Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My ducks have been laying weird eggs lately. One of them lays normal eggs with really fragiel shells. The other lays either weirdly shaped eggs, eggs with no shell and just a membrane or tiny bird-egg sized eggs or a combination of the three.
Do I have to give them some sort of calcium supplement? Right now theyre fed grain and these pellets (I think they're protein pellets).

BTW, does anyone know any vets that can give ducks checkups in Christchurch, New Zealand?

Hey,

It sounds as though your duck does has a problem, and most likely is caused by a calcium deficiency. I would recommened going to any Vet for advice as they would have some general knowledge on birds, but a more specialist would be more suitable. I live in the UK so i know know of any Vets were you live. Maybe you could do a serch on the internet.
Ask pet shop owners or any breeders in your area for advice aswell.
Problems like this can lead to many other problems, one is Egg-Binding. It would pay to research that aswell. Its a well known problem and can lead to death.

Hope your duck does ok, Mel X

Do you mean it kills the ducklings or the duck? Coz i dont have any drakes so i wont have ducklings anyway.

Hey,

Egg bindind only effects females. There are several reasons and causes for it, so rather than writing a long list i've found a few websites that have good and reliable information.

http://www.surrey.ac.uk/~cus1fb/fowl/eggbound.html
http://www.multiscope.com/hotspot/eggbinding.htm
http://www.callducks.net/egg_problems.htm

I would suggest that you get your duck(s) to a Vet as soon as possible. Just to make sure that there are no serious problems.

Mel X