Duck dragging her tail

[Afarmingeorgia]

I have Penkin ducks that are about 2 months old. One of them is dragging her tail, constantly quacking and can’t keep up with the others. I’m wondering if she could be egg bound or what could possibly be going on.
the other ducks/drakes don’t have this issue.

 

[nao57]

Pekings tend to mature pretty slowly. I have pekings also.

Mine barely started laying eggs two weeks ago (at around 10 months old).

However, most people will say pekings tend to start laying only about 2 months later than other ducks. So it should still be too early for you to have ducks that can lay eggs.

I wonder if you've got an injury of some kind?

You may have to check the legs, and tendons. (Also a tendon injury won't show easily but you can tell on those when their leg joints (knees) bend sideways when they shouldn't.)

Does it look like she's limping?

You can check the vent for injury also.

By any chance is there an older already sexual active drake in the flock with these little younger ducks? 2 months is still pretty much a baby.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Actually Perkins grow really fast. They are bred for meat. I would try supplementing her with niacin in the form the liquid injectable for cattle. You can read the niacin deficiency sticky at the top of the forum. Both @Texag87 and I had ducks with scoliosis. This is what mine looked like. I would try the B supplement, it can't hurt. Come back here if she gets worse or better so we can all learn.

 

[nao57]

Actually Perkins grow really fast. They are bred for meat. I would try supplementing her with niacin in the form the liquid injectable for cattle. You can read the niacin deficiency sticky at the top of the forum. Both @Texag87 and I had ducks with scoliosis. This is what mine looked like. I would try the B supplement, it can't hurt. Come back here if she gets worse or better so we can all learn.

Wow Duck scoliosis?

I learned something new today.

That's too bad.

Can this be treated for full recovery?

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Wow Duck scoliosis?

I learned something new today.

That's too bad.

Can this be treated for full recovery?

No its a genetic defect curvature of the spine. I call it scoliosis because that's what its called in humans. I should look it up on duck DVM. I could feel the curve in his spine when I held him. It felt almost like he had an extra vertebrae. I never had him formally examined or diagnosed. Others here may have seen this and have a different opinion.

 

[ducksinvt]

Does she sit and lay down alot, what kind of food are you feeding them?? What do you have them housed in, and what is used for bedding?? Check out this link from @Isaac 0
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

 

[nao57]

No its a genetic defect curvature of the spine. I call it scoliosis because that's what its called in humans. I should look it up on duck DVM. I could feel the curve in his spine when I held him. It felt almost like he had an extra vertebrae. I never had him formally examined or diagnosed. Others here may have seen this and have a different opinion.

It would be interesting to find out if they can try to live with this condition, even if its not a perfect life.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Afarmingeorgia]

Thanks so much for all the replies and help.

I didn’t raise them from ducklings, they were given to me. They were being fed a poultry starter and then chicken starter. Now I’ve got them on a meatbird/chicken starter mix to increase their niacin.
I’ll look into the liquid niacin and other suggestions.
They’re panting all the time, too. I just moved into a 7-acre property and have been using the existing chicken coops/run and am moving them to a grassy area that’s more shaded and suitable to their soft feet.

 

[nao57]

Thanks so much for all the replies and help.

I didn’t raise them from ducklings, they were given to me. They were being fed a poultry starter and then chicken starter. Now I’ve got them on a meatbird/chicken starter mix to increase their niacin.
I’ll look into the liquid niacin and other suggestions.
They’re panting all the time, too. I just moved into a 7-acre property and have been using the existing chicken coops/run and am moving them to a grassy area that’s more shaded and suitable to their soft feet.

My ducks and ducklings do the panting when its really hot out.

Are you still having a lot of heat in the afternoon?

The panting can be OK...although i like to be really aggressive about making sure they have more than enough water when I see this type of behavior.

 

[Isaac 0]

Could you take a video of the duck walking, and upload it to a video platform like Yotube or Vimeo, and copy/paste the link here?