Can you train ducks where to lay?

[redbugs13]

I have 3 ducks, 1 khaki campbell, 2 fawn and white runners, one male one female. They live with 6 hens. I started getting an egg a day Saturday and am pretty sure its from the Khaki campbell as she is older than the runners. The egg is in random places of the duck house, hen house and out in the run. Last night I put a box with some hay in the duck house so she would have a designated nest, but this morning the egg was out in the middle of the run laying in the mud.

I have one hen who has started laying in the nest boxes in the hen house. Is there a way to get ducks to lay in a designated area?

Thanks.

 

[DuckLady]

Ducks are more of a squat and plop type of bird.

Mine mostly lay in straw because I don't let them out til after 9 and they have laid their eggs by then.

But they don't lay in the same spot more than a couple days in a row.
Occasionally I will find one in the mud or pool if they hold it til later in the day.

I count myself lucky that they lay where i can find the eggs.

 

[Dances with Ducks]

You could try a fake egg, it works sometimes for a while.

 

[Soccer Mom]

Mine make little nests in their shavings and lay in the duck house, but I still find occasional eggs laying around the yard. I had one duck who faithfully layed in the same place all the time, but FLeur was the exception to the rule.

The rule? Ducks just drop eggs anywhere they feel like.

 

[Goat_Walker]

I have a small chicken / rabbit hutch that sits off the ground. I keep it filled with straw and evrymorning I find my buff and magpie pilled in there together. Usually by seven they have both laid their eggs. Other than that their next favorite place to lay - if the hutch is taken- is the dog igloo. If you have them in in the morning till eight or so then they might pick a nice warm dry nesting place . Mine dont change places unless it gets flooded . The smaller and darker the space it sseems the better. They prefer the small dog carrying cage to lay in rather than their large dog houses.

 

[becky3086]

Mine always lay in the duck house but it is the only place I keep straw. I guess, I am no help because they have laid in it from the beginning.

 

[shelleyd2008]

The fake egg worked for a while with mine, but after taking the eggs they would leave it. I've heard that most ducks lay very early in the morning though, so just keep them penned up till 9 or 10 am and they should lay in their pen.

 

[Tailfeathers]

I would agree with the above where most everyone says that the ducks tend to lay whereever.

I have duck houses filled with straw. I've tried pens with boxes that are full of shavings. I've tried many things. I've finally got it down now to where the majority lay in the houses with straw but I still find the occasional egg out in the mud.

Also, it didn't take me long to figure out that the same ducks aren't going back to the same nests. I have a couple of ducks using the same nest on occasional but there doesn't seem to be any pattern to it.

Hope that helps.

God Bless,