What age do Ducks start to lay?

[secretquail]

Do they lay throughout the winter? I have 18 in the bator, but I am only familiar with quail. My quail stop laying when they don't get 12-14 hours of sunlight/day.

 

[Wifezilla]

Sunlight is the key for ducks too, but some breeds go longer through the winter before stopping. I have Welsh Harlequins now, but I have also had khaki's, runners and a buff. They all took off December and January, but start laying again in February. You can give them supplemental light if you want, but I think they earn some time off

We're talking about a runner - so I doubt she would brood them in the first place - but with my luck you never know.

LOL. I thought the same thing. Chrissy set me straight!

http://bluefeatherfarm.blogspot.com/2010/05/successful-hatch.html​

 

[Krissy7]

I was wondering when my Khaki Campbell will start laying every sight says a different thing

 

[Oddyse]

Krissy7, I have the same question so I thought I would bump this up to the top for you/us

 

[Amiga]

There are some clues, at least, there were with my runners.

First, Storey's Guide said that smaller breeds can start laying as early as sixteen weeks.

At about twelve weeks, the girls (no drakes) started acting out breeding behaviors - so I took a guess that this was the beginning of their systems maturing. I started setting out oyster shell free choice at that time, since the recommendation was to start o.s. about a month before they start to lay (I asked myself, "so how do I know ahead of time?"). I think it was a good guess. At 16 weeks, 4 days someone laid her first egg, and it took another six weeks for everyone else to begin.

In other areas of behavior, it is obvious the ducks have not read the books. Cold tolerance, dark tolerance, reputation for being high strung, nothing like what the books say.

 

[OrangeNational]

If you're in the north, most likely next spring if they were hatched this spring

 

[maxxsmommy]

same thing i was wondering, i have 3 ducks obviously its bad that 2 are males and 1 is a hen but they are all around 17 weeks old and i have not seen them mate and i have not found an egg yet... They free range all day but i look in all the places i see them. They are all Silver Welsh Harlequins.. any ideas on why they are not mating and not laying?

 

[cbohn80]

my oldest hen is a 7 month old pekin. still no eggs, my 2 cayugas are 2 months younger and no eggs either. what gives?

 

[Going Quackers]

My 4mth old muscovy hens started this month..

 

[Xlilpinkfing]

I have a female muscovy duck.Shes six months old.And she still hasent layed any eggs.Im not sure why but if anybody knows why can they please tell me. Is it cos she lives in a purple cage inside the shed? Does she need a nest box or do you think its too cold.Thanks