Egg issues II

[austroberta]

One of my 3 year old runner ducks had been having recurring egg issues. She seems to be acting fine, as in not ill, but she lays a soft shelled egg almost every afternoon. I started giving her a Citrical tablet every night before she went to bed and it seemed to help her lay a hard shelled egg for a week. Unfortunately the hard shelled egg period was short lived and she started laying soft shelled eggs in the afternoon ever since then. Most of the time there is a smattering of calcium material on them, but for the most part they are soft shell. Even with about 2 months of giving her the Citrical, she still either doesn't lay at all or lays the soft shell egg. I don't know enough about shell duct issues, but I'm thinking that something is going on with her shell duct. The egg itself seems perfect.

I've stopped giving her the pills two days ago. I'm thinking they are doing more harm than good.

She seems fine otherwise, although occasionally she will get a bit spacey while her sisters are foraging. The spaciness is momentary, as she usually goes back to doing whatever they are doing. Her appetite is great. I don't see any signs of sickness otherwise.

Does anyone have any advice?

 

[Trisseh]

Couple things to start: what diet are they on, do they have additional sources of calcium available (oyster shell, egg shells going back to them, etc), any others having any issues? Did she lay occasional soft shelled eggs prior to this? Does she strain to produce the egg or does she lay as usual?

 

[austroberta]

Everyone has free access to several pots of oyster shell calcium. I will occasionally see her nibble, but not gobble the oyster shell. Everyone else is laying eggs with nice shells. One of my ducks, Sage, went broody and stopped laying. Sage is getting her groove back and I'm seeing her eggs are thinner shelled than usual, but she isn't laying softies. My duck who lays the softies usually is standing when she drops the egg and I can tell it's uncomfortable for her, as she gets really quiet and seems to be concentrating intensely.