Very abnormal duck eggs - No idea what it is!?!?!?

DucksBySurprise

Chirping
Jun 2, 2016
16
29
70
Pittsburgh, PA
Hi everyone! I must warn you, this is kind of a long story....

I have 2 Khaki Campbells, Lucy and Jane. (Mocha, the 3rd one was killed in February by a hawk :( )

In late November, I have a picture of the last time I know all 3 of them laid a normal egg, because I took a picture.
For at least the past 3 months, but probably longer, one of them, I wasn't sure who, was laying a very soft egg. I didn't think it was daily and I didn't know which one was doing it. So basically, I wasn't worried....
Mocha was the most dominant of the 3, and it wasn't until after she was killed that I realized how much. Mocha had perpetual boredom I think and found it fun to pick on the other ones. Hindsight tells me that Mocha was breaking and eating or playing with soft eggs a lot and I wasn't realizing.

With Mocha gone, I'm seeing that it's Jane laying these soft eggs consistently and every day!! So I kept doing more research and read other people's advice and I've tried at all:
1. Yes, they get oyster shell, their feed has enough calcium in it according to the label.
2. I supplemented her with calcium citrate for 5 days straight and saw no changes.
3. I supplemented her with calcium gluconate for 4 days and saw no changes.

So now we're up to 2 weeks ago on this crazy timeline and I picked up Jane's soft egg and I could see a dark spot inside. This was very odd. I opened up the egg and it was a grayish color with some white clumps in it, it seemed to be on the yolk, and all of it was soft. My first thought was parasite, but what the hell do I know? I've never had ducks before!! I showed a farmer friend of mine and she too thought parasites and suggested I use a dewormer. She picked me up some Wazine 17, and after all the math and using the dosage for chickens, I gave Jane and Lucy a dose. I don't like giving them anything if I'm not sure it's the right thing to do, so this has all been making me nervous. I have photos that I will post soon. Every egg Jane lays though feels like a little water balloon, like the membrane is there but the shell never develops at all. I've even been timing them and there's always more than 24 hours between her eggs, so I don't think it's her cycle, but I really have no clue!! Any advice would be great!! Thanks!
 
What are you feeding them? Could you provide a link to the product?

The grayish thing found inside could be a “meat spot”. Just an abnormality/malfunction in the egg making system! I attached some pictures for an example I found online.
 

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What are you feeding them? Could you provide a link to the product?

The grayish thing found inside could be a “meat spot”. Just an abnormality/malfunction in the egg making system! I attached some pictures for an example I found online.
OMG!!! That is exactly what it is!!! I actually stopped for a minute and had to remember that I didn't put up any pictures..it could have been one of mine! Thank you so much!!

The feed we use is like a Dumor Layer feed for chickens, I just can't remember the brand. I have to be honest too, we "supplement" (sarcastic font)...OK, we spoil them with Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, corn or peas (never with added salt), watermelon, Cheerios (the plain ones), and we add no more than 10% dry oatmeal into their feed too most of the time. I also have NutriDrench on hand, but again, I'm not comfortable dosing them with whatever whenever...then I'll really have no idea what's going on!

Thanks again! I can't wait to do more research!
 
OMG!!! That is exactly what it is!!! I actually stopped for a minute and had to remember that I didn't put up any pictures..it could have been one of mine! Thank you so much!!

The feed we use is like a Dumor Layer feed for chickens, I just can't remember the brand. I have to be honest too, we "supplement" (sarcastic font)...OK, we spoil them with Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, corn or peas (never with added salt), watermelon, Cheerios (the plain ones), and we add no more than 10% dry oatmeal into their feed too most of the time. I also have NutriDrench on hand, but again, I'm not comfortable dosing them with whatever whenever...then I'll really have no idea what's going on!

Thanks again! I can't wait to do more research!

No worries about the meat spot ;) Glad I could help you figure that out!

Did you say only June was laying soft eggs? Is she doing anything differently than Lucy? Eat more or less? Sleep somewhere else? Do you have the oyster shells as an option next to the food or do you mix it in?
 
That's what is weird...Jane always lays shell-less water balloon feeling eggs and Lucy's have been fine. They both eat all the same things, feed plus healthy treats, and Lucy's have a normal shell. My muscovy, Quacker, she eats feed 95%of the time on average. She tends to be moody about treats and sometimes eats a healthy amount but she is mostly straight feed, and her eggs are like dinosaur eggs!! They never fit in a standard egg carton and the shells seems super strong. I have been adding oyster shell to their feed, but I did just read that I shouldn't do that because they will eat what they need, but they never touched it when I put it out in a separate dish. The only thing that is different between the two is that Jane will often make this pumping/contraction like movement for a few hours before she finally lays the egg. Sometimes while this is happening she will lay down and not immediately follow Lucy if she leaves. She doesn't seem to be in pain when she does this, but she she is definitely pre-occupied by it. The bloom is there when she lays it, but the outside of the egg does have a slightly rough feel to it. It's definitely not a smooth hard shell that will slide out. Do you think she's struggling to push it all the way out? I'm so worried that she's suffering and I'm not able to figure out what is happening.

I did find some meat spots on Lucy's eggs as well, but Jane seems to have them on almost every single one. Are they dangerous? Can they be prevented?

Thanks again!!!
 
Hmmm. Well from what I have read meat spots are from when a blood vessel pops (which isn’t dangerous-it’s normal) and becomes a part of the egg. Something along those lines anyways. But if the meat spot is in every single egg she may some sort of damage in her production system! Is it possible to see an avian vet? Or perhaps just call one? I feel they would be the best option at this point. This situation seems to be at a different level than home remedies unfortunately.
 
This is an excerpt from an article (I don’t have full access to it):

THE occurrence of blood spots in eggs of the domestic fowl has been considered generally to be caused by genetic and environmental factors. A suggestion that diet might be associated with the incidence of blood spots in chicken eggs was noted at this Station (Bearse and Miller, 1940) when in experiments on vitamin A requirements of laying hens, diets with a low level of this vitamin produced eggs with numerous small blood spots. The occurrence of increased blood spots was attributed to a possible vitamin K deficiency because of low levels of alfalfa in the rations fed.

Many nutritional factors have been studied to determine their effect on production of blood spots in eggs [Nalbandov and Card, 1944, 1947; Denton, 1947; Carver and Henderson, 1948; Sauter et al., 1952]. While some of these investigations showed a beneficial effect from grass range, dried cereal grass, and fresh cut and dehydrated alfalfa, . . .”


I would try just feeding strictly your Dumor Layer Feed and Oyster Shells. The excess oats and veggies could have more of an impact than we think! I am no nutritionists but it’s worth a shot I’d say :confused:
 

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