Massaged my khakis belly and a soft shelled egg came out?

[tatswell]

It's been brutally cold here in southern New England and I noticed a few days ago my khaki has been breathing a little heavy- not insanely heavy just a little. Last night I massaged her belly for a few minutes and a soft shelled egg came out. Is this typical in cold temps? I know egg production can go down in the winter but does that come with soft shelled eggs?

 

[bargain]

A couple of questions first:

1. How old is she
2. Has she laid an egg before
3. Does she seem to be straining without producing eggs?
4. Has the behavior continued after the egg was laid?
5. Is her vent extended or nasty in any way? with gunk on it white or yellowish

It is possible that she needs more calcium and is getting back in the laying cycle.
Sometimes new layers might lay an egg or two without coating it with the egg shell
I would suggest adding calcium to her diet
Carefully keep an eye on her and then if she appears to be egg bound or ill in any way, please follow guidelines under emergency care here on BYC on how to handle. There are several post on impacted eggs, egg bound etc. PM me if you have trouble finding it and have a blessed day!

 

[Amiga]

bargain covered all the bases as far as I can see. And yes, I think that any kind of stress - weather, social, illness, injury - affects laying. I have several duck who need more calcium than the layer feed provides, and I suspect part of it is bigger picture, including vitamin D and other nutrients that facilitate the effective use of calcium.

I supplement with calcium citrate, dissolved in water, in the feed mostly. About 50 to 80 mg per duck per day most days. I have also used calcium gluconate liquid (teaspoon per half cup of water added to feed) and for extreme cases got prescription neocalglucon from the vet.

 

[tatswell]

Hi- Freida is about a year old, she has been laying very well since she started- every day really. Yesterday morning, the morning after the soft egg incident, she did get me a normal hard shelled egg.
This morning I did not get one, however. I noticed tonight she has a very slight limp to her walk. She went in her nesting box and went to 'bed' when I checked on her a few moments ago- usually she is out and eating lettuce, etc.
I have not yet seen her poop.
Sadly, she seems to be displaying the same symptoms of one of my ducks last year who had EYP. (Who is still alive and is thriving 99%, the most active of the bunch!)
I massaged her again tonight- no egg. Hopefully it is just the weather. As I mentioned she did not give me an egg this morning so hopefully she is just in the middle of producing her next- but her going to bed early reminds me of my Tegan's EYP. That was hell. No other words but hell. She is a bleeping trooper.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hi- Freida is about a year old, she has been laying very well since she started- every day really. Yesterday morning, the morning after the soft egg incident, she did get me a normal hard shelled egg.
This morning I did not get one, however. I noticed tonight she has a very slight limp to her walk. She went in her nesting box and went to 'bed' when I checked on her a few moments ago- usually she is out and eating lettuce, etc.
I have not yet seen her poop.
Sadly, she seems to be displaying the same symptoms of one of my ducks last year who had EYP. (Who is still alive and is thriving 99%, the most active of the bunch!)
I massaged her again tonight- no egg. Hopefully it is just the weather. As I mentioned she did not give me an egg this morning so hopefully she is just in the middle of producing her next- but her going to bed early reminds me of my Tegan's EYP. That was hell. No other words but hell. She is a bleeping trooper.

Are you going to try an antibiotic with her?

 

[tatswell]

I'm sitting here with her at the moment in the tub. I've put some activated charcoal in the water as well as calcium gluconate. I saw her poop once- she's been in the tub about 15 min- it was just urine.
What would you recommend for an antibiotic?

 

[tatswell]

 

[Amiga]

Not sure I understood your post - I would put a quarter teaspoon of 23% calcium gluconate in a couple of tablespoons of mashed peas or her favorite treat, to be sure she gets a decent amount.

Similar with the charcoal, I'd put a teaspoon in a pint of water and give that to her to drink.

Sure hope the little recovers soon. Glad your Tegan made it through EYP. It can happen. I have lost two to that. Very tough.