Heya everyone, I have two lovely mallards one female and one drake. The female started laying just after Christmas and she is having so much trouble with it. The eggs are perfectly fine, no soft shell or anything and normal shaped, however the eggs are a bit larger than i would have expected from this size of a duck. But for about 3 hours every morning she's quacking really loudly and abruptly. Its clear she is not very comfortable at all. Ive called up the manufacture of the feed, I'm feeding them fancy feed waterfowl pellets and they said that it isn't a nutritional issue as she should be getting everything she needs from there feed. They also mentioned that this is common with new layers to have problems. She also gets a bowl of oyster shell and I give her a cod liver oil capsule and a warm water bath every day because i was told that might help but nothing has changed. Dose any one have any suggestions of how i can make her more comfortable? I thought id ask you lot before taking her to the vets incase its something i can change for her. thanks guys
Check and see if she is carrying excessive weight. Fat poultry whatever the breed can have laying problems. How long has she been laying - how many eggs? Oops, reread your post - approximately 2 + weeks of laying. She is probably still 'stretching'. Are the eggs showing any signs of blood on them/
i have mallard that are not laying but they are 9 month old i would be wanting to see how this goes so if i have a problem i know what to do
Thanks for the quick reply's nope there has been no blood on the eggs ever, however i have noticed she is heavier than the drake when i pick them up but i just assumed that it was one of them gender things that the lady ducks just are naturally heavier. Ive just looked it up and found two website which say females should be about 2.4-2.5lbs and I've just weighed her and she is 3.8lb. So yeah I'm defently putting her on a diet, thank you so much for your advice, If it was any other animal it would be obvious there over weight but i guess with feathered friends you don't notice so easily. I'm really quite worried that she is so overweight now but hopefully with food rationing she will improve. maybe il make them chase me round the garden more Also to (creature life) I wouldnt worry yet if they haven't started laying. I didnt expect her to start till at least May but i assume she started so early because I keep them inside so its warm. thank you again (sourland)
The bath time is something I would continue because it lets her move her legs with weight off of them, and may help keep her muscles stretched, and improve circulation. I agree that helping her get down to a better weight sounds good. Bravo for paying attention!
