Duck Starts Laying Eggs After 4 Years of No Eggs

[Captain Cluck]

My 6 year old Crested Black Swedish duck, Lucy, stopped laying eggs back in 2012 when her flock was killed off by a raccoon or fox. She was the lone survivor, I think because she passed out from fright. When I found her, she was covered in spit, blood, leaves and sand and was staggering around with gashes and holes all over her body. I nursed her ripped up self back to health and she has been a pampered house duck ever since. In all the time since, she has not laid any eggs until yesterday. And again today.

I recently found myself needing to give her that abomination of feed - dry kibbled cat food - due to financial constraints, her love of the stuff, and her roomie in the next crate being a very laid back cat. I have also been adding a tsp of raw apple cider vinegar per quart to their drinking water daily. She gets chopped up fruit and veggies as they become available. Sometimes I forget to turn the lights off at night, so they will get 2 days and a night of full light. Lately she has been demanding that I stroke her back while she flattens out when I feed her.
Would any of this have anything to do with her ovaries starting up again? Does anyone think it will continue for very long?

Should I worry about any of this? How much calcium should I give her at this point? I hadn't been concerned about her diet and allowed her whatever she wanted because she was not laying eggs. (she loves green peas, tomatoes, watermelon and cat food) I thought she had gone through menopause (duckopause?)

Any insights/advice from fellow duck keepers?

 

[TheTwoRoos]

They laying down and wing spread is her wanted to be mated.She is in heat.

 

[Amiga]

Hi, @Captain Cluck

I still refer people to your post about how you helped Lucy.

I give my ducks a little dry cat kibble fairly regularly for a number of reasons. They seem to do pretty well with it. I have some six year old ducks still occasionally laying.

Sounds nice that she's doing this - for extra calcium I find calcium citrate tablets relatively inexpensive (lots less than 23% Ca gluconate liquid). And extra 50 mg a day might be something to consider. And dandelion greens are said to contain some calcium.

 

[lovemy mallards]

Do you give them cat food straight out of the box or do you crush it? I'm always afraid they will choke on it. Lol

 

[TheTwoRoos]

It os rarr for ducks or chickens to choke just make sure they have water.

 

[Captain Cluck]

Thanks. I'm glad Lucy's saga helps others...
I give her the cat kibble straight from the bag (I buy a big bag - seems like everyone loves cat food, even the dogs) She gets a coffee can full of water daily in her crate with a lid to keep her from soaking the crate. Doesn't work. I have baked some eggshells to crumble up into her water, since she refuses any oyster shell or other non-food offerings.

I figured she was hinting at a mate, but I don't think I'm getting any drakes any time soon. We are quite crowded at home and it's not safe to keep ducks outside here. The neighbors love wild raccoons so much, they actually set up feeding stations in their back yards. This makes my back yard a raccoon highway for them to go from banquet to banquet.

The raccoons also saw my ducks as entrees and grabbed at them through a roofed chain link pen. The ducks, not being fond of being strangled in their sleep by raccoons, made a terrible fuss and then the neighbors, irritated that ducks didn't want to have their heads ripped off, complained about the ducks. So, nasty, disease carrying, poop on anything raccoons are in, and nice, bug eating, stay in my yard and not roaming the street ducks are out. (One neighbor is convinced that ducks attract or cause mosquitoes!

She still does random checks 5 years later to be sure there are not any mosquito causing ducks in my yard. We all have more mosquitoes than ever, because Lucy lives in the house and only goes out on a leash and we don't hang in the yard. We go shopping!)
That is why Lucy is once again a house duck.

 

[Amiga]

Ignorance is rampant.

Glad you've got your Lucy.