Runner duck laying soft shell egg

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

Our hen, not even 2yrs old yet, resumed laying finally. Gave us about 2-4 hard shell eggs & now lays, soft s eggs which the chickens & other ducks quickly attack
& eat because it’s soft.

She has access to oyster shells. Feed is layer feed.

What can I give her??

 

[Jenbirdee]

Our hen, not even 2yrs old yet, resumed laying finally. Gave us about 2-4 hard shell eggs & now lays, soft s eggs which the chickens & other ducks quickly attack
& eat because it’s soft.

She has access to oyster shells. Feed is layer feed.

What can I give her??

Liquid calcium gluconate 1 ml orally with syringe no needle.
you can give for a few days up to a week
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[Jenbirdee]

May I ask why are you feeding layer feed? For ducks an all flock feed or a waterfowl feed is better - especially if you have any males (drakes, roosters- the calcium is bad for them)
ducks need nutrients that are not included in layer feed thats formulated for chickens.
Especially the extra niacin.
many of us here with ducks feed all flock or waterfowl / duck feeds and still add extra niacin in the form of nutritional yeast .
I add the nutritional yeast to snacks now , when they were babies I added it to their feed all the time, 1Tbsp for every cup of feed, perhaps you already know about that. my chickens love the all flock feed too and they eat both crushed and flaked oyster shells that I keep in dishes to the side. I also rinse and dry and bake all their eggshells and feed back to them.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I have a young female duck who layed through the winter and now is laying thin shells. I put the Calcium Gluconate on dry meal worms and hand feed her them.

FYI, like Jenbirdee mentioned, your issue may be the feed. Several years ago my feed store stopped carrying duck food. They told me chicken food was “basically the same”. It wasn’t! I had issues with rubber eggs and soft shells for the next year until I found duck food at another store.

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

May I ask why are you feeding layer feed? For ducks an all flock feed or a waterfowl feed is better - especially if you have any males (drakes, roosters- the calcium is bad for them)
ducks need nutrients that are not included in layer feed thats formulated for chickens.
Especially the extra niacin.
many of us here with ducks feed all flock or waterfowl / duck feeds and still add extra niacin in the form of nutritional yeast .
I add the nutritional yeast to snacks now , when they were babies I added it to their feed all the time, 1Tbsp for every cup of feed, perhaps you already know about that. my chickens love the all flock feed too and they eat both crushed and flaked oyster shells that I keep in dishes to the side. I also rinse and dry and bake all their eggshells and feed back to them.

Couple reasons.
1. I only have 3 ducks; around 30 chickens. They're all together. Chickens would eat the duck's feed; ducks would still eat the chickens feed.
2. I feed a no soy/corn/gmo feed. I've not found a duck feed or all flock that way. And she was on this last year perfectly fine. We will switch back to starter when chicks get larger to meld but aren't laying eggs. (The starter feed we feed is has enough niacin for ducks too.)

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

Liquid calcium gluconate 1 ml orally with syringe no needle.
you can give for a few days up to a week
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/View attachment 3762647

Is that the same as Nutridrench?
Another person was having the same issue w her duck & that's what she was told to give hers as it's not a calcium issue but a Vit. D issue.
Mine shouldn't be calcium as the layer feed plus she can free feed oyster shells if she wants. The other female does iirc.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Couple reasons.
1. I only have 3 ducks; around 30 chickens. They're all together. Chickens would eat the duck's feed; ducks would still eat the chickens feed.
2. I feed a no soy/corn/gmo feed. I've not found a duck feed or all flock that way. And she was on this last year perfectly fine. We will switch back to starter when chicks get larger to meld but aren't laying eggs. (The starter feed we feed is has enough niacin for ducks too.)

Its funny I have the opposite problem here ... mostly ducks and just a couple chickens. They share the all flock but for some weird reason my chickens love to eat the floating waterfowl food too . and they look so silly pecking it off the top of the water.
As for the niacin, many ducks do not thrive on the "recommended" amount , many still require additional supplementation for best health, especially the heavier breeds (like pekins)

 

[Jenbirdee]

Is that the same as Nutridrench?
Another person was having the same issue w her duck & that's what she was told to give hers as it's not a calcium issue but a Vit. D issue.
Mine shouldn't be calcium as the layer feed plus she can free feed oyster shells if she wants. The other female does iirc.

Nutridrench is nice I have that and also Rooster Booster Poultry cell is another excellent supplement. You could be right perhaps the vitamin D will help her. Definitely worth trying!

 

[Jenbirdee]

@Miss Lydia can you recommend a good vitamin d supplement ~

 

[Jenbirdee]

Is that the same as Nutridrench?
Another person was having the same issue w her duck & that's what she was told to give hers as it's not a calcium issue but a Vit. D issue.
Mine shouldn't be calcium as the layer feed plus she can free feed oyster shells if she wants. The other female does iirc.

calcium gluconate is not like nutridrench , no. cal gluc is just calcium . nutridrench is more of a multi vitamin supplement