Could The Boys Be Shooting Blanks??? Sterile Drakes??

[FunnyBunnies12]

I have my October babies approximately 7mths old and only 1 or 2 females have laid approximately 3-4 eggs. couple of which were laid without the shell but only the membrane making it look and feel like a water balloon. During that time they were 5mths old, and ALL the ducks were together, including momma and dad to the ducklings, well the males did mount the females, probably more so the dad mounting the girls so I'm thinking he is fertile and fertilized the girls to produce those few odd eggs, well I seperated the parents and the ducklings because Oreo was getting beat up and overmated to the point of no tail feathers what so ever, so now it's been almost 2mths with the boy ducklings, 2 boys to 7 girls, and the girls have NOT laid eggs at all, not small ones not membraney ones, 0 zilch nodda. But the boys are mating with them, but no egg production. I was thinking of experimenting and taking the 7mth old boys out, and just putting their dad in there for a day or so and letting him mate with all the girls and see if I will end up getting egg production and if I do then I will know that the 7mth old boys are shooting blanks and unable to get the girls to produce. Or is my theory way out there and it will just take time?
Oreo is laying every other week, about 6 eggs during the cycle week well she can't keep up with my sons appetite for duck eggs, so these 7 girls need to start laying and earning their keep around here. Could my 7mth old drakes be shooting blanks?? When their momma Oreo was 5mths old(22wks) she was laying and went broody by 26wks. Any advice or suggestions?? PLEASE!?

 

[FenDruadin]

For your part of the country, it's still early in the season. Early eggs are often unfertilized. And fertilization does NOT affect egg production--eggs come whether the hen is fertilized or not, or they don't come, whether the hen is fertilized or not. No correlation.

So I think it's probably just an issue of it being early in the season for you. Stress also affects egg production, so if the female is getting battered, then she's likely not to produce as much.

Anyway, if all you're worried about is egg production, it won't matter in the least whether the boys are shooting blanks. The girls just need a little more time to warm up their reproductive systems and start producing. 7 months is still quite young and it's still quite early.

 

[FunnyBunnies12]

Thank you! Only Oreo was getting battered and has long been seperated. So I guess I just sit and wait for their biological clock to start ticking more affectively. LOL!! Makes sense, however how do these farmers and hatcheries get all these eggs and chicks/ducklings at this time of year in my neck of the woods. Sheesh, oh well time is of the essense.

 

[The Duck ABC's]

They boys are not shooting blanks. The mating part has nothing to do with egg laying. Duck hens lay eggs even when there are no males around. For a matter of fact, female hens lay more eggs when they are not being matted. One thing that stops hens from laying is stress. Overmating causes a lot of stress. Diet, molting, light etc play another role.

 

[The Duck ABC's]

Quote:
They add lights to give them 14-17 hours of exposure. Keeping them warm at night (40-50 degrees) also helps. Adding supplements into their drinking water increases production as well. The eggs will become more viable with supplementation and they get a higher hatching rate. Calcium on the side for strong shells. They use incubators with carbon dioxide control, which stimulates the incubation process.

 

[nettie]

I can let you know right off the bat, the egg production has nothing to do with your males. It's all up to the females. Females will lay eggs without a male present (their egg laying is much like a mammals "heat" or "period" their bodies drop one ova cell just more often. If it gets fertilized it will turn into a baby, but it drops and develops into an egg none the less). I have all girls and get plenty of eggs. Here's most likely the problem-

It's sill cold up in MI. I know it's still cold here in Chicago with a few nice days here and there, but not consistent yet.

The babies were born at a weird time of year, late fall, making their egg production take longer than normal spring babies.

you are in the eastern time zone. Even with Daylight savings time, there probably just isn't enough sunlight to spark egg laying hormones yet.

Here's a few things you can do to try and get your girls to start laying sooner and more often...

Make sure there is plenty of crushed oyster shell available free choice. It seems if there is extra they will eat it and it sparks egg laying. It did with all my girls.

Install a light in their coop/run so they get more light even after it gets dark. If they get more like 14-16 hours of light, they will lay more.

Give them a heat bulb in their coop until it starts to warm up.

Hopefully that helps

 

[FunnyBunnies12]

HA HA, I guess I was getting a bit impatient/worried, one of the duckling girls have left me an egg a day. I just collected my 2cd egg this morning in the duckling pen.