Estimating when Ducks will start Laying

[cayugaducklady]

Hi,

My cayuga hens are starting to escalate their mating behaviors.

Three of the four have dents in their neck feathers.*

Three out of four are head bobbing consistently for many minutes at a time. (They were just head bobbing during their last grooming session of the night before bed).*

Three of the four play chase in the doggie pool.*

Two of them have fluffy low hanging feathers on the lower half of their bodies. Two them are still carrying those feathers high & tight.

I had originally estimated that they would start laying around October but now i'm worried that they are going to start much sooner.

I'm positive all four are hens. They all have the same clear quack. Two of the hens are larger about a pound larger than the other two.

They hatched in May and were received from the same hatchery on the same day.

I'd like to be as prepared as possible before they start laying.

*The fourth hen has never been observed participating in any of the behaviors. She is not the smallest hen in the pack but she did have the leg sprains as a wee duckling and had daily metacam for a few weeks while she healed.

I'm interested in the behaviors and curious about how close my girls may be to starting laying.

 

[GitaBooks]

Ducks may start laying 18-25 weeks of age, though I hear some take much longer. Some ducks start as early as 16 weeks, though I think this is usually more for the commercial, early maturing breeds.

 

[cayugaducklady]

Thanks.

Their mating behaviors are ramping up.

I have to decide quickly if will do a refill order of grower feed or layer feed. Since I've seen it posted here that ducks shouldn't eat layer feed before 4 months of age I'll probably order grower feed & a bag of oyster shell that i can free feed.

I'm hoping that one my hens is not a drake because his/her second molt feathers are growing in greener, more brilliant than the other flock mates.

We are not raising meat birds and aren't ready for more ducks yet.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

Thanks.

Their mating behaviors are ramping up.

I have to decide quickly if will do a refill order of grower feed or layer feed. Since I've seen it posted here that ducks shouldn't eat layer feed before 4 months of age I'll probably order grower feed & a bag of oyster shell that i can free feed.

I'm hoping that one my hens is not a drake because his/her second molt feathers are growing in greener, more brilliant than the other flock mates.

We are not raising meat birds and aren't ready for more ducks yet.

Just to make sure it's not misunderstood, non-laying ducks shouldn't be on layer feed and oyster shell. It doesn't have anything to do with a particular age of the duck. No matter how old your duck is or how often it's gone into laying mode in the past, giving excess calcium to ducks whose bodies can use it can cause tons of medical issues that may not be apparent until the duck is near death.

 

[cayugaducklady]

Thanks for the clarification . I do appreciate it.