Duck Poop

Amy

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Hi
My female duck who is currently mating but not yet laid any eggs has developed an odd poop...it is whiteish in colour and just a watery, cloudy mass. Is this normal?

Thanks
Amy
 
Hi Amy, how old is she? If adult she should have been laying for a few months by now- the droppings can be very watery- what are you feeding? Are you sure you have a pair?
regards, David :)
 
Hi David

My ducks are rescued from the wild. One is blind and the other cant fly. Not sure what you mean by a pair...on a couple of occasions over the last few days we have seen them mating in the water and she is acting a little odd...as though looking for somewhere to lay. Im not sure how old either one is but the girl we have had for 3 months and she has never laid an egg!

They get fed same as our chucks...layer pellets, mixed grain and fresh veg and fruit!

Thanks
Amy
 
Hi Amy, what i mean is- are you sure you have a duck and a drake? if they are both the same sex they will still mate- if there are no others around-are they mallards? if so, then they will look different if you have a pair.
regards, David :)
 
Hi Sorry David, yes they are definitely duck and drake. They are wild mallards so female is brown with blueish stripe on wings and drake has the deep green head and the purply coloured neck!! :)
 
Hi Amy,

I wonder if the funny duck poo might just be some hormonal stuff? I have a duck who had a prolapse (she now has a stitch in her bum). Before it was stitched then there were these glands exposed that white milky stuff just seemed to emit from most of the time. The vet said she had no infection.

My duck had been laying eggs though, so maybe the problem with yours is something different.

If your ducks are rescued from the wild, you won't know what age they are, will you? If they were old then the duck might not lay, but I think you would be able to see if age was the problem. Are they free range or in a run? Ducks can be funny and will not lay or lay at random times of the day and places if the mood takes them!

Goodluck
 
Hi

Thanks for your message. I did wonder about hormonal stuff as she has just started doing it now she is mating.
They are wild mallards and my husband seems to think they dont lay like domestic ducks...that they mate and lay during their season otherwise parks and countryside would be overrun with ducklings and if they just laid eggs daily like chickens, there would be lots of eggs piled up everywhere?!? This kind of makes sense to me but I just dont understand why she wont lay now! The first time she mated was Sunday so maybe there is time yet!
They are in a large run - 140m2 with a pond but she still doesnt seem to like anywhere to lay but I think she wants too.
The ducks sleep with the hens and whilst the hens roost, the ducks have their own ground, covered nesting boxes and this morning one of the boxes looked like someone had spun a lovely bowl shaped nest with the straw around the sawdust (the ducks get a bit of straw on top of their sawdust!) but no eggs!

She is eating, drinking, splashing around on the pond as normal. Looking at her, I dont think she is old though.
Any other suggestions?!?!?!
 
Hmm, I'm not sure then. The nearest I have to a wild mallard is a Call Duck Mallard Drake who comes and goes as he pleases, and I'm not expecting any eggs from him!

I would imagine that wild ducks may well lay less than domesticated ones. I'm not sure if ducks would have more than one set of young within the season either. It certainly sounds like eggs are being thought about. I hope she is not egg bound - although I think you would know about that too, as she would look like she is straining.

Maybe you should buy some fake eggs, or a golf balls, and put them in the nests, and see what happens? I bought 3 fake duck eggs and put them in the duck nests in their house the second week of February. A week later they were laying. I did however thing they were showing signs of starting to lay before I put the fake eggs in, ie wandering from home.

How long have your mallards been living in the run for? Are they quite tame? One of my ducks just lays randomly late in the morning, so we are losing her egg, as they are free range but just get locked in their run at night. I have also found an outside nest one was laying in. They can be quite fickle - coming over all broody, then just loosing it again, although I would think wild mallards would be less like this.
 
I have had the ducks for 3 months. They seem happy enough. I wouldnt say the were tame by any stretch of the imagination but they dont mind me being there. Every week I see an improvement in their attitude towards me so I guess I am slowly building up trust with them...hopefully one day they will be tame and let me stroke them.

She is acting normal today...I have not seen them mate for the last day or so so maybe its passed?? Im not very clued up on wild ducks at all as their habits are different to domestic. She doesnt look in any discomfort and she doesnt seem to be trying to lay at all so no straining.

Honestly I think I spend more time worrying about my ducks and chucks than anything else!!!! :D
 
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