Duck won’t lay an egg

[cmobley]

We have 5 silver appleyard hens and a drake. 4 of the hens have been laying consistently for several months we get 3 to 4 eggs a day. I dunno which hen isn’t laying and she’s never laid an egg how can I find out which one it is other than mounting a camera. Anyone else ever had a duck hen that wouldn’t lay an egg?

 

[Jenbirdee]

most likely it’s a different hen that’s not laying each day, silver apple yards lay between 200 to 270 eggs per year therefore they do not lay eggs every day so it is probably not just one duck . there may be days occasionally where you get five but usually not. there will also be days when you get zero.

 

[cmobley]

most likely it’s a different hen that’s not laying each day, silver, apple yards lay between 200 to 270 eggs per year therefore they do not lay eggs every day so it is probably not just one duck . there may be days occasionally where are you get five but usually not.

We’ve never got 5 eggs are you saying all 5 are laying but not all 5 lay the same day? We did get a huge double yolk the other day that was comparable to a goose egg.

 

[Jenbirdee]

We’ve never got 5 eggs are you saying all 5 are laying but not all 5 lay the same day? We did get a huge double yolk the other day that was comparable to a goose egg.

most likely yes. probably all 5 are laying but they do not lay every single day.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

How old are the girls ?
Not all ducks lay daily

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I had a Khaki who laid only a handful or no eggs. I was never sure which. So it does happen.
I have heard you can squirt food coloring in their vents the night before, a different color in each. Then, the next morning when they lay, you can tell whose egg is whose. I have never tried it though. If you do try it, I would love pictures and to know if it works.

 

[cmobley]

How old are the girls ?
Not all ducks lay daily

They’re all 10 months old.

 

[cmobley]

I had a Khaki who laid only a handful or no eggs. I was never sure which. So it does happen.
I have heard you can squirt food coloring in their vents the night before, a different color in each. Then, the next morning when they lay, you can tell whose egg is whose. I have never tried it though. If you do try it, I would love pictures and to know if it works.

Yeah I gotta do something to find out what’s goin on. One hen also has a darker green bill while the others have regular orange colored bills. None have been injured or sick. And yeah they all lay either early morning or sometime at night so it’s a done deal when we get up. I might try that food coloring thing and see if it works. We’ll just have ducks with colored butts for a while lol.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

They’re all 10 months old.

My girls never took a break the first year in winter
My girls almost 2 in December started to lay in April of 2022 and haven’t missed a day yet and are in a molt
Their mom laid 15 months straight then took 2 months off in winter and hasn’t missed a day since
All my other girls that started in January 2023 also haven’t missed a day
I have pekin , pekin x khaki and Swedish
My younger ancona are not laying yet
Maybe depends on the breed as I don’t have silver appleyards
Or my ducks are machines that I hope will start to break soon as it’s not good for them to lay this much

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Yeah I gotta do something to find out what’s goin on. One hen also has a darker green bill while the others have regular orange colored bills. None have been injured or sick. And yeah they all lay either early morning or sometime at night so it’s a done deal when we get up. I might try that food coloring thing and see if it works. We’ll just have ducks with colored butts for a while lol.

But you might wake up to Easter eggs.