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Post by millypede on Nov 29, 2009 6:57:42 GMT 8
hi guys, my peking ducks are about 6 months old now and almost without fail there are 4 eggs each morning(one each ) in their nests but at least once a week there appears a soft shell egg in the middle of the day which is laid in the middle of the yard.love to hear your thoughts, cheers, millypede.
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Post by rap on Nov 29, 2009 10:37:34 GMT 8
Hi, This it might be of interest
Soft-shelled eggs can be caused by several different problems. If this is the duck's first laying season, it could be due to her youth. Young ducks sometimes lay some soft-shelled eggs at first. The most common cause of soft-shelled eggs, however, is not enough calcium in the diet. That doesn't mean you're doing something wrong. Even if you're feeding a laying mash which contains adequate calcium for most females, some hens (whether ducks or chickens) just need more calcium than others. You can provide supplements in a separate container, not mixed with the feed. Female ducks will then eat as much as they need. In the USA, crushed oyster shells are commonly available in feed stores and farm stores. In the UK, poultry keepers often use lime flour, available where horse supplies are sold. No matter where you live, crushed egg shells are a good choice if you can get enough of them. The supplement should be left out at all times for the ducks. Sometimes a lack of vitamin D is the problem, for without vitamin D, calcium can't be utilized. Ducks that are allowed outside in the sunshine produce plenty of vitamin D in their bodies, so that's usually a problem only in poultry kept indoors.
Less commonly, soft-shelled eggs are caused by diseases. There are several adenoviruses that can do this. Some of them will cause no other symptoms, while others will eventually produce illness in the ducks. If the soft-shelled eggs continue after calcium supplementation, but no illness appears, one of the milder adenoviruses may be to blame. Newcastle disease can also begin with the laying of soft-shelled eggs. It's a serious disease and is usually fatal. There no treatments for viral diseases.
If you have male ducks as well as females,you may not want to feed a laying mash. They usually have to much calcium for male birds (because they aren't producing eggs) and that can lead to kidney problems. I feed my ducks a duck & goose feed, and provide a pan of ground oyster shell for the females. That way the males aren't getting too much calcium, and the hens can have all they want.
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Post by millypede on Nov 29, 2009 13:11:12 GMT 8
thanks for the info rap, the eggs that i get in the mornings are all fine, the soft shell one only comes in the middle of the day after i have already collected one egg from each duck, so one duck is laying two eggs in a day, i wonder am i feeding them too much or is it that they are young and their systems are still a little out of order, cheers, millypede.
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