My ducks are on a diet and the egg production has suffered..

[smishi]

Hi everyone,
Im pretty sure my call ducks are a bit chubby so I reduced their food and now they've stopped laying regularly and the eggs I do get are small, anyone got any solutions? Is this common? Do I have to just go with it and continue the diet?

 

[Amiga]

Did you weigh them before cutting back on their food?

 

[smishi]

No but I keep meaning to. Just keep forgetting. Will do it tonight. Im aware they're large for call ducks so not sure how to judge that :/

 

[smishi]

Weighed them and they are over the weight they should be definitely :/

 

[enola]

How much do they weigh?

 

[Amiga]

Frankly, I would get them back up to the level of feed you had before for now, and let's try to sort this out. I agree you don't want unhealthy ducks, but I would feel much better if they were being fed, and we can get some Call experts to "weigh in" on this topic.

 

[Orca5094]

Have you felt their keels? That is the best way to determine if a bird is overweight, underweight, etc. You can't really go by weights because different birds are different sizes. That only works if you have long-term weight records on all your birds to determine if they have gained weight that way. Here's a document I found about accessing a birds body condition by feeling their keel:

http://www.copdockmill.co.uk/PMFA/PSOM Bird Size-O-Meter Leaflet.pdf

Are they obese according to this scale? I just don't feel like laying birds should be on a diet. They need alot of extra nutrition during those times to make good eggs. If you're already seeing problems with egg production, I think they need more food.

 

[smishi]

Don't worry I'm not starving them, they've still got plenty of food haha. Ok I will have a look at that link thank you

 

[Orca5094]

I didn't think you were starving them, lol! Just saying they need more food when they are laying then when they aren't. ^-^

 

[smishi]

Yes I do agree, which is why I'm a bit stuck. To be fair it's mainly one of my girls and she looks better already.