Treating Niacin deficiency - question on movement

[Mama Mills]

Hello helpful friends,

We have two one month old Saxony hens and I realized this week that one of them is struggling to stand/walk. I’ve been giving them 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast per cup of fermented food since I got them as babies so I’m a little surprised this is happening. I’ve been reading tons and just ordered a bottle of Durvet B vitamin complex that will arrive early tmrw morning. I’m also thawing out some peas to give her in the mean time. Since yesterday I’ve been letting them swim in a warm bath every day hoping to help build up some strength. I was in the process of moving them out of their brooder this week and into the duck run with our 4 month old Silver Appleyards (they’ve slowly been getting acquainted, SAs are still bullying a little). The little ducks are quickly outgrowing their brooder and don’t have a lot of room to move around. My question is - should I be keeping Gemma indoors and more stationary or should I try and stand her up and encourage her to walk/forage outside? I’m heartbroken to learn she’s likely in pain and I don’t want to exacerbate it. I don’t know if I should try and strengthen her legs or let her rest and keep her more confined. Any input on treating her is greatly appreciated!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I would def use warm water therapy to strengthen her legs before and after you start on the Liquid B Complex. I'd get her on the b Complex before having her foraging where she may try and overdo by keeping up with everyone. The best way to strengthen without injury is water. Hopefully she'll start getting around better before a week is up.

 

[Mama Mills]

Thank you @Miss Lydia. I gave her 1ml of the liquid B complex this morning and I’ve been doing warm baths for both little ducks 3x a day. Really hoping we see improvement soon! Keeping them in the brooder for an extra few of days but it’s getting cramped. We are leaving town next Thursday for a wedding and I need to get them outside before we leave I may try and partition off a section of our duck run for Gemma.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That would be a good idea. That way she can still see everyone but has to rest.

 

[Mama Mills]

Well we are 4 days into the liquid B complex and 2+ hours of warm water therapy each day. She still can’t stand up on her own but when I stand her up she will sometimes stand for a few minutes. One time she took a couple small steps before laying down. I was hoping she would have made more progress by now. She’s 4.5 weeks old so I’m wondering if recovery will take longer since she’s no longer tiny. Does anyone have any more suggestions or experience dealing with this? I’ve been dosing her with the b complex orally since she stopped taking it on black soldier flies. Is standing her up a good way to encourage walking and build strength? We are leaving town Thurs-Sunday and I don’t feel confident asking our house sitter to give the B vitamin complex so she’ll have to go without on Friday and Saturday but I will make sure there is nutritional yeast in her food. Any other thoughts/suggestions are appreciated

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Well we are 4 days into the liquid B complex and 2+ hours of warm water therapy each day. She still can’t stand up on her own but when I stand her up she will sometimes stand for a few minutes. One time she took a couple small steps before laying down. I was hoping she would have made more progress by now. She’s 4.5 weeks old so I’m wondering if recovery will take longer since she’s no longer tiny. Does anyone have any more suggestions or experience dealing with this? I’ve been dosing her with the b complex orally since she stopped taking it on black soldier flies. Is standing her up a good way to encourage walking and build strength? We are leaving town Thurs-Sunday and I don’t feel confident asking our house sitter to give the B vitamin complex so she’ll have to go without on Friday and Saturday but I will make sure there is nutritional yeast in her food. Any other thoughts/suggestions are appreciated

When a niacin deficiency reaches the point to where they can’t stand it is considered severe. A severe deficiency usually takes a good 2 weeks of daily dosing before you will see any significant results and can take up to a month at least before full recovery. I would pick up some Poultry Cell which is full to B vitamins including niacin and have it in a separate waterer for them when you are gone. It is safe for all do the ducklings to drink, dilutes just fine in water and can be added easily before you leave and left for two days that you are gone.

 

[Mama Mills]

When a niacin deficiency reaches the point to where they can’t stand it is considered severe. A severe deficiency usually takes a good 2 weeks of daily dosing before you will see any significant results and can take up to a month at least before full recovery. I would pick up some Poultry Cell which is full to B vitamins including niacin and have it in a separate waterer for them when you are gone. It is safe for all do the ducklings to drink, dilutes just fine in water and can be added easily before you leave and left for two days that you are gone.

Thank you so much for the insight @HollowOfWisps I will adjust my expectations. I’m looking at the Poultry Cell product and wondering if the Metzer Farms Vitametz is a similar product, I see that it contains 50,000 mg Niacin per pound… not sure how to make sense of that. Do you think the Vitametz would suffice? If not I’ll pick up poultry cell tomorrow. Thanks again.

 

[CoriM]

I agree, you will need a 2-3 weeks to start seeing real results. While you are out of town maybe you can make a smaller area for her with another friend where she won't have to walk too much to get to her food and water or to keep up with the other ducks. Is she having splay leg at all - where the legs go out to the side and make it difficult to stand up? If so, hobbles are needed to pull the legs into proper position. I don't think they need two hours of water time, that seems like a lot at that age. Just have her swim under supervision for 15-20 minutes a couple times a day, then help support her for preening afterwards, if she will let you.

 

[Mama Mills]

I agree, you will need a 2-3 weeks to start seeing real results. While you are out of town maybe you can make a smaller area for her with another friend where she won't have to walk too much to get to her food and water or to keep up with the other ducks. Is she having splay leg at all - where the legs go out to the side and make it difficult to stand up? If so, hobbles are needed to pull the legs into proper position. I don't think they need two hours of water time, that seems like a lot at that age. Just have her swim under supervision for 15-20 minutes a couple times a day, then help support her for preening afterwards, if she will let you.

Thanks for your input @CoriM We did create a separate area in the run for her and our other 4.5 week old duckling and that seems to be working well. They are also spending the night in the duck house tonight for the first time, inside their brooder box. I’ve been doing the warm water therapy 3x a day and I let them stay in for 30-40 mins each time since they enjoy it, my thought was it’s better than her laying all day but I will be backing off of it. I plan on giving them the Metzer vitametz supplement starting tomorrow and continuing with the 1ml liquid b complex indefinitely (w the expecting of next Friday and Saturday), I’ll also keep adding nut yeast to their food.

I don’t think her legs are splaying too badly. Her right one seems to be worse off and it does lay out behind her a bit sometimes and drag a little when she’s floating in the tub. What would be a clear indication that she needs to wear a band?

 

[CoriM]

You would be the best judge as to whether the swimming is too much or not. When I had pekin ducklings they tired easily and I had to put a little "island" in my bathtub that they could stand on because they liked to get a little rest. I only have experience with one pekin duckling who became splay leg. I used vet wrap to hobble her legs and also the liquid vitamin B and was able to turn it around. I will attach a photo of her with the hobbles and also a video after a few weeks of strengthening when she was able to walk much better.