HELP! Ducks laying thin-shelled/shell-less eggs - 1 death

[Lizzy456]

So we have been having a problem with our ducks laying soft, thin-shelled or shell-less eggs, and we often find them broken or crushed in the coop in the morning when we let them out. We bought oyster shell to sprinkle in their regular layer feed and have been doing so for a few weeks, but their eggs have shown no signs of improvement. Unfortunately, when we let them out this morning we found one dead, and it appears a thin-shelled egg may have broken inside her and she could not pass it, which meant she couldn't pass anything. We are at a loss as to what we can do if the calcium supplement doesn't help, and we are very worried that what happened this morning might happen again. We've done a lot of research but we could not find a solution outside of calcium supplementation, so any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

For you ever feed them spinach? Spinach binds to calcium and prevents its absorption. Not sure what other foods might do the same thing but it might be worth thinking about what kind of stuff they eat and check out if something could be preventing them from absorbing the calcium. So sorry you lost your duck.

 

[Lizzy456]

For you ever feed them spinach? Spinach binds to calcium and prevents its absorption. Not sure what other foods might do the same thing but it might be worth thinking about what kind of stuff they eat and check out if something could be preventing them from absorbing the calcium. So sorry you lost your duck.

We've never fed them spinach for just that reason, but thank you for the advice!

 

[Eggcessive]

I am not familiar with ducks, but have a lot of chickens. They will eat crushed egg shells much better than oyster shell. Some past diseases can cause thin shells, such as infectious bronchitis, which may only have sneezing as a symptom. Google "common egg quality problems," a good article by Sumi, or search for it here on BYC at the top of this page.