appleyard ducks laying unfertile eggs

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turtlesgalore

turtlesgalore

Songster
7 Years
Jul 22, 2015
149
67
151
central Louisiana
ok my friendly neighborhood duck people. need help please. I have an large appleyard drake for 3 silver appleyard ducks. have been getting 2 eggs day for 3 weeks now. problem is only 5 out of 12 fertile that I'm incubating. set within week of laying. This week I placed my smaller appleyard drake and his mate with the rest of flock because I read larger drakes sometimes have low fertility. environment is open range farm, with lock up at night. buried 350 gallon water tank access in day and kiddy pool in pen with fresh water 5 gal jug with nipples for fresh water at night in barn. flock game bird feed mixed with chicken crumbles. any suggestions how to get fertility up.
 
It may not be the drakes fault, it may be the hens. It may also be the time of year, as I hear fertility drops in many poultry species during the winter. It sounds like they are getting proper nutrition and have water that allows easier breeding, so those likely aren't the issues.

I hope the problem clears up soon. Best of luck!
 
Drakes actually drop their penises in fall and don't breed during the winter months. It may be that he's already dropped his.
 
DucksAndGardens said:
Drakes actually drop their penises in fall and don't breed during the winter months. It may be that he's already dropped his.
Click to expand...
Sorry, this isn't true. It's a common misconception. Domestic drakes are capable of breeding all year round, but their hormone levels drop once their exposure to daylight lessens. Are they getting at least 14 hours of light a day? If you are not adding supplemental light at night and the early morning, the hormone levels of ducks and drakes will lessen.
 
thanks, my good peeps. I'll try the lighting. Guess I'll just use these first eggs to work on getting incubators set to perfection. Dug out old metal brower from attic. cleaned dirt dobber nests out, and cleaned it up.
thumbsup.gif
and It works. Mother-n-law said it's from 60's at least. Why don't they make good stuff anymore? Thanks guys.
 

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