Cayuga suddenly stopped laying when the ducklings got put outside with her.

[RichnSteph]

Soju, our Cayuga, has been laying an egg every single day since we got her a few months back She's a little over a year old so I know it's not age that has stopped her. We recently put two ducklings outside with her (well there were three but something ate one) and within a short amount of time she's stopped laying. She used to make a little nest in the shavings on the coop floor and lay her eggs in there. Now that the ducklings are sleeping right next to her I fear that they may have caused her to stop laying until they are old enough to lay eggs themselves?

Advice on how to get her back to laying would be great.

RichnSteph

 

[Kaessa]

Stress can make them stop laying for a bit. You also might want to check around and make sure she's not laying somewhere else now that the ducklings are around.

Also, you said someone ate one of your ducklings... could it be that whatever did that is getting the eggs?

 

[RichnSteph]

Stress can make them stop laying for a bit. You also might want to check around and make sure she's not laying somewhere else now that the ducklings are around.

Also, you said someone ate one of your ducklings... could it be that whatever did that is getting the eggs?

What ever it was that got the duckling did it during the day while they were out wandering. The coop is secure at night and so far we've not noticed any disturbance during the day of something getting in there to get the eggs. I hadn't considered that she'd go lay somewhere else.

 

[Kaessa]

What ever it was that got the duckling did it during the day while they were out wandering. The coop is secure at night and so far we've not noticed any disturbance during the day of something getting in there to get the eggs. I hadn't considered that she'd go lay somewhere else.

Yep. One of mine will lay in the duck house EVERY single time, and the other one has decided to find a new place to lay every time I find one of her eggs. She used to lay in the duck house, now I think she disapproves of me taking her eggs and tries to hide them from me.