ducks have stopped laying AND mating-why?

[gumpchu]

I have 8 females, 3 males, Pekin and Rouen. They range in age from 6 months to almost 3 years. I noticed a few months ago they just stopped laying altogether. Last year, they laid all year even in winter. Nothing has changed in feed or housing. They free range during the day and go into a fenced-in pond area at night. I let them out usually after 10 a.m. I have read that mating has nothing to do with egg laying BUT I have also noticed the males have no interest in the females at all. Normally the males have to have at it with each female everyday and now nothing. Low T for ducks?? They are not that old so I can't see age being a factor. Any suggestions as to what else it could be?

 

[Amiga]

Flock dynamics and hormones are unfathomable to me, it could be any number of things.

iamcuriositycat discovered that a chemical leached from her garden hose (used to supply water) was rendering her flock unproductive. No eggs. No apparent reason.

That's just one of the most unexpected reasons I know of.

Low-grade infections with bacteria, fungi or parasites could cause trouble.

Trauma, physical or emotional can interfere.

Temperature, nutrition level (some ducks just need much more of some nutrients, regardless of what the books say), genetics, feed issues . . .

Any of this give you an "aha" or even a "wait a minute now I remember?"

 

[Going Quackers]

Is it cold? The first year i had ducks they laid often through winter, then they got smart this year they stopped late fall... now i do have one who has kicked off again after we had a warm spell last weekend and that in turn got the drakes going too.

While i won't say to rule out illness, if they look good, act good otherwise it's probably just a seasonal break. Ducks ARE seasonal layers so a rest in the winter months is normal.

I was -12C today NO one was doing any lovely dovey stuff today i can assure you lol

FYI, mine range from 5mths thru basically 2yrs..

 

[gumpchu]

Amiga...I am sure there are tens of hundreds of possible reasons but was looking to see if there was an obvious one I may be overlooking. Guess I will have to give it til spring to see what happens. 2 of my females (the 6 month olds) may be my determining factor. If they don't start laying soon as they should, then I will have to look into their water sources as a possible culprit. We have 2 ponds here. One of them is rather scary as it is a man-made fish pond with no filtration system. The other one is a very large natural pond that allows water to move in and out of. They drink from both so perhaps there is something in that scary pond that is turning off the egg factory.

Going Quackers...I am in Maryland and our winter up to now has been relatively mild to the point of warm so I was wondering if temperature was really playing a part in this. They look good and act perfectly normal (except for the excessive mating that use to go on out there). I will just keep my eye on them and hope for the best.

Thanks for your posts.

 

[Amiga]

Amiga...I am sure there are tens of hundreds of possible reasons but was looking to see if there was an obvious one I may be overlooking. Guess I will have to give it til spring to see what happens. 2 of my females (the 6 month olds) may be my determining factor. If they don't start laying soon as they should, then I will have to look into their water sources as a possible culprit. We have 2 ponds here. One of them is rather scary as it is a man-made fish pond with no filtration system. The other one is a very large natural pond that allows water to move in and out of. They drink from both so perhaps there is something in that scary pond that is turning off the egg factory.

So, gumpchu, I looked back over your posts, trying to sift for clues. Nothing has changed in their feed or housing.

Could you describe their feed and housing? Just looking for clues.

 

[gumpchu]

their feed is a waterfowl feed of 18% protein from Southern States. They've been on that for over a year. their "housing" is nothing more than a man-made fish pond enclosed by a 6 ft fence right next to the house so no predators can get to them. I'd say it was approx. 600 sq ft. They go there at night and free range on 5+ acres with an even bigger natural pond during the day. Absolutely nothing has changed since they were laying and now except the days are shorter (but are now starting to get longer again) and colder.