Make it stop! My duck won't take a break from laying eggs

[austroberta]

Does anyone know how to get notifications? I didn't get any notifications for any of the posts (hence the delay in responding). I thought y'all were just blowing me off.

 

[Aapomp831]

Let her lay! If that’s what her body naturally wants to do, then that’s her body. Forcing her body not to lay will probably be more problematic.

 

[Ratchnick]

Unfortunately my neighbor keeps his side door light on all night and it's enough light to flood their coop. : (

You need to fix this problem, just modify your coop.

 

[austroberta]

You need to fix this problem, just modify your coop.

I'm not sure how to do that without sacrificing ventilation.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I had no idea this could be a problem. My almost 18 month old Pekin Duck has laid every single day with exception of maybe 2 to 3 weeks whenever her chronic bumblefoot was at its worst. She eats A LOT of oyster shell, so I imagine this is why. My other duck hasn't laid in months since she molted and our days are short. Commenting to get future notifications and to remind me to thoroughly read back through this thread.

I am grateful for this post and the members that have replied, and feel like this is going to help a lot of ducks

 

[KaleIAm]

I'm not sure how to do that without sacrificing ventilation.

I agree with modifying your coop. We covered up all the cracks on ours, covered up windows, ect to make a false winter in the summer for my duck who had severe reproductive issues and was going to die. Among other environmental changes it was enough to completely stop her daily reproductive activity. I have also used the hormone implants in other ducks.

We installed a fan to bring air in and a fan to vent air out to help with ventilation.

Or maybe you could explain to your neighbor that the light is hurting your ducks and ask them to turn it off?

 

[Winter Creek Coop]

I'm not sure how to do that without sacrificing ventilation.

I’m not aware of your setup but you might get by with some greenhouse shade cloth or privacy screening. It still lets air through. The 80% shade cloth blocks 80% of the light coming through. I wouldn’t ask my neighbor to change anything, but that’s just my opinion. Good luck.

 

[aart]

I'm not sure how to do that without sacrificing ventilation.

Maybe an awning above the window.

 

[KaleIAm]

Thanks. I hope that will be the case. My one runner duck that was laying like mad until she molted, over 365 days later, was laying lots of soft shelled eggs. I suppose I am worried the same will happen to Selah. I am also worried, as her egg shells are thinning, despite shoveling in the oyster shell. I'll be giving her Calcium citrate, which will hopefully help those egg shells.

I would consider thinning shells to be reproductive issues, just not urgent ones. My vet told me that if our ducks aren't getting enough calcium for their egg shells via diet they'll take it from their bones. In my duck Gingersnap, who had chronic egg laying with thin shells, we could see her bones getting paler and thinner in her radiographs. I was even giving her calcium. Eventually she broke her leg. We put her on the hormonal implants and shots and it helped her a lot.

But that's not always the case. My other duck has a defective egg shell gland and has been making thin shelled lopsided eggs for 6 years now and she's never had a real problem. She's never been egg bound, she's had radiographs and her bones are great. Her calcium levels aren't low and supplementing doesn't help her. When she was younger she laid all winter, even though they had a natural daylight schedule, but now she takes the winter off.

There are 2 different blood tests to make sure calcium is the issue. I regularly do them both. But I understand that veterinary visits are stressful right now.

Personally, I would do everything in my power to make your ducks' sleeping area as quiet and dark as possible. That's a very good starting point and as natural as you can get.

 

[austroberta]

I would consider thinning shells to be reproductive issues, just not urgent ones. My vet told me that if our ducks aren't getting enough calcium for their egg shells via diet they'll take it from their bones. In my duck Gingersnap, who had chronic egg laying with thin shells, we could see her bones getting paler and thinner in her radiographs. I was even giving her calcium. Eventually she broke her leg. We put her on the hormonal implants and shots and it helped her a lot.

But that's not always the case. My other duck has a defective egg shell gland and has been making thin shelled lopsided eggs for 6 years now and she's never had a real problem. She's never been egg bound, she's had radiographs and her bones are great. Her calcium levels aren't low and supplementing doesn't help her. When she was younger she laid all winter, even though they had a natural daylight schedule, but now she takes the winter off.

There are 2 different blood tests to make sure calcium is the issue. I regularly do them both. But I understand that veterinary visits are stressful right now.

Personally, I would do everything in my power to make your ducks' sleeping area as quiet and dark as possible. That's a very good starting point and as natural as you can get.

Thanks!

My gosh, you seemed to have encountered all sorts of complex issues. I'm glad you are here, as your posts are really educational.

My neighbor is actually a good egg, so I might talk to him and ask him to take that light down, or at least put up a motion sensor, so it's not on all night.

How did you rig up a fan in your duck house and protect the cords from elements?