First egg!

[Bryanccfshr]

one of my Pekin ducks gave me a first egg They were hatched in March. The egg is perfect in shape with a good solid shell I will eat it when I get a couple more. I am hoping my April and May runners start soon too.

 

[Airplaneguy57]

I have a IR born in march and have gotten zero eggs. I'm wondering when she will start delivering

 

[Amiga]

My earliest runner laid at sixteen weeks, then took a few days off. We have eleven of them, by the way.

Everyone was on board with laying about two weeks ago, which would be (counting on fingers) about five and a half months (they hatched on 2/22). A friend with blues (mine are black and chocolate) just started getting eggs last week.

Are they getting oyster shell supplements or laying mash? They need that about four weeks before their first egg (as if we had crystal balls). I could tell we were getting ready by their behavior and milky vent discharge. Have you seen that yet?

 

[Amiga]

Bryanccfshr,

I meant to say - Congratulations!!!! How fun to have your first egg! Got a pic?????

 

[Bryanccfshr]

Thanks. I will take pics when I get home today. I have been feeding 20% Grower pellets with lots of garden treats. I have had oyster shell out for about 6 weeks and 3 weeks ago started mixing it into the feed trough as well. Today I bought A bag of 20% layer pellets and will leave the oyster shell on the side for free choice supplementing.
I was prepared for a rouch irregular shell or odd shape as I often hear about on first eggs but this is a perfext exra large sized egg. The shell seems smoother than a chicken egg. I am certain it is from the pekins as they have been displaying mating behavior for a couple of weeks now. THe runners are smaller so thinking they wont take 22 weeks like pekins to lay I am going to go ahead and start then on the layer too since they are all in the same big pen.

All I can say about my pekins are they are loud and they are spoiled! The Scared stage is over and all my ducks now associate me with weeds treats, sunflower heads, sqaush opened up with seeds or String beans. It's Very exciting to get to this milestone.

 

[Amiga]

Milestone, indeed! Wonderful!

Summer squash? Any particular variety? I am always looking for free treats for my ducks. They like dandelion and chickweed in their water, they like to noodle around with jewelweed. They eat some of it. They love peas, but I don't have enough sunny garden to grow many, so I buy them (peas helped me train them to be friendly).

I am cautious introducing them to new food - want to avoid illness if possible. They do not like raspberries, strawberries or red lily leaf beetles. They love slugs and worms, and eat squash bugs (hallelujah!)

They like Good King Henry, a perennial leafy vegetable.

 

[katharinad]

Just remember the higher protein content will force the production of extra large eggs. It is not always good for a duck to continuously being forced to lay such large eggs due to high protein intake. You should reduce your protein to 15-17% only. Layer feed is not good, if you do have drakes, non laying hens, or adolescent ducks around. It does contain the oyster shell in it and it can harm those ducks. You may want to switch to regular feed and offer the oyster shell on the side for those that need it. The other ones will not eat it.

 

[Amiga]

I am giving my runners 2/3 maintenance ration (16% protein), 1/3 layer pellets (20%) a large handful of cat kibble per two to three pounds of pellets, free choice oyster shell.

I make some variations in their feed, depending on how the eggs look and how they behave. For a few weeks I have sprinkled a few tablespoons of oyster shell in their dry food, because we had a few eggs that were very thin shelled. If I don't get them into the garden during the week, I add some chick sized grit, since their substrate is sawdust and coir in the day pen.

Their eggs are coming out at about 50 to 60 grams, with the occasional 90 gram double yoker. They are just about jumbo chicken egg size, it seems to me. These are runners, as I mentioned, and I have read that their eggs are close in size to chicken eggs. I have read that Wifezilla's runner laid large eggs, I think.

 

[Bryanccfshr]

Quote:
Thanks. Feed is such a difficult subject. I mix the layer with some grainto bring it down to about 18% plus all the snacks they get such as grass and veggies lowers their daily protien a bit in the winter since they will eat much more I will lower daily protein to 16%.

I have drakes and an adolcent that I may have to be concerned about. I have heard both sides of this argument about allowing drakes or roosters access to layer feed. so now I am thinking of running by the feed store when I leave work and exchanging for flockraiser. Whatya'll think?

 

[katharinad]

One bag is not going to hurt, it is more the long term thing. Storey's guide to ducks is pretty good reading material. I have a couple of other books on top of it, and it can spin your head. Metzer Farms has a nice chart on their site:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/NutritionalRequirements.cfm
Only down side is that most ready mixes are not that good when it comes to content listings. You assume they are mixing it right when it comes to the minerals and vitamins etc. You should reduce the protein intake. No need to pay for premium if regular works just fine.