Strange Egg...

[DuckDuckPromise]

Hi there friends! Today I was in the ducky pen... I gathered all of their eggs, went about some other daily chores, the usual. I had only gathered one egg from a group of 3 girls. Usually if one doesn’t lay, it’s just that. One. But today two eggs were missing.. I didn’t really think too much about it, from my understanding they can take random hiatuses... I left to turn off the water hose, came back around the house, and there was an egg!! This egg had not been there right before. This was later in the day, about 6 ish, which is kind of late for our girls... but that’s not even the strangest part! When I got closer, I seen that the egg was very.. transparent. It was close to being see-through, but not all the way. When I went to pick it up, it was bendy. Thank the Lord, my fingers didn’t go through it, I just had to be careful and cradle it with very little pressure. Lord’s Willing, I’ll post pictures soon. It was already almost dark when this happened, and I didn’t want to bring it inside! Does anyone have any idea what could cause this?!?! When I told my Momma, she said “get on that duck page and see what they say!!!” She wanted me to ask if it was a nutrient deficiency, a problem that needed something added/taken away, or what the general thoughts were! Anything y’all know is more that what I do when it comes to this, so please help me to figure this out! Y’all have a blessed evening!!!

 

[Aunt Angus]

Soft shell eggs are often the result of calcium deficiency. Or ot can be a new layer working out the "kinks" in their systems.

How old are your girls? And what do you feed them?

 

[DuckDuckPromise]

Soft shell eggs are often the result of calcium deficiency. Or ot can be a new layer working out the "kinks" in their systems.

How old are your girls? And what do you feed them?

That’s good to know!!! Lord’s Willing, if calcium is the problem, what can I do to help her? They were March babies (of this year.) They started laying somewhere around August of this year. Does that help any?!?!
They get layer pellets and some corn (just cause they seem to like it!!!) Mostly layer pellets though. I think the last bag of layer pellets was actually for chickens (we have both...) Do they need a ducky specific food? Thank you so much for the answer!

 

[Aunt Angus]

They do have duck specific food. The main issue with chicken feed is the niacin content. Ducks require more niacin than chickens. It's easy to supplement with nutritional yeast flakes on their food or niacinamide or B complex in their water.

For calcium, the layer feed should be good, but you can also have oyster shell free choice for them. If you know which duck is experiencing problems, you can direct feed a human calcium tablet once.

 

[DuckDuckPromise]

They do have duck specific food. The main issue with chicken feed is the niacin content. Ducks require more niacin than chickens. It's easy to supplement with nutritional yeast flakes on their food or niacinamide or B complex in their water.

For calcium, the layer feed should be good, but you can also have oyster shell free choice for them. If you know which duck is experiencing problems, you can direct feed a human calcium tablet once.

Where do I get the nutritional yeast flakes?! And How does one figure out which duck is laying which egg?! Please forgive all the questions, I’m still learning!! Thank you again for all of your help!

 

[cheezenkwackers]

A rubber egg every once in a while is no big deal. Especially when the layers are young, like yours, and at the end of the laying season, which is now, for ducks which lay seasonally like Pekin, Swedish, etc. You did not mention what kind of ducks you have. If you get more soft shelled or rubber eggs you might then want to look into why. For now, I would not change a thing. I think it is pretty normal.

 

[DuckDuckPromise]

A rubber egg every once in a while is no big deal. Especially when the layers are young, like yours, and at the end of the laying season, which is now, for ducks which lay seasonally like Pekin, Swedish, etc. You did not mention what kind of ducks you have. If you get more soft shelled or rubber eggs you might then want to look into why. For now, I would not change a thing. I think it is pretty normal.

Yay!!! Thank you for commenting! Does that mean that they stop laying soon? (We are 100% new to duck laying!) and you are so right! I’m sorry!! These that I’m talking about are Pekin ducks!

 

[Aunt Angus]

I order mine from Amazon, but you van find them at health food stores. And if you figure out which duck it is, let me know how! I only know the eggs my Swedish lays because they're greenish. My Saxony lays a HUGE egg, but my I cant tell which are laid by my Runner or my Welsh Harlequin.

And don't apologize! I'm not an expert. I'm just telling you what people told me when I asked the same questions! Haha!

 

[DuckDuckPromise]

I order mine from Amazon, but you van find them at health food stores. And if you figure out which duck it is, let me know how! I only know the eggs my Swedish lays because they're greenish. My Saxony lays a HUGE egg, but my I cant tell which are laid by my Runner or my Welsh Harlequin.

And don't apologize! I'm not an expert. I'm just telling you what people told me when I asked the same questions! Haha!

Awesome! I wonder if Tractor Supply carries it. And good!! I’m glad to know we’re not just oblivious to who lays what, those girls are simply sneaky egg layers!!
It makes me feel so good that I’m not the only one out there asking so many questions, I can’t thank you enough!!!