Not again 😣

[Canadian Wind]

Spry had an off day today
Honestly warm baths just help her so much.
Sometimes she gets like this, she acts egg bound, but is pooping and drinking, and doesn't lay until she's due to anyway, over night.
She just has a few hours time to time, where she seems so off and in pain- and then after a long warm soak in her own personal bath, she perks up and suddenly has energy again. The warm water makes her an entirely new duck...

Anyways I'm not too worried. This egg isn't coming until tonight so I'll put some nice cosy hay in the duck shed and put them to bed a little early so she can relax. She prefers to be indoors or in the coop when feeling under the weather, I think it helps so she doesn't have to feel on-guard about potential predators (not that any could get her in the pen anyway, but she doesn't know that).

I am so proud of her, she's had hardly any problems this year, and endured so much a year ago. She's a tough lil cookie. I'm sure it'll be autumn before we know it, and time for another break

Sprightly in her very own duck sized bath, for anyone who wants to know her spa routine:
View attachment 3886381
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Enter that first one in the Caption Contest and Picture of the Week! The second one has 'fowled' water.

You know, maybe she just figured out that you give her attention and warm baths when she acts 'off'.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Enter that first one in the Caption Contest and Picture of the Week! The second one has 'fowled' water.

You know, maybe she just figured out that you give her attention and warm baths when she acts 'off'.

I doubt it, but the funny thing is, ever since she's had these warm baths, she's been reluctant to go swim in her cold water pond. I think she's rather accustomed to luxury, she's become a bit of a snob!

 

[BelovedBirds]

Well, frankly I'm a tad worried about her, as I did my final night check on her, and she's still acting off- tail is down most of the way etc. Ideally she'd spend the night inside but my parents dislike them being in over night. I'm sure she'll be alright by morning, it's not cold out, and she's got a nice comfy bed of hay. Besides, she's still drinking and pooping okay.

Whenever she has a rough day, I also make sure she has food and water available to her overnight- as she won't have eaten much all evening. And it's best she stays hydrated if she isn't feeling 100%.

 

[Miss Lydia]

A DIVA

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

Well, frankly I'm a tad worried about her, as I did my final night check on her, and she's still acting off- tail is down most of the way etc. Ideally she'd spend the night inside but my parents dislike them being in over night. I'm sure she'll be alright by morning, it's not cold out, and she's got a nice comfy bed of hay. Besides, she's still drinking and pooping okay.

Whenever she has a rough day, I also make sure she has food and water available to her overnight- as she won't have eaten much all evening. And it's best she stays hydrated if she isn't feeling 100%.

I hope she has a good and productive night, and feels better in the morning! Those egg laying issues can really make them feel awful. I can’t count how many times I thought I was going to lose Daphne overnight, only for her to fully feel better in the AM. Praying for your beautiful little lady!

 

[BelovedBirds]

Guess who's feeling better this morning??
She actually laid a shelled egg, but it was a bit broken. Thankfully it was intact, and her vent looks fine, and she seems normal- everything was there in the egg, no missing shell. So I'm not hugely concerned. If I had to guess, I'd say the egg probably cracked right before it was laid. Very lucky I think.

Anyway, she ate the shell once she realised it was broken!

 

[Jenbirdee]

i’m reading through this just in page 12 now - it’s 79 pages long wow - so may i ask please should i stop giving my duck calcium gluconate now that i’m crating her for 16 hours of darkness every day (she has prolapsed three times in the last three weeks but each time I push it back in after treating with colloidal silver and manuka honey- it stay in for about a week and I give her the calcium gluconate every day-but then it prolapsed again)
What I’m saying is now that I’m trying to get her to stop laying eggs with the dark boxing method I stopped the calcium gluconate . I’ve done three days so far of boxing . and she still laying a nice egg in the crate every morning so far…)

 

[BelovedBirds]

i’m reading through this just in page 12 now - it’s 79 pages long wow - so may i ask please should i stop giving my duck calcium gluconate now that i’m crating her for 16 hours of darkness every day (she has prolapsed three times in the last three weeks but each time I push it back in after treating with colloidal silver and manuka honey- it stay in for about a week and I give her the calcium gluconate every day-but then it prolapsed again)
What I’m saying is now that I’m trying to get her to stop laying eggs with the dark boxing method I stopped the calcium gluconate . I’ve done three days so far of boxing . and she still laying a nice egg in the crate every morning so far…)

If she has been having issues like my girl had, with poor shell quality etc, I would continue to treat with calcium until she has stopped laying
If she's still laying an egg each morning, I would continue with the calcium until she's done laying. If she is laying good quality eggs and having no issue with soft or brittle shells, then I think its safe to take her off the calcium. I assume you're trying to get her to go through an autumn molt, so that she starts her winter break?

If so, I would ration her food as well as using the dark method, I struggled to get my girl to stop laying, the dark method didn't really work for her, but limiting her food worked very well (even though I felt so mean!)
I fasted Sprightly for one day (water always available) and then restricted her diet to mostly oats (wet oaty mash). After a few days of free feeding plain oats, I mixed in her food, about 50/50 duck feed to oats. And did this for a few more days, that's when I noticed her egg production starting to drop. I believe I supplemented her water/oats with vitamins, such as nutritional yeast in the oats, or a small dose of nutri drench in the water. I also monitored her very closely and ensured she was eating the oats and not starving herself.

The big change of diet/rationed food, along with the change in daylight hours, is what put her body into winter mode and what ultimately stopped her laying. If you do try this method, make sure you monitor her well and if you see any lethargy/negative changes in her, I would quit and go back to normal diet.

 

[Jenbirdee]

If she has been having issues like my girl had, with poor shell quality etc, I would continue to treat with calcium until she has stopped laying
If she's still laying an egg each morning, I would continue with the calcium until she's done laying. If she is laying good quality eggs and having no issue with soft or brittle shells, then I think its safe to take her off the calcium. I assume you're trying to get her to go through an autumn molt, so that she starts her winter break?

If so, I would ration her food as well as using the dark method, I struggled to get my girl to stop laying, the dark method didn't really work for her, but limiting her food worked very well (even though I felt so mean!)
I fasted Sprightly for one day (water always available) and then restricted her diet to mostly oats (wet oaty mash). After a few days of free feeding plain oats, I mixed in her food, about 50/50 duck feed to oats. And did this for a few more days, that's when I noticed her egg production starting to drop. I believe I supplemented her water/oats with vitamins, such as nutritional yeast in the oats, or a small dose of nutri drench in the water. I also monitored her very closely and ensured she was eating the oats and not starving herself.

The big change of diet/rationed food, along with the change in daylight hours, is what put her body into winter mode and what ultimately stopped her laying. If you do try this method, make sure you monitor her well and if you see any lethargy/negative changes in her, I would quit and go back to normal diet.

wow thanks for the reply, that’s very interesting. but now i’m not sure if i should restrict her food while she is currently on amoxicillin - she pooped out a nasty mess a few days ago which prompted me to start her on an antibiotic. thinking maybe there’s an infection that’s causing the prolapses

her shells are fine

 

[BelovedBirds]

wow thanks for the reply, that’s very interesting. but now i’m not sure if i should restrict her food while she is currently on amoxicillin - she pooped out a nasty mess a few days ago which prompted me to start her on an antibiotic. thinking maybe there’s an infection that’s causing the prolapses

her shells are fine

I wouldn't worry too much about calcium then, I'd still keep oyster shells and grit available for her to pick at as and when she needs to top up on her calcium- but if theres no issue with her shells then I wouldn't worry about dosing her with calcium.

I would be reluctant to alter her diet too much while she is on antibiotics
The good news is that lighting changes alone can work well if you stick with the routine, it might take a bit of time but it should have the same effect.