Soft shelled eggs for days in a row

[Kleonaptra]

Ive never forced a molt, but molting does affect egg laying. All my girls just took a holiday, every single one. 3 big pekins never have, (just been occasionally inconsistent) and my little calls never lay regularly, they always have trouble. I tried everything - sitting up for an egg thief, adding calcium, adding B1. There were no eggs until this week when soft shells started showing up.

Then my mum in law suggested warm porrige. We are experiencing severe weather, so I made a batch of oatmeal and gave it out warm mixed with their layer pellet. 4 eggs the next morning! I did the same last night, 2 eggs this morning. I didnt make it tonight, I wonder what I'll find tomorrow?

I used rolled oats, quick oats and oat bran cooked slowly in water with a dash of milk and golden syrup.

 

[luluweezie]

Another thing that can cause soft eggshells is parasites, like threadworms. An inexpensive preventative is to add some Diatomaceous Earth in with her feed. Every time I get a new bag of feed, I mix in a cup or two of DE -- can't hurt them and will get rid of any parasites that might be lurking.

 

[Gigglebox]

I know this is a late response but I'm wondering how your problem is going, or if it's resolved...? Also, i found this on the duck treats sticky and wondered if it applied to you:
"There is debate about whether or not spinach should be given to ducks. Spinach can reduce the amount of calcium absorbed by ducks bodies, which can cause egg binding issues in females. Even if you feed your ducks calcium, like oyster shells, eating spinach in large amounts or often, can hinder calcium absorption, and cause your ducks to have very little or no shells are their eggs. If a duck has little or no shells on their eggs, they get stuck inside, usually resulting in death. If you decide to give your ducks spinach, it should be limited to small amounts on rare occasions. (perhaps this would be better to do during the non-laying season)."

Not sure what you're feeding the duck but maybe this is worth looking into.

 

[duckman4450]

Update:

She has still not laid a good egg since posting, which was over 3 months ago. She shows no other symptoms besides the eggs. They come out in the shape of a real egg but are just squishy kind of like jello.

I only give her layer feed and oyster shells, with the occasional peas and lettuce. I have even put calcium in her water and got special calcium enriched food but nothing has made her lay a good egg which leads me to believe it's not a calcium problem.

Can anyone give me medicines I can give her for parasites or whatever may be causing this? Thanks

 

[luluweezie]

Diatomaceous Earth cleared our similar problem up in a couple of days. We also use it on other animals regularly to get rid of threadworms and other intestinal parasites, as well as fleas & ticks. It even works around the house on ants and any insect that has an exoskeleton. It's safe enough for people to take it in a glass of water when you buy the food grade quality. And it's pretty cheap.

 

[casportpony]

Update:

She has still not laid a good egg since posting, which was over 3 months ago. She shows no other symptoms besides the eggs. They come out in the shape of a real egg but are just squishy kind of like jello.

I only give her layer feed and oyster shells, with the occasional peas and lettuce. I have even put calcium in her water and got special calcium enriched food but nothing has made her lay a good egg which leads me to believe it's not a calcium problem.

Can anyone give me medicines I can give her for parasites or whatever may be causing this? Thanks

You could de-worm with liquid Safeguard for goats at 0.23ml per pound orally for five days in a row. Tractor Supply sells it for about $23. You could also try giving her calcium orally at 50 mg per pound a few days in a row and see if that helps.

-Kathy

 

[duckman4450]

You could de-worm with liquid Safeguard for goats at 0.23ml per pound orally for five days in a row.  Tractor Supply sells it for about $23. You could also try giving her calcium orally at 50 mg per pound a few days in a row and see if that helps.

-Kathy

Thanks Kathy. I just bought some off of amazon along with some syringes. I've never given her oral medication so we'll see how this goes I will report back after a few weeks to let everyone know how it's going.

 

[duckman4450]

Diatomaceous Earth cleared our similar problem up in a couple of days. We also use it on other animals regularly to get rid of threadworms and other intestinal parasites, as well as fleas & ticks. It even works around the house on ants and any insect that has an exoskeleton. It's safe enough for people to take it in a glass of water when you buy the food grade quality. And it's pretty cheap.

Hi, Luluweezy, thanks for the reply. I did research and only found people putting it in duck pens to get rid of bugs, but didn't see anybody giving it to them as a medication. If the dewormer I bought does not help, I will try the DE. Thanks again

 

[CyndiD]

Thanks Kathy. I just bought some off of amazon along with some syringes. I've never given her oral medication so we'll see how this goes I will report back after a few weeks to let everyone know how it's going.

Hi duckman4450 how is your duck doing? Has she laid hard shell eggs yet? Did she molt yet? I sure hope she is doing well. Is she your only duck?

 

[CyndiD]

I have a pekin (7 months old) who starting laying and the eggs shells are soft, like a thick balloon. I have found some broken and some in tack. All my ducks get oyster shell and grit w/calcium. I bought DE a few days ago and will give some to all my ducks. I will buy some calcium citrate tabs and try that, and some good quality cat food. My ducks get wheat grass, lettuce, peas, eggs (scrambled) and egg shells (chicken & duck). I will keep you posted as to how my pekin is doing. Thanks for all the help on this thread.
P.S. How does the phosphorus come? is it a powder, a tablet?
I found this site... http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p..._poultry/mineral_deficiencies_in_poultry.html
I'm still searching for info on ducks.