1 yo female pekin suddenly not walking

[Mharman0930]

Hello. My 1 yo female Pekin is suddenly not herself this past wk. I knew something was wrong when our 4 chickens tried attacking her. I isolated her in a pool on deck. My 5 yo male Pekin is completely fine. She mentally is fine and Quite fiesty eating worms peas cucumbers. She swims fine but pooping white and green. The issue is she is using her wings to balance and walk but was walking a little the past few days but today now she won’t stand all the way up and only half standing on legs. I have given her as much nutridrench I get trick her into by putting peas in the bowl. I also sprinkled some powder of pic below. I had a prior female duck who had issues too for years with walking she would fall all over so now I’m scared it’s happening again!! Why only the female not male which makes me rule out any food or water in our pond concerns. My chickens share the all flock layer pellet food and they lay eggs just fine. I seperate feed my 2 ducks duck food here every other day ish. My female duck prior had egg laying issues and now she does too she was laying soft eggs. Prior to the walking issue she hasn’t laid eggs and for a bit were soft and smashed. I tried crumbling cooked egg shells in her food but she eats around them. I can’t go through this again my prior duck live til 6 and for 3 years couldn’t walk right we always had to go out and flip her back over. Is there anything else I’m missing her feet look healthy too and she doesn’t look egg bound her vent is closed I can’t see anything.

 

[CoriM]

I'm so sorry! Maybe it's just a sprain or strain. Help her rest it for a few days by keeping her in a smallish area with easy access to everything she needs. I did have this happen with a 3 year old pekin and she never walked again without assistance. I ended up euthanizing her after a couple months of carrying her around. I think their legs are just weak for their heavy bodies. They are bred to be harvested at 8 weeks You could definitely try the liquid vitamin B complex - give 1 ml a day over treats. That is best for emergency fast effectiveness.

 

[Mharman0930]

I'm so sorry! Maybe it's just a sprain or strain. Help her rest it for a few days by keeping her in a smallish area with easy access to everything she needs. I did have this happen with a 3 year old pekin and she never walked again without assistance. I ended up euthanizing her after a couple months of carrying her around. I think their legs are just weak for their heavy bodies. They are bred to be harvested at 8 weeks You could definitely try the liquid vitamin B complex - give 1 ml a day over treats. That is best for emergency fast effectiveness.

Thank you! She was standing and walking at first thought when she first started to not be well so I’m guessing it couldn’t be a strain. I only have the injectable vitamin B I read I can’t give that orally so I’ll go to store and find a liquid one tmrw. Thanks and so sorry to hear about your duck. I hate that I hatched a jumbo pekin - I only did it because we took in a jumbo male pekin in who is 5 now and we would need a female that could handle him mating. Never again jumbo pekins ugh

 

[CoriM]

Thank you! She was standing and walking at first thought when she first started to not be well so I’m guessing it couldn’t be a strain. I only have the injectable vitamin B I read I can’t give that orally so I’ll go to store and find a liquid one tmrw. Thanks and so sorry to hear about your duck. I hate that I hatched a jumbo pekin - I only did it because we took in a jumbo male pekin in who is 5 now and we would need a female that could handle him mating. Never again jumbo pekins ugh

The Durvet brand says injectable but you give it orally to ducks. Is that what you have?

 

[RouenDuckiesMom]

Hello. My 1 yo female Pekin is suddenly not herself this past wk. I knew something was wrong when our 4 chickens tried attacking her. I isolated her in a pool on deck. My 5 yo male Pekin is completely fine. She mentally is fine and Quite fiesty eating worms peas cucumbers. She swims fine but pooping white and green. The issue is she is using her wings to balance and walk but was walking a little the past few days but today now she won’t stand all the way up and only half standing on legs. I have given her as much nutridrench I get trick her into by putting peas in the bowl. I also sprinkled some powder of pic below. I had a prior female duck who had issues too for years with walking she would fall all over so now I’m scared it’s happening again!! Why only the female not male which makes me rule out any food or water in our pond concerns. My chickens share the all flock layer pellet food and they lay eggs just fine. I seperate feed my 2 ducks duck food here every other day ish. My female duck prior had egg laying issues and now she does too she was laying soft eggs. Prior to the walking issue she hasn’t laid eggs and for a bit were soft and smashed. I tried crumbling cooked egg shells in her food but she eats around them. I can’t go through this again my prior duck live til 6 and for 3 years couldn’t walk right we always had to go out and flip her back over. Is there anything else I’m missing her feet look healthy too and she doesn’t look egg bound her vent is closed I can’t see anything.

I'm so sorry...my duck Sugar had a similar problem. From what I've read, leg issues are common with Pekins because they are bred to grow so fast. It could possibly be a niacin deficiency. My ducks eat the all flock pellets as well, but it doesn't have enough niacin. But I buy them a supplement and that takes care of all the vitamins they need

 

[Mharman0930]

The Durvet brand says injectable but you give it orally to ducks. Is that what you have?

Yes durvet injectable vitamin b HP

 

[Mharman0930]

I'm so sorry...my duck Sugar had a similar problem. From what I've read, leg issues are common with Pekins because they are bred to grow so fast. It could possibly be a niacin deficiency. My ducks eat the all flock pellets as well, but it doesn't have enough niacin. But I buy them a supplement and that takes care of all the vitamins they need

Sorry to hear. I was reading last night let’s can go limb from niacin deficiency but with adding the vitamins and tlc they recover in a week - did sugar recover ? Thanks

 

[BelovedBirds]

Hello. My 1 yo female Pekin is suddenly not herself this past wk. I knew something was wrong when our 4 chickens tried attacking her. I isolated her in a pool on deck. My 5 yo male Pekin is completely fine. She mentally is fine and Quite fiesty eating worms peas cucumbers. She swims fine but pooping white and green. The issue is she is using her wings to balance and walk but was walking a little the past few days but today now she won’t stand all the way up and only half standing on legs. I have given her as much nutridrench I get trick her into by putting peas in the bowl. I also sprinkled some powder of pic below. I had a prior female duck who had issues too for years with walking she would fall all over so now I’m scared it’s happening again!! Why only the female not male which makes me rule out any food or water in our pond concerns. My chickens share the all flock layer pellet food and they lay eggs just fine. I seperate feed my 2 ducks duck food here every other day ish. My female duck prior had egg laying issues and now she does too she was laying soft eggs. Prior to the walking issue she hasn’t laid eggs and for a bit were soft and smashed. I tried crumbling cooked egg shells in her food but she eats around them. I can’t go through this again my prior duck live til 6 and for 3 years couldn’t walk right we always had to go out and flip her back over. Is there anything else I’m missing her feet look healthy too and she doesn’t look egg bound her vent is closed I can’t see anything.

Can you get photos of her legs and undersides of her feet? It'd be good to definitely rule out any issues with her feet. Feel for heat and swelling in both legs.
I just had this with my girl and it turned out to be sudden and aggressive bumble infection, that could cause green in the poop, so let's rule that out.

If you're concerned about egg issues, the first thing you'll need to do is get some calcium gluconate liquid form (the Durvet brand is popular for this) from TSC, 1ml dose over a treat, or carefully given directly via syringe. Or calcium citrate pills (with vitamin D ideally) 600mg pill for one bird. It could be hidden in a treat, or powdered into a bit of oats with water, something like that. If she won't take it in one dose you'll need to put it in the back of her mouth, to the side, not the middle, very carefully so that she will swallow it. One dose for one day unless she shows further sign of egg trouble. I can give more detailed instructions with a photo for guidance if you're unsure. This doesn't sound like egg binding, but if you're concerned and she's had problems before, it's completely safe to give her calcium to be safe.

It's likely to be a sprain, so what I will suggest is supplementing niacin and preventing her from running about (a crate or small pen). You can add nutritional yeast to her food, 2 tbsp per cup to be safe, or 1tbsp per cup with vitamin B complex (Durvet brand from tractor supply) 1ml over a treat daily.

 

[RouenDuckiesMom]

Sorry to hear. I was reading last night let’s can go limb from niacin deficiency but with adding the vitamins and tlc they recover in a week - did sugar recover ? Thanks

She did, but it was still hard to see my beautiful ducky go through the process. If feed companies aren't going to put enough nutrients in their products, they should at least inform the public. Have you noticed if your ducks legs appear bowed? Splayed legs are common with pekins, unfortunately. But it's correctable.

 

[BelovedBirds]

She did, but it was still hard to see my beautiful ducky go through the process. If feed companies aren't going to put enough nutrients in their products, they should at least inform the public. Have you noticed if your ducks legs appear bowed? Splayed legs are common with pekins, unfortunately. But it's correctable.

Agreed
Another symptoms is pigeon toe, the feet angled inwards- often causing the duck to step on their own feet. That was the first symptom for mine