Soft shelled egg laid at 3:43 in the afternoon

[austroberta]

You could always have a nice duck dinner.

I could if I weren't vegetarian.

 

[EggWalrus]

Awwww, how terrible. Maybe you'll outgrow that one day.

 

[DucksOhio]

I have a sad story about not providing oyster shells.

I had been providing expensive parrot-type oyster shells to my ducks, and ran out last summer. Eggs looked good, so I didn’t replenish the supply.

One of my young khaki girls one day seemed really Lethargic, so I ran her in to my excellent vet.

He wasn’t sure what was wrong with her, so he kept her in his clinic, providing antibiotics, syringe feeding her (she wasn’t eating), xrays, etc.

After day 4 in his excellent care, she died.

He insisted (and didn’t charge for) a necropsy. What he found was a “ton” (his words) of undeveloped, shell-less eggs in her reproductive system.

When he asked me if I provided oyster shells, I admitted I had not done so for about a month. He stressed the importance of this.

Remember, khaki campbells are bred to be super egg layers. I think that means they need all the help they need to continue to produce healthy eggs.

 

[austroberta]

I have a sad story about not providing oyster shells.

I had been providing expensive parrot-type oyster shells to my ducks, and ran out last summer. Eggs looked good, so I didn’t replenish the supply.

One of my young khaki girls one day seemed really Lethargic, so I ran her in to my excellent vet.

He wasn’t sure what was wrong with her, so he kept her in his clinic, providing antibiotics, syringe feeding her (she wasn’t eating), xrays, etc.

After day 4 in his excellent care, she died.

He insisted (and didn’t charge for) a necropsy. What he found was a “ton” (his words) of undeveloped, shell-less eggs in her reproductive system.

When he asked me if I provided oyster shells, I admitted I had not done so for about a month. He stressed the importance of this.

Remember, khaki Campbell’s are bred to be super egg layers. I think that means they need all the help they need to continue to produce healthy eggs.

Ironically, I have so many eggs, but as I have gotten older, I’ve developed an aversion to eggs...chicken, duck or any. I get a terrible stomach ache if I eat them.

So sorry for your loss!

It's my runners that are egg laying. My KC is a drake.

I was providing a small bowl with Oyster shell, but I really saw only one of my ducks partake. The pile I gave them seemed to stay the same size every day so I don't think all my ducks were eating a whole lot of it. When they were laying eggs every day over the summer/fall, I saw they would really go at it. They would also eat every single egg shell they could get their beaks on. One of my older ducks stopped laying in the fall and I definitely don't think she has been eating the oyster shell. My other duck just stopped laying recently, and has started molting. I would see her nibble her oyster shell, but she didn't eat a whole lot of it.

Since I saw Sage's Shell-less egg, I offered her some and wasn't interested.

My ducks do free range all day and since they have cleaned up most of the slugs, I imagine they are finding mostly sow bugs, which have calcium. We've been getting lots of rain, so the sow bugs are easy to find and plentiful.

I do give them greens as well. Lately, they have not been interested.

 

[DucksOhio]

I'm not sure what sow bugs are, but I wish they were here!
So fascinating talking to other duck people from all over!

 

[DucksOhio]

So sorry for your loss!

It's my runners that are egg laying. My KC is a drake.

I was providing a small bowl with Oyster shell, but I really saw only one of my ducks partake. The pile I gave them seemed to stay the same size every day so I don't think all my ducks were eating a whole lot of it. When they were laying eggs every day over the summer/fall, I saw they would really go at it. They would also eat every single egg shell they could get their beaks on. One of my older ducks stopped laying in the fall and I definitely don't think she has been eating the oyster shell. My other duck just stopped laying recently, and has started molting. I would see her nibble her oyster shell, but she didn't eat a whole lot of it.

Since I saw Sage's Shell-less egg, I offered her some and wasn't interested.

My ducks do free range all day and since they have cleaned up most of the slugs, I imagine they are finding mostly sow bugs, which have calcium. We've been getting lots of rain, so the sow bugs are easy to find and plentiful.

I do give them greens as well. Lately, they have not been interested.

You seem like a very caring duck owner...I imagine your girls will be fine. My thoughts for you!

 

[austroberta]

I'm not sure what sow bugs are, but I wish they were here!
So fascinating talking to other duck people from all over!

Good old rolly pollies. You probably have them too. I typed sow bugs because it was shorter. It's been a long day.

 

[austroberta]

You seem like a very caring duck owner...I imagine your girls will be fine. My thoughts for you!

I absolutely do care about my ducks. Unfortunately sometimes care doesn't cut it with ducks. I've had ducks for about 18 months and I've lost 2 already out of the 6 total I've brought home. It broke my heart each time and I really don't want to lose any more.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I'm just really concerned as this appears to be her FIRST egg and she plopped it out in the afternoon. (Although to be quite honest I have not been looking in the yard to see if maybe she has laid other eggs that I just have not seen.) I would expect as things go along I would find a few soft-shell eggs, but the first egg? I almost had to use a hammer to crack the eggshells of my older ducks when they laid their first egg.

I just hope that it was an egg laid too soon, that is an egg that should have been laid in the next morning but came out in the afternoon before.

idk! I check my run everyday for eggs if all 6 didn't lay in the pen before I let them out in the morning. It's rare that all 6 lay for some reason so I've always on the lookout. Luckily the whole run is a void of grass now so they are easy to spot.

I'd put out a neighborhood shout out on Nextdoor to see if anyone wants a KC drake. My husband thinks CL is terrible for re-homing animals.

If no one wants him, I really don't know what I will do.

I've had good luck on Craig's List for finding and rehoming. I do make sure that they aren't going to eat the duck though and I also ask what kind of protection they have for the ducks.

 

[DuckyDonna]

So sorry for your loss!

It's my runners that are egg laying. My KC is a drake.

I was providing a small bowl with Oyster shell, but I really saw only one of my ducks partake. The pile I gave them seemed to stay the same size every day so I don't think all my ducks were eating a whole lot of it. When they were laying eggs every day over the summer/fall, I saw they would really go at it. They would also eat every single egg shell they could get their beaks on. One of my older ducks stopped laying in the fall and I definitely don't think she has been eating the oyster shell. My other duck just stopped laying recently, and has started molting. I would see her nibble her oyster shell, but she didn't eat a whole lot of it.

Since I saw Sage's Shell-less egg, I offered her some and wasn't interested.

My ducks do free range all day and since they have cleaned up most of the slugs, I imagine they are finding mostly sow bugs, which have calcium. We've been getting lots of rain, so the sow bugs are easy to find and plentiful.

I do give them greens as well. Lately, they have not been interested.

At first, I tried a bowl for the oyster shells but they kept knocking it over and made a mess. So I took a medium sized clear plastic coke bottle, cut it in 1/2 drilled some holes in the bottom for drainage and wired it right to the fence inside their run. It only holds about 2 cups of oyster shells but that set up works good for me and they don't spill much of it. They instinctively know to eat it when they need it and my 6 runner girls deplete it in about 2 days.