Why are my ducks layings eggs without shells?

[tjcschwar]

Hi -
I have four female khaki campbells that were born in May. I got the first egg Labor Day weekend, and they were starting to lay pretty regularly (3/day). But in the past 24 hours I have gotten one regular egg and 3 eggs without shells. Someone told me that means that they are not getting enough calcium. After the first one, I thought that it was one duck was still figuring out the whole egg-laying thing, but two more means (I assume) that more than one duck is affected. The other factor is that it has just gotten very cold (Massachusetts). Could that be why?

I am a newbie to poultry-raising.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[saddina]

What are you feeding them? Should be a label on the bag with the % calcumum, if it's not added into the formulia, you'll need to buy it seperate and add it in.

 

[tjcschwar]

I am feeding the Blue Seal Grower-Cal Pels. They say they have 0.8-1.2% calcium.

 

[Bleenie]

I think they need more than that, that just doesnt seem like very much at all. i would add some to their food and see how things go after a few days.

 

[Wifezilla]

Sometimes it takes new layers a while to work out all the kinks in the egg factory. I offer a bowl of oyster shells for the girls. They grab what they need.

 

[tjcschwar]

Thanks!

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
see if you can get crushed oyster shells where you get the feed and put that in a seperate container so they can Help themselves if they feel they need it. or you can cook and crush regular egg shells and return it to them to eat. It is not unusual for hens to have problems with shell less eggs when they first start laying but when they lay shell less eggs after they have started it usually means they need more Calcium and they can not borrow anymore from their bones. you need to be carefull with these birds untill they have managed to get enough Calcium to replace what they have borrowed from their bones as they can break bones easily. I am not sure but I think 3% calcium is the normal level in laying rations. 1% sounds like normal feed to me.

 

[seramas]

Many time it is just a glitch in the growing/maturing process that with time will correct it self.
They are not utilizing calcium correctly. They could be deficient in boron and/or magnesium—these minerals tell the body what to do with calcium. This can be lacking in diet or a genetic malfunction. Vitamins D and K tell the body to absorb calcium.

Wal-mart has 3mg boron tablets cheap. Dissolve 2 in 8 ounces of very hot tap water. Once tablets are completely dissolved, dilute to a 1 gallon volume with cool water.

Make a 1 to 1 ratio mash with some of their feed and the boron water. Give them this to eat each morning for about 1 week. If it’s not genetic this will correct it.

 

[tjcschwar]

Today I got 4 lovely eggs from 4 ducks. It was a first! So maybe the problem has worked itself out. I also bought grit, and they all gobbled that - but that was yesterday, so I don't think that the grit had an effect on last night's eggs. Maybe the problem did just work itself out.

Thanks for all of the feedback!