Ducks impacting laying production?

[disneyguy]

Hi all,

I've recently brought in two ducks - a Pekin and a Campbell - that reside next to, but not with, my chickens. The duck enclosure is right alongside the run of the chicken coop.

I'm curious - could this arrangement cause my chickens to stop producing eggs? I'm not getting nearly the egg production as I should at this point of the year, considering the age of my hens.

Thanks!

 

[fawndane]

Flocks will quit laying if you introduce new birds into their enclosure, not beside it. (Unless a duck happens to get in the chicken enclosure.)

The reasons your flock aren’t laying as many eggs is most likely because of less light during the day, cold weather, or molting. (Or an illness that you’re unaware of?)

 

[TalkALittle]

Stress causes a decrease in laying. I would imagine it is entirely possible that having new ducks directly adjacent to the chickens would be stressful enough to some chickens to throw their laying off. I would expect it to pick up rather quicker compared to if you had introduced new birds to the same space, though.

How long have you had the ducks? Has there been other changes such as coop/run construction going on?

How old are your chickens?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Yes, your quackers could be disturbing your hens and putting the quietus on egg production.

 

[disneyguy]

Stress causes a decrease in laying. I would imagine it is entirely possible that having new ducks directly adjacent to the chickens would be stressful enough to some chickens to throw their laying off. I would expect it to pick up rather quicker compared to if you had introduced new birds to the same space, though.

How long have you had the ducks? Has there been other changes such as coop/run construction going on?

How old are your chickens?

Thanks for the reply, and pardon my delay. I've had the ducks for about 2 months now, and most of my chickens are about 8 months old (hatched in April). Only "construction" has been on the putting up of the wiring to make the duck run, nothing has been done to the chicken coop/run.

 

[disneyguy]

Yes, your quackers could be disturbing your hens and putting the quietus on egg production.

Great! haha. Thanks for the reply.

 

[disneyguy]

Flocks will quit laying if you introduce new birds into their enclosure, not beside it. (Unless a duck happens to get in the chicken enclosure.)

The reasons your flock aren’t laying as many eggs is most likely because of less light during the day, cold weather, or molting. (Or an illness that you’re unaware of?)

Gotcha, okay. Thank you for the information! I've seen signs of molting, and our sun exposure is being way thrown off!