Egg laying problems!!

[DuckNoobie]

Short answer is yes. Now, there are so many factors here.

A reminder - I am not a vet, I am a duck steward.

A good duck vet is always best and not always possible.

I have read of people giving a Tums to an eggbound duck with no apparent harm. If I recall, Tums has 400 mg per lozenge.

It is not a maintenance dosage. But if a duck is so calcium deficient she is laying soft eggs or is eggbound, then a brief higher dosage is often used.

Note - I am beginning to think in some cases it's not calcium, or not just calcium. It is known that phosphorus and vitamin D are involved also.

I base the amount of calcium I add to my ducks' food on a recommendation from a vet a while back.

Okay so I gave less rather than more, it'll take longer to work but maybe best to not overdose. I was also thinking of putting out a dish with crushed egg shells and let her decide how much she wants to eat. Good idea??
There's plenty of vitamin D from the sun now days. In terms of phosphorus, should I start adding seeds to her food? I know pumpkin and sunflower seeds are high in phosphorus.

 

[DuckNoobie]

I think we need a duck nutrition thread, I'm reading up on phosphorus and so many foods have it that I wasn't aware of. Lentils, beans, rice, oatmeal etc. Duck nutrition thread could address things to feed that are not from a drug store. Lol

 

[Amiga]

There is an optimal ratio of P to Ca - so too much of either can be problematic.

 

[DuckNoobie]

So after calcium pills, still no eggs.... Does this take a while to kick in?

 

[coonhollow]

Honestly my ducks were barely laying at all, and they're up to 3 eggs per day after four or five days of increased food and oyster shell added to their food. I have never used calcium supplements. But back to food. According to Dave Holderread's food chart, laying ducks should be getting .4 - .5 lbs of food each per day depending on their breed and optimum weight during laying season. Which for me and my 11 ducks (10 hens 1 drake) is 5 quarts of food, or 2.5x what I was feeding them. So I don't know if food quantity could be a factor. I have also added crushed oyster shell to their feed and their shells have gotten thicker.

 

[DuckNoobie]

Update, after 2 weeks of calcium citrate pills and increased omega layer pellets still no change. No eggs, nothing. Anyone have any other thoughts? Does oyster shell contain more calcium than calcium citrate? Amiga?

 

[casportpony]

I found this at http://www.alltech.com/sites/default/files/egg-shell-quality-poster.pdf



"Soft-shelled Eggs Laid with an incomplete shell, only a thin layer of calcium is deposited on the shell membrane.
Causes:
• Excessive phosphorus consumption
• Heat stress
• Bird age (older hen)
• Saline water
• Mycotoxins "

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Update, after 2 weeks of calcium citrate pills and increased omega layer pellets still no change. No eggs, nothing. Anyone have any other thoughts? Does oyster shell contain more calcium than calcium citrate? Amiga?

Have you checked inside her vent for a stuck soft-shelled egg?

-Kathy

 

[DuckNoobie]

Have you checked inside her vent for a stuck soft-shelled egg?

-Kathy

Hi Kathy,
She never really made soft shells, it was weird sizes at first (after she came back from a break of making wonderful eggs) and then no shell at all. I would find an egg yolk in the middle of my lawn. I've checked her belly near the vent to feel for the egg but Im not sure how to check the vent itself. Nothing seemed to be there though.
Thank you,

 

[Amiga]

I agree with all of the above that Kathy posted - and there are probably more things that can affect them than that.

iamcuriositycat ended up having her water tested and discovered there was an endocrine disruptor in the hose she used to put the water into their water buckets.