Egg issues

[austroberta]

I've never used Gluconate, but I believe it comes in a liquid so it could be administered orally or over treats, probably a lot easier to give then the powder or pills. My layers will lay some softies early in the season when they are still trying to get their "engine up and running". It should be addressed if the eggs continue to be soft shelled.

I rarely have luck with the liquids, but I find the pills are really easy to pop in the crop. (Except for the really small ones, which always get pushed out.)

I hope she is working out the kinks, but I do notice that she doesn't want to do anything except drink, until she lays that egg, so it concerns me. While her sisters are foraging, she just stands there with that forlorn look on her face. Once she lays her egg, she's chatty and active, but until then, she doesn't do much of anything, including eating.

 

[Isaac 0]

I rarely have luck with the liquids, but I find the pills are really easy to pop in the crop. (Except for the really small ones, which always get pushed out.)

I hope she is working out the kinks, but I do notice that she doesn't want to do anything except drink, until she lays that egg, so it concerns me. While her sisters are foraging, she just stands there with that forlorn look on her face. Once she lays her egg, she's chatty and active, but until then, she doesn't do much of anything, including eating.

Are you providing oyster shells?

 

[DuckyDonna]

I don't. I just have the calcium carbonate powder, which she hates, and the Calcium Citrate pills. Is C. gluconate easier to absorb?

Also, this early in the game (she just started laying again) is it common for ducks to be deficient in Calcium?

You should be able to get the liquid at TSC. If she's egg bound it will most likely work and work fast. But it does sound like she could be having some reproductive issues though so I'd watch her very carefully.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I can help you with how to give the liquid if you want. I was giving it so much we got pretty darn good at it, both me and the duck!

 

[austroberta]

Are you providing oyster shells?

Yes, she has access to oyster shells in various places in the yard. I have seen her eating them, but I'm not sure how much and when.

 

[austroberta]

I can help you with how to give the liquid if you want. I was giving it so much we got pretty darn good at it, both me and the duck!

Thanks! I can give liquids, but I see my ducks don't swallow or it dribbles out their beaks. I just prefer pills. It's a lot easier for me to get a pill in.

 

[austroberta]

You should be able to get the liquid at TSC. If she's egg bound it will most likely work and work fast. But it does sound like she could be having some reproductive issues though so I'd watch her very carefully.

I don't think she is egg bound. She's not walking strangely and eventually she will lay a soft shell egg (although I haven't gotten or at least found an egg in 2 days.) I'm thinking this is a reproductive issue and not a lack of calcium issue. I just don't know exactly what a 'reproductive issue' entails.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Could be internal laying, EYP, I'm sure there are other problems too. Are you going to take her to a vet?

 

[austroberta]

Could be internal laying, EYP, I'm sure there are other problems too. Are you going to take her to a vet?

If I had a good vet that was an actual avian vet that I could trust, and not an exotic pet vet with knowledge of just the basics, and if I were able to take her to the vet and be in the room with her so I could ask lots of questions, I'd take her. I'm hoping to get a better idea of what I'm dealing with from other BYC folks also, so I can be an advocate for her, if I do take her. The vets I've gone to are either 'yah, it's obvious what she has' or 'I have no earthly idea what she has (after spending lots of money on x-rays and blood tests etc.), here's some meloxicam.' If I take her, I think it would be an exercise in futility.

I've read about internal laying, but I'm not sure that's what's going on, since we do get eggs, they're just shell-less eggs. The eggs that we haven't gotten are perhaps somewhere in the yard, but smashed/stepped on.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Maybe @casportpony can she’d some light on it. I hope so!