Psychological Egg Laying

[dumbusername]

Hi all, My ducks wont lay at the same time as any others. They take turns. Whichever ducks dont lay, lay jelly eggs with the tubes still attached. I have my Muscovie ducks seperated from my Pekin and mallard mixes, so they lay regardless of what the others do, but my Pekin and Mallard mixes refuse to lay eggs at the same time. Does anyone else have this problem? They act like they are jelous of one another, like im the drake and if they feel ive chosen another, they stop laying fully formed eggs. Also, one of my newly introduced mallard mixes seems to be busting the others eggs. Do I have to separate my ducks that are supposed to be social, to get them all to lay or?? But, my ducks are first and formost pets, and i eat the eggs. Im not breeding and im not selling eggs.

 

[Amiga]

I would increase the amount of calcium they are getting.

Here, we feed layer feed, with free choice oyster shell on the side, and I still add calcium citrate to the food regularly, because we have a number of ducks who otherwise lay soft shelled eggs.

I also add turmeric to the food (even though it stains) because that is anti inflammatory and I feel it will help prevent egg troubles. It also helps prevent leg problems with one duck in particular - she's between 7 and 8 years old, and was limping a bit before I started the turmeric.