Eggbound or reproductive issues?

[Melle0041]

One of our ducks isn't doing very well. It all started last weekend. She was apathetic and didn't want to eat, not even her favorite treats. She wanted be alone and went to sit inside the pool, tail down. I immediately thought she might be eggbound and made her a warm epsom bath. After 30 mins or so she passed a weird, soft shelled egg. A few hours later she was back to normal and even had her appetite back. That night she. Was laying a regular egg. The next few days things seemed to be fine. Until yesterday. She behaved like last weekend, but passed a soft shelled egg inside the pool before the epsom bath was ready. After that she was back to normal. Today not so much. In the evening same thing. But she won't pass anything. She is soaking for quite some time now. You can see that she is on pain. She is breathing heavy and foam in her eye. I am worried about her. Any suggestions?

I wanted to add that she is 14 months old and used to lay regularly until she started molting. She has always access to oyster shells.

 

[ruthhope]

She urgently needs calcium gluconate, 1ml orally every day intil her eggs are normal. If she is eating, doak the calcium gluconate into a treat and watch her eat. If she is not eating, give it from a small plast syringe (no needle) into the side of her mouth behind her bill.

This is an emergency. Do not delay further! Good luck. Please update us how you get on.

 

[Melle0041]

She urgently needs calcium gluconate, 1ml orally every day intil her eggs are normal. If she is eating, doak the calcium gluconate into a treat and watch her eat. If she is not eating, give it from a small plast syringe (no needle) into the side of her mouth behind her bill.

This is an emergency. Do not delay further! Good luck. Please update us how you get on.

Thanks! I don't have calcium gluconate on hand and all stores are already closed. While I was waiting for a reply I was reading about the calcium and that you could also use human supplements if necessary. This is what I just used. I crushed one pill (1200 mg Ca + D3) and added it to her drinking water. Hope that gives her some relief.

She also started to behave a bit better. She is at least eating something right now.

 

[Melle0041]

This was what initially happened with pictures of the weird looking egg last weekend.

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[HeatherKellyB]

My Pekin was doing this a lot right before she started molting last year. She has since stopped laying. I gave my hen all kinds of different calciums and nothing really helped (not to say it won't make a huge difference in any other hen). @CoriM has also experienced this as have many duck keepers. Some folks have noted that after a break from laying, their hen begins to lay normally again. I'm hoping that's the case with my hen, if she lays again. Is your hen still able to poop? How long has she been acting poorly this episode?

 

[Melle0041]

My Pekin was doing this a lot right before she started molting last year. She has since stopped laying. I gave my hen all kinds of different calciums and nothing really helped (not to say it won't make a huge difference in any other hen). @CoriM has also experienced this as have many duck keepers. Some folks have noted that after a break from laying, their hen begins to lay normally again. I'm hoping that's the case with my hen, if she lays again. Is your hen still able to poop? How long has she been acting poorly this episode?

She is still pooping. This last episode started today around 4 pm. She had a very short one yesterday (about 15 minutes) until she passed a soft shelled egg inside the pool.

Earlier, she also dropped some white smear, that almost looked like egg white while soaking in her epsom bath.

 

[CoriM]

Yes, hopefully all will be well with her now. I periodically witnessed unusual things with my pekins in regards to egg-laying, and most resolved on its own in time. But for the three I got 4 years ago, I only have one of them left, and she's really slowing down. I don't think the hatchery ducks last very long, sadly.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

She is still pooping. This last episode started today around 4 pm. She had a very short one yesterday (about 15 minutes) until she passed a soft shelled egg inside the pool.

Earlier, she also dropped some white smear, that almost looked like egg white while soaking in her epsom bath.

As long as she is still pooping, that's a good thing. Keep up with the calcium. If you notice anymore egg contents in her poop, if she was my duck, I'd start her on a round of antibiotics. What do you feed your ducks?

 

[Melle0041]

As long as she is still pooping, that's a good thing. Keep up with the calcium. If you notice anymore egg contents in her poop, if she was my duck, I'd start her on a round of antibiotics. What do you feed your ducks?

They get purina duck pellets and fresh food, like romaine, peas, cucumber, or corn. They don't get spinach and only very rarely tomato because I was reading that both can hinder calcium uptake. They get oyster shells and also their own shells.

They get grubs as treats as opposed to mealworms.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

They get purina duck pellets and fresh food, like romaine, peas, cucumber, or corn. They don't get spinach and only very rarely tomato because I was reading that both can hinder calcium uptake. They get oyster shells and also their own shells.

They get grubs as treats as opposed to mealworms.

Some people, including Cori I believe, noticed some improvements with switching to a layer feed. While she's having issues, I would probably cut out the treats for at least a little while. I know this isn't ideal, especially for the quackers, but filling up on a balanced feed could be beneficial for your beauty. If you switch to another form of calcium, make sure you're also giving vit D3 since that helps the body to absorb the calcium. Please keep us updated on how she's doing