Duck won't lay eggs in her nesting box anymore

[Chicks_and_Ducks]

Hello! I'm new, and I've looked around to see if this issue has been brought up before, but didn't see anything, so here goes:

I've had a couple of ducks for a couple of years, now, and my female Rouen has been laying beautifully in the nesting box we installed in their (cement-floored) pen way back when. For the past six-ish months, though, she'll hang out in there sometimes, but it seems all she does is poop in there. She's still laying an egg almost daily, but she just drops it on the cement, and it breaks. By the time *I* get to it, it's been broken apart and emptied, I assume by rodents.

Any idea why she would stop using the nesting box? She's free range (fenced 1/3-acre yard), and she has a couple of nests that I've found hidden in the bushes, etc, but she rarely lays in those nests, either.

I sure miss my daily duck egg...

 

[CntryBoy777]

We keep ours penned overnite and let them out about 8:30am and allow them to make their own nesting area. They will change it every so often, for whatever the reason. Have ya changed anything at all in their nesting area? Sometimes even changing out the hay or material of the nest can disrupt their feeling of safety and they also prefer to lay on another egg, so maybe an egg left in the nest will encourage her to go back to it....just a fake egg left in the nest may do the trick. If not, then I would allow her to pick her own spot and then put the fake egg in that spot. They will change spots, so don't get discouraged over it.....

 

[MagpieDucks]

Why don't you put some straw on the cement floor?

 

[chickens really]

Ducks are not like Chickens and prefer their own nesting sites if given the opportunity to do so..Try locking her in till she lays..Put something down over the cement...

 

[casportpony]

Hello! I'm new, and I've looked around to see if this issue has been brought up before, but didn't see anything, so here goes:

I've had a couple of ducks for a couple of years, now, and my female Rouen has been laying beautifully in the nesting box we installed in their (cement-floored) pen way back when. For the past six-ish months, though, she'll hang out in there sometimes, but it seems all she does is poop in there. She's still laying an egg almost daily, but she just drops it on the cement, and it breaks. By the time *I* get to it, it's been broken apart and emptied, I assume by rodents.

Any idea why she would stop using the nesting box? She's free range (fenced 1/3-acre yard), and she has a couple of nests that I've found hidden in the bushes, etc, but she rarely lays in those nests, either.

I sure miss my daily duck egg...

Welcome to BYC! Sometimes they will stop laying in a nest if the nest is infested with mites.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Could it be something scared her while she was in the box, and now she doesn't think it's safe?
It may not necessarily be rodents emptying the egg, a lot of birds only recognize the outside of the egg as not-food and will peck at and eat the insides if they see it.

 

[Chicks_and_Ducks]

Thanks, everyone! Thanksgiving kept me from coming back 'til now...hope you all had a happy one!

The pen is HUGE--too big to cover completely with straw. I do put down straw and shavings for them in the area around the nesting box.
I've cleaned the nesting box several times, and am pretty sure there are no mites involved.

I'll try the fake egg, and see if that works.

Thanks!