@Star78
Hi,
Have you started giving her extra calcium? Whether she is laying or not right now, if her last few eggs had soft shells, it is a good idea to add calcium. Also, if she is not outdoors much, she may need a boost of vitamin D, and in winter I give my ducks a little bit of good quality dry cat kibble.
I agree with what Miss Lydia has said. Mallards are generally seasonal layers, though my White Mallard is laying now and has been for, hmm, a few weeks. She goes on and off, lays for a few weeks, takes a rest.
The factors that affect laying are, I feel, more than those we read about. We read about light hours, diet, mostly, also mating and illness including parasite load, but I know stress and even, I suspect, social interactions and environmental factors affect them. I know temperature affects laying, I saw that our first year.
Eggs can get stuck. Sechs was eggbound just this past week. Praise the Lord, she passed the egg yesterday morning. Rumpled up bit of soft egg shell. But that is very serious for a number of reasons. Her symptoms were mild lethargy, standing away from the flock, walking stiff-legged and slowly, staring off into space, and tail pumping. She held her tail downward, too. There was also some egg white and later, egg yolk, coming out when she pooped.
Among other things, we gave her extra calcium to help get her system back on track.
Hi,
Have you started giving her extra calcium? Whether she is laying or not right now, if her last few eggs had soft shells, it is a good idea to add calcium. Also, if she is not outdoors much, she may need a boost of vitamin D, and in winter I give my ducks a little bit of good quality dry cat kibble.
I agree with what Miss Lydia has said. Mallards are generally seasonal layers, though my White Mallard is laying now and has been for, hmm, a few weeks. She goes on and off, lays for a few weeks, takes a rest.
The factors that affect laying are, I feel, more than those we read about. We read about light hours, diet, mostly, also mating and illness including parasite load, but I know stress and even, I suspect, social interactions and environmental factors affect them. I know temperature affects laying, I saw that our first year.
Eggs can get stuck. Sechs was eggbound just this past week. Praise the Lord, she passed the egg yesterday morning. Rumpled up bit of soft egg shell. But that is very serious for a number of reasons. Her symptoms were mild lethargy, standing away from the flock, walking stiff-legged and slowly, staring off into space, and tail pumping. She held her tail downward, too. There was also some egg white and later, egg yolk, coming out when she pooped.
Among other things, we gave her extra calcium to help get her system back on track.
