Duck won't eat oyster shells and eggs are broken every day

[CoriM]

One of my ducks has not molted and her feathers are in terrible condition. She is two years old. She continued to lay very fragile eggs all winter - half the mornings they are broken in the coop, and when they're not, they are very thin-shelled. She's has this habbit in the past few months where in the morning when I let my ducks into their run, she runs over by me at the door and grabs a couple bites of dirt from outside. Most of my other ducks run straight for the oyster shells. I just recently realized she doesn't eat the oyster shells at all. I stopped her from grabbing dirt to see if she would go for them, but she doesn't....she just digs down in the run trying to get the dirt below the pea gravel. I started giving her 1 ml. of calcium gluconate a few days ago, but I don't know how long it's okay to keep that up, or if it will even help. I also started finding a broken soft shelled egg in the evening in the run recently before they go to bed, and I don't know if that's her as well. Anyone have any advice as to how to make sure she gets adequate calcium or how long I can continue to safely supplement her? My ducks eat a mix of breeder and maintenance Mazuri waterfowl feed.

 

[Jenbirdee]

One of my ducks has not molted and her feathers are in terrible condition. She is two years old. She continued to lay very fragile eggs all winter - half the mornings they are broken in the coop, and when they're not, they are very thin-shelled. She's has this habbit in the past few months where in the morning when I let my ducks into their run, she runs over by me at the door and grabs a couple bites of dirt from outside. Most of my other ducks run straight for the oyster shells. I just recently realized she doesn't eat the oyster shells at all. I stopped her from grabbing dirt to see if she would go for them, but she doesn't....she just digs down in the run trying to get the dirt below the pea gravel. I started giving her 1 ml. of calcium gluconate a few days ago, but I don't know how long it's okay to keep that up, or if it will even help. I also started finding a broken soft shelled egg in the evening in the run recently before they go to bed, and I don't know if that's her as well. Anyone have any advice as to how to make sure she gets adequate calcium or how long I can continue to safely supplement her? My ducks eat a mix of breeder and maintenance Mazuri waterfowl feed.

i had a couple of ducks who didn’t like the oyster shell in crushed form so I got the oyster shell in the flaked form and they seem to like that better, I also save all of their own shells,. I rinse them off in hot water, let them air dry, and when I have enough to fill a cookie sheet, I bake them in the oven for five minutes at 300 then when they cool, I crushed them down to dime size bits, and they really seem to love those. You want to only use the shells from your own flock not from another flock or store-bought eggs

 

[CoriM]

Thank you - I will try that with the egg shells! My ducks also only eat the gray flaked ones, so that's what I have.

 

[Jenbirdee]

oh, I just thought of something else. There is also a possibility that she is deficient in certain vitamins, like vitamin D, which helps to absorbs the calcium.
@cheezenkwackers @KathiQuacks might know what’s a good form of the vitamin D and anything else to supplement with

 

[CoriM]

I have wondered that as well, she doesn't get a lot of sun. Maybe I will try to supplement that as well!

 

[telandra2]

Is it mineral chunks or actual oyster shell? My ducks go nuts for the real thing:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BN39CRR1

 

[CoriM]

Those are the type I feed my girls

 

[Miss Lydia]

Not necessarily sometimes you will see round worms in their poo if they have a load looks like cooked spaghetti. I worm 1x month spring through fall