- May 9, 2012
- 6
- 0
- 7
Hi Everyone,
I signed up because I need some help trying to figure out what may be wrong with my female duck Matilda. I own an animal rescue so I tend to be pretty savy about figuring out what is wrong with an animal but this truly has me stumped. I have done tons of research and have only seen one post that sounded like my problem but no one gave a good answer. We live in the city right now so there are not very many vets that deal in livestock. I will definitely take her if necessary, however with as much experience as I have under my belt I have learned that in many cases going to the vet is a waste of time, money and trauma to the animals since most problems can be resolved in house once they are identified. In an obvious emergency it's off to the vet of course.
Matilda's History:
I bought Matilda (by the way I have not been able to figure out what kind of duck she is, maybe someone can help with that as well, she grows a cute little feather above her left eye) off Craigslist, along with her companion Antonio a Peking (I was told they were both female). They had been given to the previous owner as ducklings and were kept in a metal cage which they were getting too big for, so he decided to get rid of them. I felt bad for their conditions and decided to rescue them as companions for my other Peking duck Salvadore. Eventually Matilda mated with Salvadore and Antonio ended up the odd one out, they have the obvious male rivalry however they get along decently enough and don't hurt each other. The picture shows them on the ride home in one of my cat crates. That was the end of June of last year. After a few months of living here Matilda started laying an egg a day, every single day.
How my ducks are kept:
They have a 8 x 25 foot run. It is a dirt run with some grass growing in parts. They have two kiddie pools which are cleaned and given new water twice a week. They have two water dishes and two food dishes which are washed and refilled daily. They have shade from a apricot tree and also an over head shade. They also get a fresh mud pit every few days. They are allowed to roam a large back yard a few times a week for foraging. They have a very large dog crate to go in if they choose, filled with straw on the bottom (that is where Matilda used to lay, she still makes a nest in it every day even if her squashed egg is out somewhere in the pen).
Matilda's Problem:
A couple of months ago Matilda started laying a soft shelled egg occasionally, then it progressed to every other day and then it started appearing all over the pen in the early evening. Now she has not layed a hard shelled egg in a couple of weeks and they appear in their pools, in the pen and at random times of day, still one a day though. I thought at first it might be nutritional, although she is fed a layers crumble with a high calcium content, I supplemented her with a plate of ground oyster shell which she seems to dabble in occasionally but does not show much interest in. It did not help.
Other Symptoms:
Dry crunchy feathers, shaggy appearance, loss of weight. Other than that nothing else that I can see, she bathes, runs, talks, eats, forages and mates normally.
What I have tried:
I added oyster shell to her diet, I changed their feeding dishes to ceramic because I was worried about some kind of metal poisoning from the galvanized ones. Cleaned their pen thoroughly, changed the hay in their house to make sure it is completely dry and not moldy, thoroughly cleaned their pools.
If anyone has had this experience and has found a solution or has any ideas you think would help I sure would like to hear from you.
Thank you.

I signed up because I need some help trying to figure out what may be wrong with my female duck Matilda. I own an animal rescue so I tend to be pretty savy about figuring out what is wrong with an animal but this truly has me stumped. I have done tons of research and have only seen one post that sounded like my problem but no one gave a good answer. We live in the city right now so there are not very many vets that deal in livestock. I will definitely take her if necessary, however with as much experience as I have under my belt I have learned that in many cases going to the vet is a waste of time, money and trauma to the animals since most problems can be resolved in house once they are identified. In an obvious emergency it's off to the vet of course.
Matilda's History:
I bought Matilda (by the way I have not been able to figure out what kind of duck she is, maybe someone can help with that as well, she grows a cute little feather above her left eye) off Craigslist, along with her companion Antonio a Peking (I was told they were both female). They had been given to the previous owner as ducklings and were kept in a metal cage which they were getting too big for, so he decided to get rid of them. I felt bad for their conditions and decided to rescue them as companions for my other Peking duck Salvadore. Eventually Matilda mated with Salvadore and Antonio ended up the odd one out, they have the obvious male rivalry however they get along decently enough and don't hurt each other. The picture shows them on the ride home in one of my cat crates. That was the end of June of last year. After a few months of living here Matilda started laying an egg a day, every single day.
How my ducks are kept:
They have a 8 x 25 foot run. It is a dirt run with some grass growing in parts. They have two kiddie pools which are cleaned and given new water twice a week. They have two water dishes and two food dishes which are washed and refilled daily. They have shade from a apricot tree and also an over head shade. They also get a fresh mud pit every few days. They are allowed to roam a large back yard a few times a week for foraging. They have a very large dog crate to go in if they choose, filled with straw on the bottom (that is where Matilda used to lay, she still makes a nest in it every day even if her squashed egg is out somewhere in the pen).
Matilda's Problem:
A couple of months ago Matilda started laying a soft shelled egg occasionally, then it progressed to every other day and then it started appearing all over the pen in the early evening. Now she has not layed a hard shelled egg in a couple of weeks and they appear in their pools, in the pen and at random times of day, still one a day though. I thought at first it might be nutritional, although she is fed a layers crumble with a high calcium content, I supplemented her with a plate of ground oyster shell which she seems to dabble in occasionally but does not show much interest in. It did not help.
Other Symptoms:
Dry crunchy feathers, shaggy appearance, loss of weight. Other than that nothing else that I can see, she bathes, runs, talks, eats, forages and mates normally.
What I have tried:
I added oyster shell to her diet, I changed their feeding dishes to ceramic because I was worried about some kind of metal poisoning from the galvanized ones. Cleaned their pen thoroughly, changed the hay in their house to make sure it is completely dry and not moldy, thoroughly cleaned their pools.
If anyone has had this experience and has found a solution or has any ideas you think would help I sure would like to hear from you.
Thank you.