Odd duck egg

[muddypaw66]

Hey there,

I just collected an egg from my Ruen and it was very odd. The shell was thinner than usual, with a small divet at one end, and it was covered with bumpy/soft-ish calcium deposits(?). The other day, there was an egg with a little splotch of deposit on it, but nothing like this.

To the best of my knowledge, she and her sister are about 4yrs old or so. I'm not really sure since they adopted me, not the other way around. She and her sister (a mallard) eat Purina duck chow, and get treats of worms, but otherwise forage around the yard. Recently, they also scored a bit of dry cat food, which isn't the best, but you know how ducks are. They have a "pond-le" (not quite a puddle and not quite a pond) and play in there all the time.

I attached a pic. You can see the divet on the top right ...

What do you think is going on?

Thank you for your help!
Kristy

 

[HollowOfWisps]

It is calcium deposits. A egg like that here or there is nothing to be concerned about and fairly normal. If it starts happening daily then it usually means they are getting too much calcium.

 

[muddypaw66]

Ah, okay! That's kind of what I was thinking, but wanted to make sure. They both have had a few spots here and there over the past couple of months, and an odd pointy-head egg, but they've been normal otherwise.

They do eat a LOT of oyster shell ... At what point does this kind of egg become a problem? More than a few in a week? Or when she has other obvious signs of difficulty?

Thank you for your help!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

What do you think is going on?

According to my current understanding, the shell itself being thinner than usual.. points more to a shell gland hiccup than simply too much calcium.. which would be those deposits on top of a nice hard, regular shell..

 

[HollowOfWisps]

According to my current understanding, the shell itself being thinner than usual.. points more to a shell gland hiccup than simply too much calcium.. which would be those deposits on top of a nice hard, regular shell..

Short term yes it is just a hiccup and happens, long term issues with calcium deposits I have seen this when people are feeding a layer feed to ducks. When ducks have too much calcium in their diet it causes them to pull calcium from their bones more than they should which causes the long term calcium deposits.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Short term yes it is just a hiccup and happens, long term issues with calcium deposits I have seen this when people are feeding a layer feed to ducks.

Including thinner than usual shells, per the OP?

The shell was thinner than usual,

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Including thinner than usual shells, per the OP?

Yes, because high calcium diets actually cause the duck to pull more calcium and minerals from their bones than normal which causes the deposit build up on the eggs. Their reproductive system goes into overdrive and does not function properly.

 

[muddypaw66]

Thank you Hollow and Egg for your help.

If it's the feed she is eating (Purina Duck), which is the only duck specific food my feed store sells, what would you recommend feeding them instead? I cannot get Mazuri duck locally. Wish I could. My local feed store sells game bird feed and feed for a variety of farm birds. Should I mix something else into the Purina Duck to cut the calcium? The only other thing they get is meal worms and whatever bugs they scrounge in the yard.

I don't really care if my ducks lay eggs ... I always give them away anyway. My little mallard is an egg factory. My ruen usually takes a day off every other week or so. They're just about ready to go on strike for a few months like they usually do around the end of May through August or so. Thank heavens LOL.

Thank you again for your help!

 

[muddypaw66]

Hey there,
I'm back again with the same kind of issue with my Rouen (Darkwing), now "odd-ified". She is about 4 yrs old and lives with her 4yr old mallard sister (Lucky). Both eat Purina Duck pellets (can't get anything better/different locally). They both love oyster shell and mealworms. They'll knock on the door for mealworms. Over the course of the year (see above post), the Rouen has been sporadically laying odd eggs, usually with thinner shells or bumpy, chalky shells. And lately, all of the above and now with odd shapes ranging from oooo-ahhh shape with a super pointy end, to a variety of jelly bean, oblong shapes.

Over the course of the past year or so, we've been increasingly overrun by the wretched rats (working on that!), which I know stresses the girls out to some degree, so I stand out there while they eat so the rats don't come around. The rats have been stealing the eggs over the past few months, and leaving the shells behind.

Neither girl is what I'd call friendly enough to pick up, but occasionally I can get Darkwing to let me pet her (only if I have the mealworms jar). I've "thought" that recently (within a few months) that she "might" be looking a little "not as chunky" as she had been. And recently, it rained and they both looked waterlogged, like a wet feather duster. They dried up fine and the wet look didn't linger, so it doesn't appear to be wet feather.

Based on the replies above for a similar condition, should I pull the oyster shell from their menu for a while? Or find a way to switch their food to something else? I don't care if they lay or not. They're pets and I don't rely on their eggs. I just don't want them to have issues that cause their eggs to be odd, because that would mean a health condition.

Any info would be helpful.

Thank you for your help,
Kristy