Arthritis/foot injury on runner duck

[DuckyDuckTheDuck]

Our runner duck hen keeps limping. She has been to the vet and we are giving her a lot of medications (meloxicam, gabepentinum, collagen, meds for stage 3 arthritis, B vitamins), but they dont seem to be helping. We have been giving her the meds for a week now. Last time she injured that leg in less than a week the progress was a lot better and she was limping a lot less. Now it isnt changing at all. She is only a year old but we got her from people who hatched her and were feeding her chicken feed. We are guessing the niacin deficency caused her these joint and leg problems. We are wondering if there are any oils or creams that we could massage her leg with and maybe help with the pain. Or if there are any other things we could do to help her.

 

[Evadig]

Hi @DuckyDuckTheDuck,

and I'm sorry no one has responded to your post yet.

You could try containing her to a small area if you haven't already done so she can't put too much weight on her foot and give her a low tub so she can just sit and soak. That seems to help when one of my ducks gets a bad limp.

Also, I heavily dose them on niacin. I give them this (from Tractor Supply):

Dosage (for me) is about a tablespoon in a cup of feed twice a day. It generally clears things up in a few days.

Hope this helps!

 

[Luv Ducks]

Our runner duck hen keeps limping. She has been to the vet and we are giving her a lot of medications (meloxicam, gabepentinum, collagen, meds for stage 3 arthritis, B vitamins), but they dont seem to be helping. We have been giving her the meds for a week now. Last time she injured that leg in less than a week the progress was a lot better and she was limping a lot less. Now it isnt changing at all. She is only a year old but we got her from people who hatched her and were feeding her chicken feed. We are guessing the niacin deficency caused her these joint and leg problems. We are wondering if there are any oils or creams that we could massage her leg with and maybe help with the pain. Or if there are any other things we could do to help her.

I was wondering if she was around any drakes. I had a Muscovy drake that made one of my girls limp really bad from over mating years ago. Once he was gone she was fine. I hope yours is getting better soon.

 

[DuckyDuckTheDuck]

Hi @DuckyDuckTheDuck,

and I'm sorry no one has responded to your post yet.

You could try containing her to a small area if you haven't already done so she can't put too much weight on her foot and give her a low tub so she can just sit and soak. That seems to help when one of my ducks gets a bad limp.
View attachment 3933217
Also, I heavily dose them on niacin. I give them this (from Tractor Supply):

Dosage (for me) is about a tablespoon in a cup of feed twice a day. It generally clears things up in a few days.

Hope this helps!

We have been keeping her contained for almost two weeks now and it has not helped at all (she was not happy about it). Because she hasnt been running around that much the muscle on her leg has been looking wierd and a lot smaller. So in fear of it becoming too weak we did let her back out. We have been giving her vitamin B and she has not gotten any better. I'm guessing there isnt any other way to help her other than to keep giving her the meds and vitamins and hoping she gets better over time.

 

[Evadig]

We have been keeping her contained for almost two weeks now and it has not helped at all (she was not happy about it). Because she hasnt been running around that much the muscle on her leg has been looking wierd and a lot smaller. So in fear of it becoming too weak we did let her back out. We have been giving her vitamin B and she has not gotten any better. I'm guessing there isnt any other way to help her other than to keep giving her the meds and vitamins and hoping she gets better over time.

@Miss Lydia may be able to help.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

We have been keeping her contained for almost two weeks now and it has not helped at all (she was not happy about it). Because she hasnt been running around that much the muscle on her leg has been looking wierd and a lot smaller. So in fear of it becoming too weak we did let her back out. We have been giving her vitamin B and she has not gotten any better. I'm guessing there isnt any other way to help her other than to keep giving her the meds and vitamins and hoping she gets better over time.

You say vitamin B? Which B vitamins are you giving, what is the dose and the form? It can make all of the difference which ones you use, the dosage etc. Liquid B vitamins are going to have more bioavailability than any powder in most instances. When you are dealing with deficiency and leg issues you need a certain bare minimum dose for it to be successful. Also when it comes to B vitamins there are many different types that all do different things. If you have not I would switch to the Durvets B complex as recommended above along with Poultry Cell. Durvets B complex works better than any other B complex form I have seen with ducks. Not all B vitamin supplements are created equal. As someone who suffered from vitamin deficiencies for years even using what the doctors recommended to no avail I started doing my own research. Once I found supplements that were more compatible with my body and absorption along with the right dose my vitamin deficiencies were fixed. Not all supplements are created equal and certain forms the body will just dump without absorbing.

 

[Miss Lydia]

The best way to help build muscle while treating is water therapy it takes the pressure off the legs so she can move around and keep her legs strengthened.

 

[DuckyDuckTheDuck]

You say vitamin B? Which B vitamins are you giving, what is the dose and the form? It can make all of the difference which ones you use, the dosage etc. Liquid B vitamins are going to have more bioavailability than any powder in most instances. When you are dealing with deficiency and leg issues you need a certain bare minimum dose for it to be successful. Also when it comes to B vitamins there are many different types that all do different things. If you have not I would switch to the Durvets B complex as recommended above along with Poultry Cell. Durvets B complex works better than any other B complex form I have seen with ducks. Not all B vitamin supplements are created equal. As someone who suffered from vitamin deficiencies for years even using what the doctors recommended to no avail I started doing my own research. Once I found supplements that were more compatible with my body and absorption along with the right dose my vitamin deficiencies were fixed. Not all supplements are created equal and certain forms the body will just dump without absorbing.

We were giving her the only B vitamins for animals that were available in my country. They were the ones that the vet made us give her, but only recenly we realised that it doesent have B3. My country does not sell B 3 vitamin for animals so my only hope is trying to find some that are meant for humans and seperate it in to hopefuly correct doses. Looking online no places can deliver to my country

 

[Miss Lydia]

We were giving her the only B vitamins for animals that were available in my country. They were the ones that the vet made us give her, but only recenly we realised that it doesent have B3. My country does not sell B 3 vitamin for animals so my only hope is trying to find some that are meant for humans and seperate it in to hopefuly correct doses. Looking online no places can deliver to my country

Human B3 would work. Once you get some, let us know, and we will try to help. Ducklings need 10 mg daily. Some stores here in the US sell liquid B Complex for humans. If you decide to go with human B3[niacin], be sure not to buy time-released or flush-free; neither of them will work.

 

[DuckyDuckTheDuck]

Human B3 would work. Once you get some, let us know, and we will try to help. Ducklings need 10 mg daily. Some stores here in the US sell liquid B Complex for humans. If you decide to go with human B3[niacin], be sure not to buy time-released or flush-free; neither of them will work.

I have gotten the ones meant for humans its 24 mg in one pill. I'm wondering if giving half would be enough or if i should give a bit more?