Injured Duckling? Dietary issues?

[FAFOfarm]

Hello there!

I have a 7 1/2 weeks old duckling that has been displaying odd physical abnormalities. He can only stand/walk for a minute or two before needing to lay down. His tail feathers do not curl upwards like a normal duck, but actually appear to curl downwards or under. He has nothing to fall off of, or get stuck in. He can't really swim, and tires quickly. The other duckling seems to have zero issues.

This baby was fine as he grew but then one day was "off". They have always been on duckling food, and I realize we worry about niacin, calcium, protein etc. They grew up eating Manna Pro duckling/gosling crumble. I was under the impression they were getting what they needed. It's not my first rodeo but how naive of me! I just switched them to a different feed to see if this helps make a difference, as I cannot find brewers yeast and it will take days to get a trusted brand offline. Should I switch them to adult already? I have heard yes and no... I am afraid to turn this baby loose, well forever, because what if he drowns? I care about quality of life. I will happily care for duck needing extra TLC. What are your thoughts?

Thanks for reading!

 

[CherishedFowlGuardian]

It could be food deficiency, especially niacin.
I would tag @Jenbirdee.

 

[CherishedFowlGuardian]

I would not recommend switching to adult feed, but I recommend maybe trying Mazzrie Waterfowl Starter, but I would wait to see what @Jenbirdee tells you; she probably knows more about such things than I do.

She is good at diagnosing the issue better than me, but I might be able to help after I know the diagnosis, so I will check back in tomorrow.

 

[FAFOfarm]

I would not recommend switching to adult feed, but I recommend maybe trying Mazzrie Waterfowl Starter, but I would wait to see what @Jenbirdee tells you; she probably knows more about such things than I do.

She is good at diagnosing the issue better than me, but I might be able to help after I know the diagnosis, so I will check back in tomorrow.

Thank you! I switched to Mazuri Duckling and Gosling food. I am hoping that helps. I just feel so badly he cannot keep up with his sibling!

 

[Jenbirdee]

The manna pro duckling/gosling starter is a great feed. I use it myself, but any duckling Feed even the Mazuri brand is usually not enough for ducklings to really get all the niacin they need, and some ducklings seem to need it more than others, so we always add 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast to every one cup of duckling starter feed.
Now, when you see a duckling having issues, especially with their legs, it is likely a niacin deficiency and the best way to help is to give directly liquid B complex , you can pour one ML of it over a small dish of a treat that you know you’re duckling will eat all of it or you can give it directly orally with a syringe that does not have a needle attached, but you must be very careful and follow the instructions not to aspirate your duck. I will post instructions and also the liquid B complex that we recommend. It says for injection on the bottle, but we give it orally to ducks and ducklings. The form of niacin in it is niacinamide, which is the form that they need and it contains 100 mg per one ML of liquid, which is much stronger than most of the other B complexes out there Besides that if you get a different niacin, it cannot be time released and it cannot be flush free or it will not help a duck. Their digestive system works too fast for it to help them if it’s time released or flush free here are some pictures and links. Please let us know how your duckling is doing .
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[FAFOfarm]

The manna pro duckling/gosling starter is a great feed. I use it myself, but any duckling Feed even the Mazuri brand is usually not enough for ducklings to really get all the niacin they need, and some ducklings seem to need it more than others, so we always add 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast to every one cup of duckling starter feed.
Now, when you see a duckling having issues, especially with their legs, it is likely a niacin deficiency and the best way to help is to give directly liquid B complex , you can pour one ML of it over a small dish of a treat that you know you’re duckling will eat all of it or you can give it directly orally with a syringe that does not have a needle attached, but you must be very careful and follow the instructions not to aspirate your duck. I will post instructions and also the liquid B complex that we recommend. It says for injection on the bottle, but we give it orally to ducks and ducklings. The form of niacin in it is niacinamide, which is the form that they need and it contains 100 mg per one ML of liquid, which is much stronger than most of the other B complexes out there Besides that if you get a different niacin, it cannot be time released and it cannot be flush free or it will not help a duck. Their digestive system works too fast for it to help them if it’s time released or flush free here are some pictures and links. Please let us know how your duckling is doing .
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

Thank you SO MUCH for your help! I will keep you posted!

 

[CherishedFowlGuardian]

I agree with @Jenbirdee about the niacin in feed not being enough . Ducklings need typically 55–70 mg per day. Because your chicks are older, you can give them peas to help them get enough niacin. I also use brewer's yeast.

 

[Jenbirdee]

I agree with @Jenbirdee about the niacin in feed not being enough . Ducklings need typically 55–70 mg per day. Because your chicks are older, you can give them peas to help them get enough niacin. I also use brewer's yeast.

Some people use brewers yeast . There’s an article duck forum sticky about nutritional vs brewers. I prefer nutritional.

 

[Jenbirdee]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/nutritional-yeast-vs-brewers-yeast.1393856/

 

[Jenbirdee]

I think I would also give him “rooster booster poultry cell “. liquid vitamins . Either that or Nutradrench is another good one.