Recent content by BillyCocoaJaffa

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    Duck laying shell-less eggs

    Did you ever get to the bottom of this? I have a khaki campbell with similar issue, she has more or less stopped laying in the past month or so, just the occasional thin shell egg once or twice a week. Calcium supplements don’t seem to help
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    Duck not eating oyster shell

    One of my ducks is similar, and has been laying fewer/fragile eggs, otherwise healthy. I started her on liquid calcium/vitamin D that I add 2 ml of onto a small bowl of peas, she eats that up in a flash. It seems to be working - no broken eggs for a few days!
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    Misshapen bumpy duck egg

    Thank you, it is helpful to hear your experiences! This duck didn’t lay today, we’ll carry on with the supplement and keep an eye on her
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    Misshapen bumpy duck egg

    It’s a mineral supplement available in the UK:
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    Misshapen bumpy duck egg

    Thanks, they are 16 months old, have been laying pretty much non stop since September. We did get some soft shells in winter that resolved with poultry spice. I’m wondering if they might be coming up to a moult soon too.
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    Misshapen bumpy duck egg

    One of my ducks laid this misshapen egg this morning, with bumps on it. Their laying was a bit off last week, laying later in the day or not laying, after the heat-wave in the UK. One day I found a soft-shelled egg on the lawn, so I started adding poultry spice supplement to their layers...
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    Anyone know why my duck raises her feathers like this when people go near her?

    One if my khaki campbell ducks does this when she’s upset, if the kids are bothering her too much, or if a pigeon comes near the garden (she also quacks A LOT when she sees the pigeon!). I always thought she was fluffing herself up to look bigger. I tell the kids to leave her alone for a bit...
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    Drake Behavior Question

    Hi, it is so lovely he has got a friend! I’ve seen wild mallards doing this head down run thing to ward off other males. My drake has two girls and he sometimes runs at us when we are walking away, I think he’s trying to look big in front of his girls! He’s a real sweety otherwise (he was also...
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    Ducks attacking wild birds?

    It might be hormones, our drake is a sweety but he does sometimes pretend to chase us as we are walking away. He likes to look tough in front of his girls! I have seen them try to eat frogs and newts, so I suppose a small bird is not much bigger, if they can catch it
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    Ducks attacking wild birds?

    They are khaki campell / cayuga cross, so they can only fly a few feet. I had seen the news article about wild mallards eating small birds, apparently behaviour never observed before! I find that hard to believe
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    Wild ducks chasing our ducks

    If they are coming for the food, could you feed your ducks only under cover, putting their food bowl in their house? That solved our problem with magpies coming to steal their food
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    Ducks attacking wild birds?

    Hi, I have a drake and two ducks free ranging in my garden. They’ve never been too keen on wild birds, but seem to be getting very aggressive. Last week one of my ducks was quacking hysterically at some pigeons sat on our roof, and another day she was upset and I found a dead sparrow fledgling...
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    Avian flu - keeping ducks entertained ideas needed

    I’ve been putting piles of straw in their polytunnel with treats hidden in it. They seemed to be settling in to their new restricted run, but tonight in the storm our polytunnel has disappeared! We’ll have to go and ask round the neighbours in the morning, find out whose garden it has ended up...
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    Important! Aviarian influenza (Bird Flu) prevention zone declared in England/Wales/Scotland due to outbreak

    Not easy to find on the gov website, but this biosecurity guideline has some good practical suggestions, even polytunnels or stacked hay bales. They also have some tips for reducing stress in birds not used to being housed. Good luck everyone, it’s going to be another tough few months...
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    UK Bird Flu - All poultry must be housed indoors by 14th December

    I’m wondering if the water we use to fill our ducks paddling pool will be a risk - the water butt fills from run-off from the roof? Thinking we might have to enclose the whole garden. Nightmare, we’re only just out of isolation from my son picking up covid from school, now the ducks need to be...
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