Daphne’s reproductive issues have returned

[Miss Lydia]

How’s Daphne doing since the other night after you gave her the Cal gluconate?

 

[quackiemama]

Hoping Daphne is doing ok!

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

How’s Daphne doing since the other night after you gave her the Cal gluconate?

I found no eggs the day after, but she was no longer straining or lethargic. Yesterday AM, there was evidence that she had passed an entirely unshelled egg, and then there was an egg with just the membrane surrounding it yesterday afternoon. There was one day, maybe last week, that she created a 100% perfect egg. The rest have been completely disastrous excuses for eggs. The good news is that she’s currently acting entirely normally. She even “flew” to the door to be let out this morning! I guess that’s as good as it gets, for now. She has calcium being offered in all sorts of ways, but her body can’t seem to use it properly. At this point, I’m monitoring and am only aggressively treating her (cal gluc and baths) when she strains or becomes lethargic. I can’t remember when she finally stopped trying to lay last year, but we can’t be too far away from that point. We just have to keep trucking along for a few more weeks, then her body will get a nice long break. *crossing fingers*

Anyways, thank you very much for your support and for checking in!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Bless her heart she really does need to stop now. Hope it’s soon. How old is Daphne? I have one that’s gone through henopause. And hopefully my 3, 8-7 yr olds will go through it smoothly too. My 12 yr old stopped laying about 4 yrs ago.

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

Bless her heart she really does need to stop now. Hope it’s soon. How old is Daphne? I have one that’s gone through henopause. And hopefully my 3, 8-7 yr olds will go through it smoothly too. My 12 yr old stopped laying about 4 yrs ago.

Poor Daphne is not even 4! Maybe she’ll go through early henopause. 4 more years of this is a scary thought! Did your hen that already went through henopause have issues during the transition period, or did her laying frequency just slow down and then finally stop?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Just slowed down over a short period then stopped. Only thing I noticed was her broodiness even though she wasn’ t laying any longer she would find an egg and lay on it then I’d take it and she’d get up an go on. Even this year when the others were laying Ruth would like to go in an lay on an egg if there was one laying around. I suspect my other 3 will start going through this in the next yr or so although they still laid pretty good this year even had a couple go broody. You know how those Muscovy are. Lol

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

Daphne R. Duck is trying to kill me. I got home from work and ran to the barn, to only be greeted by a pair of chirping and whistling Muscovies. No loud QUACKS of joy from my dear Rouen. No quacks at all. In fact, she was huddled in the corner of the barn, straining, but not otherwise moving, clearly in very bad shape, worse than she’s been all year.

So, into the warm (maybe a bit too warm?) tub she went with a Calc. Gluc. cocktail. She floated for almost an hour, barely moving, not bathing, barely drinking.

I finally gave up as she seemed stressed, and returned her to her sisters, before sadly returning to the house to clean up her mess (yes, nearly comatose ducks can still destroy a bathtub in 30 seconds flat).

I called my husband and told him it may be her final night with us.

Then, I went to tuck the girls this evening, only to find Daphne quacking and wagging her tail, standing next to a soft-shelled egg. She practically bounced around the yard while I cleaned the barn, and was first to the food dish.

Please let her laying season end soon

 

[quackiemama]

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oh my goodness how scary. Thank goodness for Calcium Gluconate.

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

Oh my goodness how scary. Thank goodness for Calcium Gluconate.

Over the winter, Daphne’s going to need to go into a recovery program for ducks addicted to Calcium Gluconate. It’s a good thing that they sell the stuff in big bottles!