I adopted two Rouens who are about a year. I heard that ducks are seasonal layers (true?) and my ducks went into molt after I got them. How many more laying years do these girls have? How many eggs can I expect in a season? Thanks!
There are NO dumb questions. There are just questions that I don't know the answers to yet. My sister has a chicken that is still laying everyday during summer at the age of 10 years. So unless you can't provide for the ducks, keep them as long as they meet your needs. They need a water source like a pond or and swimming pool and food, everything else is a bonus. Light will effect a birds laying cycle. Chickens need at least 14 hours a day. i am not sure what ducks need. I would think that being a bird it will be close.
My Mallard hens have been laying since January! Every once in a while, they take a break and then begin to lay again. They are kept indoors at night. The drake keeps them happy.... BTW, I raised the ducks from ducklings born last year in late May.
Quote:Unlike chickens ducks molt every year at least once most twice. And yes they tend to be seasonal layers because natural ducks mostly migrate and their laying & hatching,had to match with their migration times. If they hatched late the ducklings would not be ready for the migration South and would die in the cold and lack of food of the North in the winter. As ducks were domesticated they were bred for meat or egg production (Rouens are meat birds) Yours should have about 5 more years of decent egg production left though they tend to slow as they age even 10 year old ducks continue to lay a few eggs each spring. Ducks are programed by nature to cut back egg production as soon as the days start to get shorter (about the end of June) again domestic breeding has an effect upon this. As for the number from Rouens, you could look it up because I have not raised them.
Quote:I knew these ducks had laid eggs before I got them and then they went into molt. Rouens don't lay a lot of eggs (there are better producers out there like Khaki Campbells) but for free, it's hard to argue. These gals get a lot of water and have a turkey, two leghorns and a RIR roo for company. They're skittish, but that's the nature of the last home they were in. (A fox got all the chickens and ducks except them and a Polish chicken).
