My duck laid a soft, unusual egg. Is something wrong?

[subhanalah]

For my ducks with bigger calcium problems, I take them aside and feed them their favorite treat with calcium gluconate mixed in with it.  They know what I am doing, and they make it easy for me to bring them aside and feed them their own special treat.

how did I know you would have them so well trained!

 

[Amiga]

The more difficult ones are the newer adopted rescued buffs. They probably will never trust me nearly as much as my runners and Romy. I don't know why, but Rome is an honorary runner - she sees me coming with a ramekin, she sidles away from the flock, near the door. I come over, open the door enough for her to slip through, and we have our little private pea party with her "special."

With Hazel, I have to wait till they are outdoors, then look for an opportune moment to close Carmella and Bean into the pen, and then set the special dish on the ground and walk away so Hazel will eat it.

So I do have my high-maintenance ducks, but ten out of twelve make it easy for me to give them extra calcium. I raised my runners to be easy to handle, because sometimes you need to treat and examine. And they are simply good company.

 

[subhanalah]

They really are. Mine are all seeming to come around, it's definitely best when you don't have to wrangle them to put then away every night...or get someone else to do it

 

[suellen123]

Hi, I hope this may help you. I have 3 pekin ducks. One of my females started laying soft shell eggs. I noticed it and unfortunately I did not think to much about it. I did a little research on it but was not overly concerned as it says here and there that it happens for one reason or another. One night when I went to put her to bed she didn't come when I called the ducks. THis was very unusual and with some coaxing she came in a minute or two. Again I missed a huge sign. The next morning I woke up and there was a huge bloody mass hanging out of her called Rectal Prolapse. It was a very severe case due to being egg bound and pushing to hard. Needless to say she died a few hours later. I was devastated as I missed the signs with her. I was feeding my ducks a floating pond food from Mazuri which I was paying 48 dollars for 50 lbs. I assumed with that price tag it would have everything I needed and what was originally recommended to me by the feed store. After further investigation after our favorite ducks death I found that the protein and calcium were not enough for my girls to lay healthy eggs. I have since switched them to Egg Layer Pellets for 17 dollars for 50 lbs and I can see a huge difference in the eggs. I miss our one girl so much as she was the friendliest of all of ours and am so sad we let her down and I didn't know she was in trouble. Now I make sure that I check my females bottoms every day as I could have lived a whole lifetime without seeing rectal prolapse. Maybe if we had caught it early we could have pushed it back in as it says on some sites, but it was so severe there was little we could have done. We soaked her in a warm bathtub and applied honey on it trying to keep it clean and shrink it. I think she was eggbound and still trying to push out her daily egg and that is what killed her. It was pretty horrible. So I offer this up to you to make sure your protein and calcium levels are up to par. We also now have the oyster shells in a small bowl in our females cage only as to much protein/calcium is bad for the males kidneys. We separate our two girls from our boy at night and only they have access to the oyster shells. I hope this will help you and that you will not have any problems like we had. I wish I knew what I know now.

 

[TwoDogFarm]

I would not feed layer to a flock consisting of drakes or other male fowl. The excess calcium is dangerous for them and can cause kidney damage/failure. This is why I suggested against treating the whole flock with even more calcium.

If you offer it free choice, the girls will eat it and the boys will leave it alone since they don't "want it".

Since they are on layer, I am more inclined to think that you have too many drakes and they are gang raping the hen, causing stress and possibly breaking her egg inside her during the struggle.

Let me be sure I have the numbers right. 4 drakes and 8 ducks? I would make a place for the boys to be separated for a little while so the girls can get their wits about themselves.

I'm also confused, you've found three of these eggs in one day? And the one that you witnessed coming out was already empty when she laid it?

If I don't feed the whole flock layer, what would I feed the male fowl? And how would I make sure they're each eating what they're supposed to be eating? Usually, we put the food out in feeders and let them have access to the food at all times. Would doing feeding times help with this? This could be very difficult with my husband and my busy work schedule during the week.

We have 4 drakes and 12 ducks (16 total).

Here's what happened: We usually don't let our ducks free range unless we can watch them because we are on the corner of two busy roads and we would hate to have them get hit. The other day, I let them out while I was working in the garden and they were all busy foraging and having a great time. However, off to the side, one of our female Pekins was lying in the grass, panting (like they usually do when they're hot). Her tail kept moving up and down and I thought maybe she was laying an egg. All of a sudden, one of the drakes came over and mounted her. I ran over to make him get off since it seemed like she was in a little bit of pain laying the egg. Once they both ran off, I found the empty egg shell on the ground where she was sitting.

The ducks ran over to the side a little more and I noticed that one of my Khakis was playing with another empty egg shell in a different spot in the yard. I grabbed it from him. So, that was two in one day...and they both happened around the same time. The other egg I found in their coop a different day, but it was a soft egg membrane with nothing inside of it.

And Amiga, I wish our ducks liked us as much as yours seem to like you. Our ducks don't want us near them at all. We had one runner that my aunt rescued from the canal when the duck was a baby (she came running over to my aunt; someone had dropped her off in the cold and a cat got her siblings so she was terrified and alone) and that little duck loved me to death when she was younger. She would sit on my lap and loved to cuddle. I was worried that she would be lonely without the company of other ducks, especially since I took her over one day to let her look at the others and set her down so she could follow me and she started peeping and trying to get to the other ducks. I thought she'd always like me, but once we put her in with the others, she won't come near me anymore. I hate it. This little lucky duck's name is Friday since we rescued her on Good Friday. I wish she still liked me, but she's taken hints from the other ducks. How do you make yours like you? Do you just devote a lot of time to them? Or is it because you let them free range and they're happier than mine are? It also makes it really hard to check them for things like bumble foot or prolapse if we can't get near them.

 

[TwoDogFarm]

Hi, I hope this may help you. I have 3 pekin ducks. One of my females started laying soft shell eggs. I noticed it and unfortunately I did not think to much about it. I did a little research on it but was not overly concerned as it says here and there that it happens for one reason or another. One night when I went to put her to bed she didn't come when I called the ducks. THis was very unusual and with some coaxing she came in a minute or two. Again I missed a huge sign. The next morning I woke up and there was a huge bloody mass hanging out of her called Rectal Prolapse. It was a very severe case due to being egg bound and pushing to hard. Needless to say she died a few hours later. I was devastated as I missed the signs with her. I was feeding my ducks a floating pond food from Mazuri which I was paying 48 dollars for 50 lbs. I assumed with that price tag it would have everything I needed and what was originally recommended to me by the feed store. After further investigation after our favorite ducks death I found that the protein and calcium were not enough for my girls to lay healthy eggs. I have since switched them to Egg Layer Pellets for 17 dollars for 50 lbs and I can see a huge difference in the eggs. I miss our one girl so much as she was the friendliest of all of ours and am so sad we let her down and I didn't know she was in trouble. Now I make sure that I check my females bottoms every day as I could have lived a whole lifetime without seeing rectal prolapse. Maybe if we had caught it early we could have pushed it back in as it says on some sites, but it was so severe there was little we could have done. We soaked her in a warm bathtub and applied honey on it trying to keep it clean and shrink it. I think she was eggbound and still trying to push out her daily egg and that is what killed her. It was pretty horrible. So I offer this up to you to make sure your protein and calcium levels are up to par. We also now have the oyster shells in a small bowl in our females cage only as to much protein/calcium is bad for the males kidneys. We separate our two girls from our boy at night and only they have access to the oyster shells. I hope this will help you and that you will not have any problems like we had. I wish I knew what I know now.

I'm very sorry for your loss, but thank you so much for the information. I will definitely try to get this problem fixed. I know how it is to lose a favorite. My favorite chicken hen died back in February due to Coccidia. We had no idea the entire flock was sick until Buddy died. Sometimes it's hard to learn what should be done until it's too late. I appreciate your help.

 

[Amiga]

And Amiga, I wish our ducks liked us as much as yours seem to like you. Our ducks don't want us near them at all. We had one runner that my aunt rescued from the canal when the duck was a baby (she came running over to my aunt; someone had dropped her off in the cold and a cat got her siblings so she was terrified and alone) and that little duck loved me to death when she was younger. She would sit on my lap and loved to cuddle. I was worried that she would be lonely without the company of other ducks, especially since I took her over one day to let her look at the others and set her down so she could follow me and she started peeping and trying to get to the other ducks. I thought she'd always like me, but once we put her in with the others, she won't come near me anymore. I hate it. This little lucky duck's name is Friday since we rescued her on Good Friday. I wish she still liked me, but she's taken hints from the other ducks. How do you make yours like you? Do you just devote a lot of time to them? Or is it because you let them free range and they're happier than mine are? It also makes it really hard to check them for things like bumble foot or prolapse if we can't get near them.

I had the unexpected blessing of being able to make duck rearing my primary occupation for quite a while. I know that is not the option for everyone.

With the Coffee Buffs (adopted as adults and friendly but from a distance), what I do is corral the ducks calmly and gently. Sometimes I use a large dog crate we cal The Limousine since it transports ducks. I set it at one end of the pen and walk the ducks into it.

Or, I set up a puppy playpen and walk the duck I need to tend into that. Sadly, I must then make a quick move to grasp the duck unless I am feeding special calcium treats, in which case I just put the treat bowl down and walk away for a bit.

Once, because Hazel has become somewhat comfortable around me, I scooped her up as she walked between my legs when I was squatting down in the duck pen.

I distract them with peas, and that can help me sneak up on them.

 

[suellen123]

I never heard of Coccidia. I just looked it up and will keep a watchful eye on the chickens for any symptoms. We have their water bowls up on egg crates so if any water spills it falls where they don't have access to reach it. I am so sorry you lost one of your babies. Chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, it doesn't matter they all find a special place in our hearts and their absence makes our hearts hurt the same. I know a lot of us are just backyard farmers and so its great to be able to share with each other. I am learning new stuff every day as I go. Hopefully not at the expense of my babies though. God Bless.

 

[TwoDogFarm]

I never heard of Coccidia. I just looked it up and will keep a watchful eye on the chickens for any symptoms. We have their water bowls up on egg crates so if any water spills it falls where they don't have access to reach it. I am so sorry you lost one of your babies. Chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, it doesn't matter they all find a special place in our hearts and their absence makes our hearts hurt the same. I know a lot of us are just backyard farmers and so its great to be able to share with each other. I am learning new stuff every day as I go. Hopefully not at the expense of my babies though. God Bless.

We had never heard of it either. Do you put vinegar in your chicken water? We had been doing it because we read it keeps bacteria out of the water, but we had stopped in the winter months right before this happened. Apparently, bacteria can still survive in the winter and we learned that the hard way.

 

[suellen123]

We do not put vinegar in our chickens water. Do you think if you had used it during the winter you could have stopped the bacteria? Do I need to be using it ACV right?