition would work. I might have to add something to their food, since they are very food driven. Can I add the niacin powder to their food? Or does it have to be the brewers yeast? Where do I get that kind of yeast? Can I just mix it with their food?
Thanks

 

[Isaac 0]

I buy my food from the farm feed store and get it in a brown 25 lbs bag. I will call them tomorrow and find out what brand it is and how much niacin it contains. Adding the niacin capsules to the water is a problem since they have a pipe water system that they share with the chickens (it comes via pipe), they also have a lot of open water aka dishes that they like to turn into mud pools. So I am not sure how the water addition would work. I might have to add something to their food, since they are very food driven. Can I add the niacin powder to their food? Or does it have to be the brewers yeast? Where do I get that kind of yeast? Can I just mix it with their food?
Thanks

Yeah, and they may not specify the niacin content either, but to play it on the safe side I'd still add niacin to their feed.

I see your problem, I think I'd just sprinkle brewers yeast over their feed once a day until they are around 8-10 weeks, and you can by brewers/nutritional yeast off amazon or some grocery stores may have it.

 

[Isaac 0]

Where does free ranging fit into all of this? We have several ducks 4 are Pekins. And they all free range from early AM until night. We were fortunate enough to be home during all the covid stuff and were outside with them almost all day everyday to supervise. I kept them chick starter and water at night but wasn’t adding any supplements because I was unaware of niacin deficiency in ducks. At about 5 weeks I noticed one of the Pekins limping. I began reading everything about limping and lame ducks and discovered niacin deficiency. I began giving them all Niacin supplement (I bought the capsules and would sprinkle about 1/2-3/4 over their food at night. I also began giving them broccoli and cabbage leaves from the garden, mealworm omelettes, and sweet potatoes. The limping/lame duck would get extra mealworms and any earthworms I found when working in the garden. She improved slightly the next couple of days then went backwards and refused to get up at all. I noticed one of her legs, first joint seemed a little swollen on the leg she favored. No obvious injuries or sores. On day 5 I took her to the vet. Yes, worst farmer ever I took a 6 dollar duckling to the vet. He said she had a fever (109F- and a normal duck her age should be 104-105F). He gave us antibiotics and Meloxicam. We kept her from the other ducks. Continued with the special diet, adding minnows we trapped and chopped up red and yellow peppers. Also gave her plenty of water/pool time so she would swim and use the leg. She seriously didn’t stand on her own at all for 7-8 days. I was basically carrying the duck everywhere and using puppy pads to wrap around her since we all know how explosive and lovely duck poop can be. We’ve keep her clean and my daughter even uses the blow dryer on her to dry her Her feathers don’t dry out like the others, I’m sure because she doesn’t have any oil on her skin or feathers. She has lost so much weight. Even though she was younger than the other breads she and another (same age) were much bigger. Now she is 1/2 the size of the other Pekin we got at the same time. Today is day 10 on antibiotics. I’ve added probiotics and chick electrolytes to her water. She finally is standing on her own today and actually moving some. I was seriously about to give up and thought all my efforts were just delaying the inevitable.

Anything else I should do or any words of advice from anyone? And since the ducks free range day and are like a pack of wild hogs roaming around should I worry that much about Niacin?
Thanks in advance. Sorry this was so long.

Hi, could you post a video of your ducks walking? Niacin deficient ducks don't really limp per se, they more trip over their feet, or just show signs of weakness. Could you post a picture of the niacin brand you are using?