duckiquackers
Hatching
- Apr 17, 2015
- 9
- 5
- 9
Our flock has had a rough summer. First we had to euthanized one of our hens because of a serious recurring bumblefoot infection that didn’t respond to treatment. Then within the span of a week, we lost our drake and another hen to a predator (got into their nighttime pen and killed them). In the course of a month, our little flock of 7 lost 3 members. We reinforced the pen and solved the predator issue, but now 3 of my 4 remaining ladies are not laying.
They are Welsh Harlequins, only a little over a year old, and they started laying in September 2015. Before the predator attack I was getting an egg a day from each of them. After the attack, 2 stopped laying but I was still getting 2 eggs per day for a week or so. Now I only get one egg per day, and I suspect it is from the same female (she is always the one leaving the nest box in the morning when I go out to feed them). The predator attack was 3 weeks ago. I know stress can affect laying in poultry, but I’m wondering if something else could be going on. Their diet is good (outside forage, laying pellets, oyster shell added every now and then for calcium, brewers yeast added every now and then as a supplement) and it’s the same as it has always been. They all look to be in good health and enjoy looking for bugs, bathing, and doing ducky things in the sunshine.
I love my ducks for their own sake, but seriously…where are my eggs?
They are Welsh Harlequins, only a little over a year old, and they started laying in September 2015. Before the predator attack I was getting an egg a day from each of them. After the attack, 2 stopped laying but I was still getting 2 eggs per day for a week or so. Now I only get one egg per day, and I suspect it is from the same female (she is always the one leaving the nest box in the morning when I go out to feed them). The predator attack was 3 weeks ago. I know stress can affect laying in poultry, but I’m wondering if something else could be going on. Their diet is good (outside forage, laying pellets, oyster shell added every now and then for calcium, brewers yeast added every now and then as a supplement) and it’s the same as it has always been. They all look to be in good health and enjoy looking for bugs, bathing, and doing ducky things in the sunshine.
I love my ducks for their own sake, but seriously…where are my eggs?