Soft egg binding

[SolarDuck]

Hey all long time no see, 4 days ago my ducko pipsqueak laid a pretty nasty looking soft shell egg in the pool so I've been giving her daily calcium supplements since, but the next day I noticed it looked like another egg was in her chamber and after feeling it through her it is clearly another soft shell. I've been giving her lots of calcium and putting her in the warm bathtub for about an hour each day but now it is day 3 of this egg in her and it still has not come out yet and in the tub she doesn't seem to even be trying to push it out. She is still acting normally and pooping normally, and her butt where the egg is does not seem to be getting any bigger, but naturally I am concerned with it being several days. I will keep doing what I am doing with the extra calcium and warm baths until it is out but I am wondering how long until it needs intervention further than that, and what exactly that should be. I assume that as long as she is still pooping and acting normally and the area is not getting any bigger I should just keep doing what I can to help her try and work it out but if anybody has advice it would be much appreciated.

 

[Miss Lydia]

What calcium are you giving her? When Amiga had an egg bound Runner she took her to the vet and was given Calcium Gluconate becasue it works to cause contractions to get the egg moving down and out. 1ml until the egg is laid. It is hard for them to lay a soft shell but it doesn't usually take as long as this one is taking. Keep up with the warm bath. I am not sure there is anything you can do other than the calcium Glu and warm baths. A vet maybe?

Good to see you, sorry it is under these circumstances.

 

[SolarDuck]

What calcium are you giving her? When Amiga had an egg bound Runner she took her to the vet and was given Calcium Gluconate becasue it works to cause contractions to get the egg moving down and out. 1ml until the egg is laid. It is hard for them to lay a soft shell but it doesn't usually take as long as this one is taking. Keep up with the warm bath. I am not sure there is anything you can do other than the calcium Glu and warm baths. A vet maybe?

Good to see you, sorry it is under these circumstances.

I have been doing calcium carbonate because that is what my vet had pigeon on before. Unfortunately a vet is not possible at the moment I'm barely scraping by and couldn't even afford a basic checkup and definirely not whatever it would cost to get the egg removed, I will go to tractor supply and get some gluconate though

 

[Miss Lydia]

Here is info and doses for the cal glu. Hopefully getting her started on this will get that egg out.
I am also sorry you are barely scraping by you are not alone it's been hard for many Americans to live in this economy.

 

[SolarDuck]

Ok I got the calcium gluconate and gave her a little bit more than the normal dosage because it's been in there so long. I just made her warm bath and she immediately pooped out some egg looking white flakes. She took a little bath but then started trying to just jump out of the tub which is the first time she has tried that so I'm just sitting with her in the bathroom now. I think I may try to lube her vent with some coconut oil and see if I can make any progress at trying to gently massage it out because it is day 4 now and that just seems too long.

I do think I have a syringe that could work well to try and extract the contents of the egg but I really do not want to attempt that unless it gets to worst case scenario.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I would give the calcium gluconate time to work, maybe even a second dose in a few hours I don't think it's a good idea to open the egg inside of her.

 

[SolarDuck]

Yeah opening the egg would definitely be only as a very last resort if nothing else works after a few more days. I tried taking a look at her vent just to see if there is anything obstructing it but I really can't even find her vent at all by myself and she is tired of me looking so I'm waiting for my dad to come over and hold her down so I can look for it instead of just feeling for it just so I can see if it is looking normal or if there are any obstructions and I will probably lube it up a little with some oil as well to try and make it a bit easier for her. And ok I will give her another dose of the gluconate before I put her away for the night I'm still keeping her in the run with the other ducks at night but set up a pen with her own pool in there so penguin doesn't Bully her I am really praying that when I wake up tomorrow the egg will just be out and ill keep giving her calcium daily for the foreseeable future because she is really bad at eating the calcium I put out for them.

 

[SolarDuck]

Her behind is basically hanging down all the way to the ground at this point, but she did make a little nest out of the shavings I put in her pen so hopefully that means she is trying to push it out. Fingers crossed she will manage to push it out tonight

 

[SolarDuck]

Update this morning, she unfortunately has not pushed the egg out yet. I went ahead and gave her another dose of gluconate before heading to work and will give her another warm bath when I get back

 

[Miss Lydia]

How is she acting? Sure hope it's today.