Is a Drake needed to trigger egg laying??

[MTtroutwithwings]

I have a pair of female mallards who are 8 mos old. I used to have three females & one drake who I hatched all together last summer. At 5 mos. of age, all three females were laying while the drake was around. I gave away the drake & one female @ 6 mos. of age and about a week later the egg laying stopped. Do females need the presence of a drake to produce eggs?

 

[DuckLady]

No, but mallards are more of seasonal layers. Mine laid in spring and again in fall.

 

[MTtroutwithwings]

Thanks Terrie, that was what I was wondering. They started laying in Dec. so I thought at first they were like my chickens but like guineas, ducks are game birds so maybe the mallards were seasonal like them too. Thanks for clarifying!