Duck has leg problems and not getting feathers in

[Zalea]

My boyfriend and I received two baby ducks for Easter. One is a mallard and the other a pekin. The mallard is doing fine, but we're having some problems with the pekin and we're just not sure what to do because we aren't sure what's happening with her.
When she was about 2 weeks old, one of her feet started to curl in and she started hobbling around. We called the place we got them from and they gave us Sulmet and told us to give her some of that because they'd been having problems with some of the ducks they'd gotten in, and that's what they'd been giving them. We tried that for a few days, like the directions said on the bottle, but it didn't seem to help. She was still hobbling but she wasn't in any pain or anything, so we thought she might grow out of it once she got a little stronger. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and her leg curled up more. At this point, we can't splint it because it's pretty stiff in that position. We tried to do so already and it didn't work. She's a little over a month old now, and her other leg is starting to do the same thing. A few days ago, it got so weak she couldn't support her weight with it, and since she's been lying on it so much the foot is starting to curl in too, just like the other one. We've been letting her in the water to let her work her legs, but there's another problem: she can't be in there very long because her feathers have stopped coming in. In addition to having both legs be weak, after her wing feathers started coming in, the feathers on her belly and back stopped so she gets too waterlogged and can't be in the water very long. She still has the little soft feathers she had as a duckling on her back and stomach. We can't figure out why or what's going on, and we're afraid she might not be able to get around at all if this continues. Right now she tries, but it's hard for her.
She doesn't seem to be in any pain, but it's really difficult for her to get around, and as much as she enjoys the water she can't stay in it very long.
The other duck is fine and has all her feathers in. I would think if it was some kind of disease that she would have it, too.
We've been feeding them non-medicated chick starter grow, which is all the local store carries. We've been hoping to move them outside soon, but since she's having so many problems I'm not sure how well she'd be able to get around out there.
Does anyone have any ideas on what might be going on or anything we could try to do to help her move around? My boyfriend and I are at a loss as to what to do for her. We've tried everything we can think of, and any input would be welcomed.

[Inmemoryofsebastian]

Hello this is Sebastian mom the lady who's duck couldn't walk either, the problem with your duck could be food related meaning that the food you are giving him might not be good enough most legs problems come from poor diets, also since your duck gets waterlogged & has leg problems there is no way he could be out on his own he will need to be supervised, you can join this group they are a dedicated duck group that could answer your questions....Sharon

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/petducksrus/

[paws2consider]

It certainly could be a nutritional deficiency, especially since she began with normal legs. Ducks are considered Gamebirds and should always have gamebird feed which is a higher protein content than chickstarter. Check around at all the feedstores in the area or farm coops for this feed. It's condition is probably set at this point, but you can post on other poultry or gamebird sites for advice. poultryconnection.com and backyardchickens.com are suggestions. I hope that you didn't get the ducks at the store because if so, that is very irresponsible of them to sell them and not have the proper food in to sell also. Ducks are notorious for developing problems associated with diet deficiencies (too low of protein) or too high of protein. You can order feed over the internet, too. So sorry.