Ancona Ducks

[Sally Sunshine]

Ended up with 4. They are balls of fun. :0) One has a spot on its beak.

awwww how sweet!!!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Questions about laying.....

what age do they start and how long do they lay and can I collect eggs daily or how does all that work?
or do they lay once a year or something?

 

[eggorthechicken]

The one at the bottom here, looks like its tail will be lavender but it's back will be white. How cute!

Oh good Im excited to see the colors and I love knowing ill be able to tell them apart.

 

[learycow]

Questions about laying.....

what age do they start and how long do they lay and can I collect eggs daily or how does all that work?
or do they lay once a year or something?

They usually start laying around 5 months. They will each lay one egg a day (generally though some may skip a day here or there). And they like to lay in the morning so you usually only have to collect eggs once a day.
The Anconas, around here anyways (maine) usually take the cold winter months off. So I get eggs March through November/December from my hens

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: awesome, so if I steal eggs everyday they wont stop laying!

 

[ChristineR]

awesome, so if I steal eggs everyday they wont stop laying!

No, ducks are just like a chicken that way. They'll keep laying unless they go broody.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

awesome! Thank you!!

 

[EnglewoodHill]

our Anconas did not start laying until they were almost 7 months old they laid all winter here in TN if you give them extra hours of light in the winter they will lay more in the cold months HOWEVER what we discovered is that a duck will lay only a certainl amount of eggs in their lifetime. Adding light in the winter will increase production in the short term but will not increase the total eggs she can make so you are just shortening the total length of time she will lay. So we decided not to supplement the light in the winter, egg production did go down a bit but that was okay by us. This year as days got longer and temps got warmer egg production really took off, we are getting one per hen per day every day. We have quite a few in the incubator now and are going to have one of the hens try to hatch some herself though we are advised that this is hit or miss. One heads up... while we love baking and cooking with our duck eggs ( we also have Cayugas) they are not replacements for chicken eggs across the boad, you have to develop a taste for them and so far we have NOT interms of scrambling etc. We make great egg casseroles with sausage and peppers and such to disguise the taste. Our ducks are on a pond all day so they eat "normal duck stuff" making the eggs more gamey I am sure. If you only feed them grain I am sure they would be milder. good luck with your little ones!!

 

[ChristineR]

Questions about laying.....

what age do they start and how long do they lay and can I collect eggs daily or how does all that work?
or do they lay once a year or something?

It depends on when they were hatched. My early spring hatchers start laying at 5 months. If they hatch in summer, they start laying the following spring.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: New Years eve they hatched and the drake Clem was thanksgiving