Duck egg shell issues

[boxermizer]

I am assuming all the issues I've see are from one duck, but maybe it's all my ducks. What are your thoughts?

I have 3 ducks. I was getting 3 eggs a day religiously for several months, but shortly before it got hot this summer I started seeing some sporadic issues. For one I'm not getting 3 eggs every day, but I can understand that one. What's concerning and I don't know how to fix is the soft eggs that get laid randomly throughout the yard and egg shells that have extra calcium (I assume) on the shell (see picture for one example). It seems like a soft eggs will get laid then the next day an egg has the extra calcium. But this doesn't happen every day, but maybe once a week or so. For a short time I also started thinking I was crazy. I'd swear I picked up all eggs in the evenings then the next day there'd be 4 duck eggs. I shook it off the first time figuring I forgot to look in one of the nesting boxes, but this happened 3-4 times within a couple weeks. Is it even physically possible for a duck to lay 2 eggs a day?I also had a double-yolker in this time frame and it had a hole in the top with extra calcium caked on the side. It was a HUGE egg!

Because of the pattern and the fact that I never get more than one soft egg or egg with extra calcium in a day, I'm guessing all this is coming from one hen. But what could cause this? They have access to feed every day, free-range all day and get fruit/veggie scraps.

A note on the soft shelled eggs. Only soft shelled eggs get laid in the yard, like it just falls out if the duck. If the shells are hard, they're always in a nesting box (yes, my ducks climb into the chicken coop to lay eggs). And my chickens aren't having these issues.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Soft shelled eggs feel like poop coming to them. The yard or droppings board are common places to find them.

There's one simple answer here... if you know nutrition is good... It's genetic. Someone is having hiccups in their reproductive system, maybe their shell gland is on the fritz. But the double yolker indicates a wider malfunction. In theory 2 eggs in 1 day is not possible... but you wouldn't be the first to experience it.

Here is a good article, though I am unsure it will give you any solid answers, it's worth a peak...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

 

[chickens really]

The first year new layers definitely can lay strange eggs and multiple eggs because they are actually full of yolks. Do you provide oyster shell in a separate dish? I do it once a week. It takes time for them to become regular.

 

[casportpony]

Because of the pattern and the fact that I never get more than one soft egg or egg with extra calcium in a day, I'm guessing all this is coming from one hen

I think you might be correct.

But what could cause this?

Could be many things.

. It seems like a soft eggs will get laid then the next day an egg has the extra calcium. But this doesn't happen every day, but maybe once a week or so.

It's been me experience that when an egg spends too much time in the shell gland that the next egg to follow is always soft. If this is what's happening, it could be the reason you are seeing the excess calcium on the egg. Any chance you can find out which duck is doing it? Curiously, is the excess calcium always on the same part of the egg? And what type of feed to they eat?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Food coloring on the vent are can help identify your egg layer.

 

[boxermizer]

I thought maybe this was from the duck that hatched last spring/summer, but she's virtually a year old, so I'm guessing the "new layer" would no longer apply to her. Plus, I've caught her in the meeting box several mornings this week and no soft eggs or ones with extra calcium there. Granted, since this only happens once a week or so, maybe I'm just catching her on her good days, but my gut is saying it isn't her. The other 2 are older, not sure how old, I got them from someone else, but based on when they started laying and how they have continued to lay, I think I got them in their first year, they were just fully grown. If that's the case, they are only 2-3 years old, but I don't know how long ducks live and how long they lay without issues.

I don't put oyster shell out. I've assumed as much as they free-range and since I provide food that they'd have what they need. I've thought my chickens occasionally need something else, so I occasionally add ground egg shell to their feed. I suppose I should do this for the ducks as well. They have access to the chicken food since they go in the coop to lay, but I don't know how much they actually eat from there.

But in that first article, I wonder if its just the heat and humidity. For the most part, it was super hot when this was happening. We had a couple cooler days and I didn't see it then. It's back to super hot today through the end of the week, so I'll keep a close eye to see if I see it again.

The extra calcium is not on the same part of the egg. I feed them an All Flock food -https://www.nutrenaworld.com/image/1432077900285/naturewise-all-flock-feed.jpg. Same thing I've always fed. But... now that I say that, I recently bought something else because I couldn't get to the store where I usually purchase from and this definitely happened during that time and slightly into a new bag of their regular food (opened last week). Hmmm... after all this, I bet that was the issue. I'd completely forgotten about that. If I don't see anymore I'll know this was the case and make sure I feed what I normally do. Interestingly, I had a period last year where my chickens were virtually laying nothing for a really long period of time. I switched their food from this https://www.fleetfarm.com/images/product/0000000097120/l/1.jpg to this https://www.nutrenaworld.com/image/1432077902067/naturewise-hearty-hen.jpg and ended up with much better results, almost perfect laying each day. When I recently bought the different duck food, I also did the same with chicken food and they've fallen considerably on their laying again, especially my easter/olive eggers. I've been wondering when I switch back to their regular food if their laying will increase. I bet it does.

In the event the food doesn't resolve the problem or I need to do this for a future problem, how would I apply food coloring? They lay early in the morning. Would applying it the night before carry through until morning? How much? Smear it all over? Squirt it on?

Thank you everyone for your feedback! I'll try to remember to report back after a couple weeks to see if food was the issue.

 

[chickens really]

I thought maybe this was from the duck that hatched last spring/summer, but she's virtually a year old, so I'm guessing the "new layer" would no longer apply to her. Plus, I've caught her in the meeting box several mornings this week and no soft eggs or ones with extra calcium there. Granted, since this only happens once a week or so, maybe I'm just catching her on her good days, but my gut is saying it isn't her. The other 2 are older, not sure how old, I got them from someone else, but based on when they started laying and how they have continued to lay, I think I got them in their first year, they were just fully grown. If that's the case, they are only 2-3 years old, but I don't know how long ducks live and how long they lay without issues.

I don't put oyster shell out. I've assumed as much as they free-range and since I provide food that they'd have what they need. I've thought my chickens occasionally need something else, so I occasionally add ground egg shell to their feed. I suppose I should do this for the ducks as well. They have access to the chicken food since they go in the coop to lay, but I don't know how much they actually eat from there.

But in that first article, I wonder if its just the heat and humidity. For the most part, it was super hot when this was happening. We had a couple cooler days and I didn't see it then. It's back to super hot today through the end of the week, so I'll keep a close eye to see if I see it again.

The extra calcium is not on the same part of the egg. I feed them an All Flock food -https://www.nutrenaworld.com/image/1432077900285/naturewise-all-flock-feed.jpg. Same thing I've always fed. But... now that I say that, I recently bought something else because I couldn't get to the store where I usually purchase from and this definitely happened during that time and slightly into a new bag of their regular food (opened last week). Hmmm... after all this, I bet that was the issue. I'd completely forgotten about that. If I don't see anymore I'll know this was the case and make sure I feed what I normally do. Interestingly, I had a period last year where my chickens were virtually laying nothing for a really long period of time. I switched their food from this https://www.fleetfarm.com/images/product/0000000097120/l/1.jpg to this https://www.nutrenaworld.com/image/1432077902067/naturewise-hearty-hen.jpg and ended up with much better results, almost perfect laying each day. When I recently bought the different duck food, I also did the same with chicken food and they've fallen considerably on their laying again, especially my easter/olive eggers. I've been wondering when I switch back to their regular food if their laying will increase. I bet it does.

In the event the food doesn't resolve the problem or I need to do this for a future problem, how would I apply food coloring? They lay early in the morning. Would applying it the night before carry through until morning? How much? Smear it all over? Squirt it on?

Thank you everyone for your feedback! I'll try to remember to report back after a couple weeks to see if food was the issue.

Well remember they don't begin to lay eggs till around 5 or 6 months old so hasn't been a layer for a year yet.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@DuckyDonna was trying to find out which of her ducks was having a problem and used the food coloring let’s see if she can help with how she did it.

 

[DuckyDonna]

Ok, I've applied food coloring twice now. It's much much easier with 2 people to help so this is what I did both times. I put a big towel on my kitchen counter, put the duck on her back and had my husband hold her wings to her body and still. I used both hands to dig around until I finally found the vent. You'd think it would be easy to find since big eggs pop out of there but trust me, it is well hidden! I took a couple of fingers and spread it apart a little bit and put some drops of blue food coloring right inside it.

It's a messy job and I got some on the feathers around the vent which actually was a good thing because the color stayed on her for months and was a good way to identify her the next time it happened.

One important thing I learned the last time I did it was to NOT let her go in the pool right after you do it or it will mostly wash away. The first time I did it she went right to bed and I got the biggest blue egg the next day. The second time she got right in the pool afterward and it was completely washed away so I couldn't tell anything.

 

[boxermizer]

Thank you DuckyDonna!