Calcium Deficient duck?

[ChickenWhisperer221]

Hi everyone,

I have a Fawn and White Runner Duck named Popcorn who is 4 years old. She has been acting super down and mopey lately and recently has been laying eggs with very thin soft shells. Normally my ducks are less energetic and less interested in food during the winter but I feel like this is something else. I have been giving the ducks weekly showers so they are staying clean and warm and giving them lettuce to stimulate their appetites which normally seems to keep them in good spirits. It has been a VERY mild winter here in Minnesota and normally it is the cold that is hard on them in the winter. I have lights in their coop but they are on for less than 10 hours a day as I have been trying to give the birds a break from laying right now by decreasing the daylight hours. They are free ranging around the yard quite a bit as most of our snow has melted so compared to a normal winter they are having a blast. Popcorn is usually a very good eater even in the winter but she has been losing weight and her appetite recently. She also seems super listless. Normally she is a very vocal duck and chats with me and wiggles her tail lots when I am in the coop but currently she seems to be in a daze. She is eating some and devourers lettuce but she looks like she is losing muscle mass to me. Since her egg shells have been so thin and balloon-y I am suspecting she is low on Calcium. We feed our ducks (and chickens) Cashton's Organic Layer food and give them supplemental grit and calcium mixed into their food. Are there supplements that I can give her? I was thinking of feeding her lots of lettuce and kale but is there a way to give her calcium? Also do you think she could be niacin deficient - what are the signs of that?

 

[Jenbirdee]

You can give peas as treats instead of lettuce, peas have some niacin.
Its not recommeneded to mix the grit and oyster shells into the feed., get a couple of separate bowls for those.
You can also rinse off the ducks' eggs' shells and dry them well then crush them and add them to the oyster shell dish.
the hens will take what they need as they need it. They just know. any drakes wont eat it. and if you do have drakes you dont want to feed layer feed anyway.
a better choice for ducks is a waterfowl feed or an all flock feed.

There is also liquid calcium gluconate that can be given orally , 1 ml per day for a few days by syringe with no needle. I have been giving some to 2 of my older ducks this week that are just coming back into lay after winter time off and they were having troubles (1 was eggbound and another had very soft shells)
Here are instructions for giving oral meds
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[Jenbirdee]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

read this about niacin deficiency. I suspect your ducks need more niacin, yes.
Even though my ducks are all adults (I have 8 yr olds, 5 yr olds, 3 yr olds, and 1 yr olds) I still add nutritional yeast to their feed once or twice a week. Today I added some to their peas and kale treats.
And like I said a layer feed likely wont have enough of what ducks need, but an all flock feed is better , and even though I use all flock and waterfowl feed I still add some nutritional yeast (but not every day like I did when they were babies)

For a duck showing leg problems that may be from niacin deficiency , give liquid vit B complex, 1 ml per day, orally (just like the calcium gluconate)
I get durvet brand liquid B complex at TSC its also sold on amazon (it will say injectible for cattle)