Oyster Shells For Ducks?

[faylinnc]

Hello BYC!

I have a female black swedish who hasn't layed in a 3-4 days, and she usually lays every 1-2 days. It's very unusual to see her not laying. I ordered oyster shells and they arrived today. Would feeding them to her be a good idea? Would it help her lay eggs again? Please respond if you know! Thanks everyone !

 

[faylinnc]

this is a picture of the oyster shells

 

[PirateGirl]

Put some in a bowl where she can have a nibble whenever she feels like it. She will only eat as much as she needs. My girls get excited when I bring them shells but the drake never even touches them.

 

[faylinnc]

Okay, thanks! It has calcium in it, that'll help her lay eggs easier, right? It won't harm her, right? Sorry, totally new to the whole oyster shell thing, haha.

 

[PirateGirl]

They use calcium they have stored in their body every time they lay an egg. The oyster shell helps replenish that. It won't make them lay. They somehow just know when they need to eat it. When my ducks weren't laying they never touched their bowl of oyster shells. The drake never touches it either. Now that they lay every day, they gobble it up. They just know.

 

[Miss Lydia]

 

[carlyducks]

Oyster shell is great for laying females. Gives them the extra calcium they need for the eggs. I always have it available for my female to eat if she needs. My drake doesn't touch it.

 

[faylinnc]

Oyster shell is great for laying females. Gives them the extra calcium they need for the eggs. I always have it available for my female to eat if she needs. My drake doesn't touch it.

Okay, thank you very much for the information. I feel a lot better about the whole situation, and I know she isn't egg bound now because she's having normal poops. Hopefully we'll se an egg soon though!

 

[house.of.ducks]

Hello BYC!

I have a female black swedish who hasn't layed in a 3-4 days, and she usually lays every 1-2 days. It's very unusual to see her not laying. I ordered oyster shells and they arrived today. Would feeding them to her be a good idea? Would it help her lay eggs again? Please respond if you know! Thanks everyone !

The same thing was happening with my ducks because they didn’t have enough calcium. The oyster shells should help, although I just use crushed up chicken egg shells, or my ducks egg shells (once I’m done using the eggs) and feed it to them and it does the same thing and is less expensive in the long run. Kale also has a lot of calcium and helps with egg production, as well as having a lot of other vitamins, plus my ducks all love it.

 

[Melscityducks19]

Do I need to wash the fresh oyster shells before I crush them up for the ducks? This is all new to me.