worried duck mum

[trees]

hi all, just wondering if you can give me some advice?

i have a 6 month old, approx, duck who was fine yesterday but today seems very off. she is laying or stood away from the others, she looks very unhappy with her tail downwards, is not making any noise, not come to greet me or play in the garden with the others and appears to be 'contracting' her back end. been like it at least since 4pm which is when i got home from work and noticed.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

i will post a pic of them soon too as i would like some idea of what breed they are,

thanks in advance

Nic

 

[jdywntr]

Has she started laying yet?

 

[lovin my birds]

Being 6 months old she may be ready to start laying. If she already has there is a possibility that she is eggbound.

 

[trees]

well i have three females. i had two eggs yesterday and two eggs today so not really sure who has laid and who hasnt...

plan on keeping her separate tonight to try and work out who's laying and who isn't and to keep an eye on her

thanks for your quick replies!


eeeeeekkkkkk update;

just gone out to check on her and shes up running around now with the other, there is however a very soggy broken egg in the pen she was layed in. do i need to do anything to stop this happening again or should she be ok? she eats the same diet as the others and their eggs seem fine.

 

[jdywntr]

If it is just a membrane around the egg without the shell, that happens with my chickens sometimes. If I remember correctly it is the egg moving too quickly through the body but nothing to worry about. When mine first started laying I'd get those every now and then.
Glad to hear she looks good though.

 

[trees]

it looks like a soggy, not hard shell, shes pinged back to her normal self now so hopefully she will be ok. she is now playing in the pond with the rest of them...

thanks for all your help

 

[lovin my birds]

Thats great! Im glad she is feeling better. I dont think you really need to do anything. My chickens did that when they first started laying. I havent gotten one from my ducks yet but im sure I will.

 

[FenDruadin]

I bet she'll be fine. Soggy, membranous eggs are very common when ducks first start laying. They also tend to lay tiny, enormous, odd-shaped, and strangely textured eggs early on. Her system is still figuring it out, so probably she was just the equivalent of "constipated," and she'll be fine now. What a relief it must be!

 

[trees]

thanks, you are all right. she is totally back to normal now. No eggs at all this morning though so think they have all not laid in sympathy!

 

[tbitt]

Quote: