Duck laying soft shelled eggs

[Galaxyfalcon]

Hi all,

One of my girls who just turned 3 has recently been having some problems with soft shelled eggs (thin, like little water balloons almost). The girls are currently eating Purina duck feed with a bowl of oyster shells (she seems to be eating them) as well as peas, meal worms, and free ranging in the yard for bugs and grass.

I was a bit worried about her and put 2mL of calcium gluconate in the girls' water last night but that was probably too little as it doesn't seem to have helped her today. You can see her struggling a bit in this video, I think I actually managed to catch her laying the egg.

Should I switch the girls to a layer feed? Any good tips on getting her to taking calcium in liquid form without having to do an oral syringe? We've done that before for an older duck but it's no fun.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Give her the Calcium Gluconate by mouth. or over a small amount of treat so she gets full dose. 1ml. wait 24 hr if she is still laying soft shell give another dose and continue until she is laying hard shells for at least a week. You could also use calcium citrate and sprinkle over the oyster shell. After she is back laying normally.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/
wouldn't hurt to start on Layer.

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

Thank you, that helps. I wasn't sure how long to continue with the oral doses and I hadn't read the calcium citrate tip before. Can I pick some of that up on Amazon?

This is our duck that has some ingested metal. It's passed outside her main digestive tract but not out the final bit so the vet doesnt want to operate (not worth the risk to her); I wonder if that could be contributing to her issues. We had to tube feed her some months ago which was traumatic for everyone. Poor girl. We'll start her on the oral syringe this evening. Thanks as always.

 

[3bird]

Do you have any drakes? We feed our girls (and fully mature, adult drakes) layer feed (we use Mazuri) when the girls are laying. With younger drakes in a free choice feed scenario, we use maintenance and supplement with oyster shells and feeding their own shells back to them. As @Miss Lydia suggested above, Calcium Gluconate orally can be help if you are seeing issues with specific hens,

 

[Miss Lydia]

Maybe this isn't going to sit well with some. I have fed NON GMO layer to my flock for probably 4-5 yrs That is all I can find in Non GMO before that I fed Purina Flock Raiser. I have a mixed flock of chickens ducks and geese. I use 5 to 1 ratio mixing NON GMO 6 way scratch with the Layer I have a rooster who is going on 13 . A Muscovy drake who was 11 in June and haven't seen any problems whatsoever from feeding layer.
Not trying to convince anyone to follow me in the way I feed just saying what has worked here.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you, that helps. I wasn't sure how long to continue with the oral doses and I hadn't read the calcium citrate tip before. Can I pick some of that up on Amazon?

This is our duck that has some ingested metal. It's passed outside her main digestive tract but not out the final bit so the vet doesnt want to operate (not worth the risk to her); I wonder if that could be contributing to her issues. We had to tube feed her some months ago which was traumatic for everyone. Poor girl. We'll start her on the oral syringe this evening. Thanks as always.

It could very well be having an impact. How much longer does the vet think it will take to pass the metal out? Support with calcium. You can buy the calcium citrate from Amazon or probably in many other places that sell vitamins.

 

[Luv Ducks]

Maybe this isn't going to sit well with some. I have fed NON GMO layer to my flock for probably 4-5 yrs That is all I can find in Non GMO before that I fed Purina Flock Raiser. I have a mixed flock of chickens ducks and geese. I use 5 to 1 ratio mixing NON GMO 6 way scratch with the Layer I have a rooster who is going on 13 . A Muscovy drake who was 11 in June and haven't seen any problems whatsoever from feeding layer.
Not trying to convince anyone to follow me in the way I feed just saying what has worked here.

My Ducks get a scoop of Flock Raiser, Layer Feed and Scratch daily. They have all been healthy and have been fed this for over two years. I have had no problems with their eggs and they are all doing fine, both the three drakes and six hens. I think we have to do what works best for our flock.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Your right what works best for our flocks

 

[3bird]

Maybe this isn't going to sit well with some. I have fed NON GMO layer to my flock for probably 4-5 yrs That is all I can find in Non GMO before that I fed Purina Flock Raiser. I have a mixed flock of chickens ducks and geese. I use 5 to 1 ratio mixing NON GMO 6 way scratch with the Layer I have a rooster who is going on 13 . A Muscovy drake who was 11 in June and haven't seen any problems whatsoever from feeding layer.
Not trying to convince anyone to follow me in the way I feed just saying what has worked here.

Thank you for posting that. There is so much anecdote about layer being problematic for drakes, but there are few data. We talked to both our feed manufacturer and our vet, and out of abundance of caution our vet recommended to not feed layer to young drakes. Each situation is unique, and it's a decision each person needs to make for his or her flock. It's good to hear your data.

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

We do a mix feed of Purina duck pellets + 6 grain scratch but typically haven't used layer pellets. Girls get oyster shells in an extra bowl and chomp it down like candy usually. We picked up some layer pellets and are adding that to the girls' food mix now.

We DO have drakes, but right now they're mostly separated from the girls because of mating season, so they get their own food bowls right now anyway. Good to know about layer pellets being okay for them -- I hate having to micromanage the flock but our girls really do need a break from the boys during the worst of the mating craze.

The vet actually isn't sure the metal will ever pass; it seems like she may have eaten a thin metal cord or possibly a small nail. It's passed beyond the gizzard and is in the lower end of her digestive tract but never exited. Vet thinks it may be partially embedded. Chelation therapy was ruled too severe for her symptoms and vet is hesitant to operate on an otherwise healthy bird (the metal is small and thin enough that the surgery may cause more harm trying to fish it out than leaving it). I'm concerned about it but not sure what to do other than trust the vet on that. She's been quite trustworthy on other duck issues so far.

We've started calcium gluconate 1mL treated over some peas. Tried bread at first but she turned her duck nose up at it ("taste's weird!") so far she's doing good today but we'll keep our eyes on her.