Have you ever thought about adding ducks to your backyard flock? 

Did you know ducklings require twice the amount of niacin than chicks do?

I didn't either until we rescued our first duckling and accidentally discovered what happens when ducklings don't get enough niacin in their diet as they grow. Niacin is also known as vitamin B3 and nicotinic acid. It has many benefits for ducklings, but one important benefit is that it helps them develop strong legs and joints. Chick starter feed does not contain enough niacin therefore they need fed a duck starter or supplemented in other ways such as Brewer's Yeast. When we brought Raney (Ray-Knee) home in 2022 (the mentioned rescued duck), we quickly discovered she couldn't walk. She would waddle a couple of steps and lie down. It was apparent something was very wrong. Please take a moment to watch the video below to see how the deficiency affected her mobility. 

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. We were contacted to take in two ducklings. When we picked them up they were living with chicks in the same brooder. And that means only one thing...they were eating chick starter feed, not duck starter feed. They were probably around the same age as Raney and both ducklings seemed fine. They could stand and walk and I thought it was a miracle. Until we got them home and really could observe them. One duckling seems to have no issues. The other was very bowlegged and had very enlarged hock joints (see photo below). When he is in the tub swimming, he tries to scratch his face and due to the enlargement of his hock joints, he can't get his leg up high enough. He probably never will due to the niacin deficiency.

So what happens? No one is intentionally depriving ducklings of niacin so what goes wrong? And what can be done to avoid this?

I strongly believe there are two issues at play. When you go to these feed and supply stores, there are minimums to meet to buy live chicks. You then can mix and match. Let's say the minimum is six chicks and the duckling minimum is two. Most of the time, you can buy four chicks and two ducklings to meet the required six minimum. This coincides with the second issue of the knowledge of their care. When you buy your chick and duckling mix, most people just assume they can eat the same food. And if there are people that don't assume, they ask the employee and the employee misinforms them. This is what happened with both ducklings we rescued with niacin deficiency. The customer asked the employees for information and the employees advised them incorrectly. This isn't to blame anyone. It's simply to bring awareness to the issue these duckings face when no one is educated on their care. It's not the store's or employees' fault they don't know, but something needs to change.

That's when it hit me. I need to do everything I can to help ducklings. And you can too!

Rural King, Tractor Supply, R.P. Home and Harvest, to name a few, already have requirements to buy live chicks/ducklings. 

So I am proposing that:

• Feed and supply stores require customers that purchase ducklings must also purchase duck starter feed to take them home. This ensures they will get the proper amount of niacin in their diet.
• Feed and supply stores must have duck starter feed in their inventory. It is very hard to find duck starter feed in stores even when they sell live ducklings.
• Feed and supply stores educate their employees about niacin deficiency so they can relay the information to the public when they purchase ducklings. This is as simple as training employees to tell customers a duck starter feed is the food they need.

Now some of you may be saying some stores have signs up and people should do their research before buying the animal. The problem is that it doesn't work. No one reads the signs and no one does their homework.  

If these stores can sell the animals, they need to be responsible for helping ensure their livelihood when they leave. These stores already put in requirements just to walk out the door with them. Why not take the extra step to ensure ducklings get the care they need?

 

 

 

 

**I do NOT own the rights to the photo above. I failed to take a photo of the current duckling, but this is what his legs looked like.

 

**Raney went on to make a full recovery after adding niacin to her diet. She walks with no issues. The new duckling without a name has made improvements. After adding niacin to his diet, the enlarged hock joints have gotten smaller and he isn't as bowlegged as when he got to our place. However, he likely will never be able to scratch his face and may always be a little more bowlegged than he should be.