Sick ducky

[Just Quackers]

I've read over niacin deficiency in ducks and just am unsure about what to do. We have three nine week old hens, two of which are pekins & one beautiful khaki. Clementine as you can clearly tell in the video does not have crossed feet, but has been off-balance for a few days. She has a large side to side head movement when she runs (more than the other), wobbles as if she weighs too much for her feet. She is fine in the water, but had difficulty getting out of the baby pool without falling on her bill. She falls backward when standing at times and wobbles as if she was drunk. She is molting more than the other pekin, but they are both still getting their big girl feathers. All three birds stay in the same pen, small space for sleeping, and eat out of the same bowl. Both other hens are healthy. She has been fed duck crumbles/pellets from day three, with the exception of 4 days when the entire vicinity was out of baby ducky food. It contains 22% protein and 35mg/lb of niacin. Those four days, she was fed flock raiser which did not have niacin in it. So...what do I do, (no vets in the area)....niacin????

Click here for video of Clementine!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sure sounds like a niacin deficiency. Get Durvet liquid B complex and start her on 1 ml daily TSC usually Carrie’s it it will say injectable but we use it orally over a small bit of treat so we know the one with the problems is getting full dose. Here is the info https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

Even when feeding the best feed with the right amount of niacin one can come down with a deficiency they may not be assimilating the niacin in their feed we don’t know for sure but Pekins because they grow so fast seem to have this deficiency more than others.

 

[Miss Lydia]

How’s you duck doing? @Just Quackers

 

[Just Quackers]

Day Two of successfully getting niacin liquid in her & she is a bit of the same, maybe a bit more listless. She is getting up to eat & coming to us for food though! We are going to keep pushing forward with the niacin and see if there is any improvement. The other ducks are sitting with her when she doesn’t go in her house & trying to preen her.

 

[Miss Lydia]

It can take a while before you see marked improvement especially if it’s been going on for a while so don’t give up. I meant to give you this earlier https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[Just Quackers]

@Miss Lydia Guess who is just about back to her old self! After just a few days of niacin, our poor drunk duckie has sobered up with only a bit of head wobble.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That is wonderful news. Keep it up and hopefully, she'll be 100% very soon!!