Not again 😣

[Maddcatter]

Another soft shell

She was so tired. I took her out and just hugged her in the dark, she lay on my chest and nuzzled under my chin and slept a while.
She felt a bit better and ate and drank when she went back in the coop.

It just doesn't make sense. She had two whole calcium pills this morning. As well as a dose last night. As well as an egg shell.
Is she just not using the calcium anymore?
I think it's time to try force molting. I'm thinking leave water available, but remove food for a day or two and then mix oats in etc etc.
Or I could just change her feed brand and hopefully the sudden change will be enough, I've heard of that working unintentionally for people. Or would it be harmful to do that?

It might upset her digestive tract, most animals don't deal well with sudden changes in food. Maybe try fermenting it so it has good probiotics?

I don't think it'll harm her, just upset her bowls.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Have you tried a vitamin D supplement? I know humans need it to absorb calcium, maybe her body isn't making enough?

 

[BelovedBirds]

Have you tried a vitamin D supplement? I know humans need it to absorb calcium, maybe her body isn't making enough?

There's vitamin D in the calcium pills which should be good enough for her to absorb it, and it seemed to work for quite a while- suddenly it just doesn't work

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sad to say but I think just like many ducks she has reproductive problems.
Force molt should stop her from laying for a while. How are you going to keep food away from her with Dougie wanting to eat?

 

[BelovedBirds]

Sad to say but I think just like many ducks she has reproductive problems.
Force molt should stop her from laying for a while. How are you going to keep food away from her with Dougie wanting to eat?

Well, the good thing is that Dougie is broody- she spends all her time in the coop, and only eats like three times a day.
I'm thinking that I could possibly manage to take Dougie her food at the times she usually leaves the nest to eat. I could also give her access to food overnight if I separate them.
Not sure if it would work brilliantly, but I could also try limiting daylight and during that, they could be separated.

I hate to do this to Sprightly, but it seems I have to be cruel in order to be kind

I'll give her water. And her calcium pills, but no food today. At midnight, it will have been 24 hours without food, at which point I could give her some oats so that she had something.
Then tomorrow I could give her just oats. The next day, I could mix her food 50/50 with oats and do that for a while. I'm worried about taking away nutrients, but I really need to try this, and I'm trying to be a little kinder than the original plan.


Do you think it could be enough? Or am I changing the force molt schedule too much?

 

[BelovedBirds]

Does this look like she has worms? White thin very small intact stringy bits in her poop this morning

 

[Miss Lydia]

Roundworms look like thin spaghetti when seen outside the body. I haven't seen them for a while here but I have to worm my chickens for them. Are they moving?

 

[BelovedBirds]

Roundworms look like thin spaghetti when seen outside the body. I haven't seen them for a while here but I have to worm my chickens for them. Are they moving?

No, completely still
I figured perhaps dead, perhaps broken into pieces

I just can't think of anything she could have eaten that would result in that, so worms were my first guess. I haven't noticed any weight loss but I'll weigh her later to check properly- they've not been wormed before so it's a possibility

 

[Miss Lydia]

From all I have read Waterfowl don't get worms like other poultry because of their body temp, unless kept in horrid conditions which we know you aren't. Probably wouldn't hurt to worm them though.

 

[BelovedBirds]

From all I have read Waterfowl don't get worms like other poultry because of their body temp, unless kept in horrid conditions which we know you aren't. Probably wouldn't hurt to worm them though.

Yeah I've heard it's super uncommon, and their living conditions are pretty good so I hadn't worried about it before. Just worried me as they poop really looked questionable....
I'll just keep an eye on her weight/poops to be safe.

In the event that she did have worms, what exactly would I need to treat with?