how to STOP ducks from laying eggs?

[fatty and friends]

i have 2 duck hens (and 3 drakes, separated of course) they are both almost 2. one of my girls has been laying eggs daily since i believe the beginning of july 2020, is there any way to get her to stop laying eggs? *besides from having them go broody, i don’t want ducklings*

*my ducks are just pets. we do not eat, sell, or use their eggs in anyway. all the eggs they lay are fed back to them or thrown out*

 

[Quatie]

There are a few ways, but they may or may not work. One way is to put them in the dark. I didn't have much luck with this method personally, but I have only tried it once.

Another way is to make them go broody. You can do it with fake eggs. I tried that, but my duck was too smart and I had to use her eggs. She stopped laying after 4 eggs and went broody. I only let her sit for a week but it was enough to stop her laying for a few months and molt.

I have heard people of using drugs to stop them. But I know nothing about it, other than you would need to talk to a vet about it.

Other than that. You want to maintain their calcium levels and can supplement it with calcium gluconate or calcium citrate until they get old enough to slow down and stop. That is currently what I am doing with my pekin.

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

@Daphne_loves_mealworms I believe messes up their area daily, sort of tosses the joint to disturb their comfort levels, being creatures of habit, it disturbs the habits and helps prevent laying. Maybe she will chime in.

 

[fatty and friends]

@Daphne_loves_mealworms I believe messes up their area daily, sort of tosses the joint to disturb their comfort levels, being creatures of habit, it disturbs the habits and helps prevent laying. Maybe she will chime in.

mine are so used to going on adventures that wouldn’t help lol, even when they’ve spent the night at other peoples houses she has laid daily, a few times she’s laid two a night

 

[KaleIAm]

I have successfully had my duck stop laying eggs twice with the following method. Before I explain please note that I ONLY did this under a vet's supervision, direction, and with regular checkups and bloodwork for my bird. My duck had severe reproductive disease, needed surgeries, and would have died from continuing to be reproductively active.

1) Consistent daylight schedule of 10 hours a day. No noise during "night time." We followed this year around with a blackout coop.

2) Limited calories. Scratch only in the am and pm for about 10 minutes. A little forage during the day. I also gave my duck a mealworm a day because they were her favorite - I got vet approval.

3) Hurricane protocol. Frequently moving around their items, like bowls, water buckets, ect to completely different places.

4) No stimulating touch. Do not touch the bird on the back, under the tail, neck, anywhere that birds touch birds when mating.

5) Remove eggs and destroy all nests immediately!

There are also the hormone implants and injections, but those are not approved for use in ducks so I would be surprised if you could get a vet to put one in a duck who wasn't very sick.

If your ducks are living inside with you I would consider your lighting first. And again, I only restricted my duck's food because she was very sick, needed me to, and our vet told me to. She lived an extra 5 years, very happily.

 

[Weeg]

I have successfully had my duck stop laying eggs twice with the following method. Before I explain please note that I ONLY did this under a vet's supervision, direction, and with regular checkups and bloodwork for my bird. My duck had severe reproductive disease, needed surgeries, and would have died from continuing to be reproductively active.

1) Consistent daylight schedule of 10 hours a day. No noise during "night time." We followed this year around with a blackout coop.

2) Limited calories. Scratch only in the am and pm for about 10 minutes. A little forage during the day. I also gave my duck a mealworm a day because they were her favorite - I got vet approval.

3) Hurricane protocol. Frequently moving around their items, like bowls, water buckets, ect to completely different places.

4) No stimulating touch. Do not touch the bird on the back, under the tail, neck, anywhere that birds touch birds when mating.

5) Remove eggs and destroy all nests immediately!

There are also the hormone implants and injections, but those are not approved for use in ducks so I would be surprised if you could get a vet to put one in a duck who wasn't very sick.

If your ducks are living inside with you I would consider your lighting first. And again, I only restricted my duck's food because she was very sick, needed me to, and our vet told me to. She lived an extra 5 years, very happily.

This is very interesting information. Nice method @KaleIAm, I'll have to keep this in mind.
I wonder if you could do this protocol until they laying stopped, then return them to normal and the low lighting from winter would keep them from laying eggs until Spring? I know that broodiness right before winter kept my hen from laying of the most part. She laid 2 eggs after coming out of broodiness, then stopped for the winter.

 

[Weeg]

I think the above suggestions are all really great ideas. If you aren't able to get her to stop laying, or you want to have added immune security, then boosting the immune system is always a great way to prevent disease, illness, and other issues. Not sure if it will help with reproductive issues or not, but the healthier the immune system, the healthier the duck, the less likely to suffer from illness.
To boost the immune system, rose hips powder, mushroom powder mixes, ginger, garlic (wether this is safe or not is debatable), hemp hearts and other seeds, herbs, pumpkin, probiotics, antioxidants, and lastly, Echinacea is a very affective natural immune booster. If you give it to dogs before they're exposed to illness they can completely avoid catching it.
This article for dogs explains some of the information behind a few of these immune boosters, and dosages. The dosages will have to be adjusted for ducks, but I don't think any of it can be overdosed. - https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/boosting-your-dogs-immune-system/?utm_source=klaviyo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Content: Immune Boosters + Kale + 3 Ways Raw Helps Your Dog's Mood - Oct 25 (VHFv2B)&_kx=aLpu1CaD4r2NpNcGSykQ3C9EWU3u1wEVaZ5OFDlIE44=.C4YyV9

Ps. Most of this research I've done is through Dogs Naturally which you'll notice I linked a lot of articles and products to. Because of this, most of the research is for dogs. You may have to adjust dosages, or do research on specific products if your concerned about them for ducks. Hopefully the above info can be helpful to you and your ducks. Good luck Lilli!

 

[KaleIAm]

This is very interesting information. Nice method @KaleIAm, I'll have to keep this in mind.
I wonder if you could do this protocol until they laying stopped, then return them to normal and the low lighting from winter would keep them from laying eggs until Spring? I know that broodiness right before winter kept my hen from laying of the most part. She laid 2 eggs after coming out of broodiness, then stopped for the winter.

For us, since in winter we have less than 10 hours of daylight, we put a lamp in their coop/barn room and had it on a timer set to be on for 10 hours. Then we opened the door after it was light out. Our worry with letting them have a natural daylight schedule in the winter was that when the daylight began increasing on December 22nd that would trigger egg production. My vet was pretty clear that every day needed to be the same length.

The first time we "turned off" eggs in late spring. Then in the fall when the days got short we just stopped thinking things were better and the seasons would take care of things.

The second time she got sick was summer and our vet said we needed to continue for the rest of her life. So we did.

 

[fatty and friends]

2) Limited calories. Scratch only in the am and pm for about 10 minutes. A little forage during the day. I also gave my duck a mealworm a day because they were her favorite - I got vet approval.

so just duck feed and no treats?

3) Hurricane protocol. Frequently moving around their items, like bowls, water buckets, ect to completely different places.

mine are used to change since they’ve been going places with us since they were like 2 days old, so would this still work?

4) No stimulating touch. Do not touch the bird on the back, under the tail, neck, anywhere that birds touch birds when mating.

i have a drake with them (who is bonded to them and would probably get depressed if he was seperated) so even if i didn’t pet her i don’t think this would work?

5) Remove eggs and destroy all nests immediately!

i do that daily, and feed eggs back to them

 

[KaleIAm]

so just duck feed and no treats?


mine are used to change since they’ve been going places with us since they were like 2 days old, so would this still work?

i have a drake with them (who is bonded to them and would probably get depressed if he was seperated) so even if i didn’t pet her i don’t think this would work?

i do that daily, and feed eggs back to them

The goals of all these tactics are to make the duck feel that this is not a good time to have babies. It may or may not work. Personally I wouldn't restrict my duck's food unless required for a health reason and told to by a veterinarian.

1) Daylight - it is winter, not safe to raise babies.

2) Not just no treats, but scratch only. Not even duck food. I was free feeding Mazuri duck food, and my vet had me feed scratch - and not even free feed. I was horrified, but it worked. I had to separate my ducks for feeding time so the other ducks could eat Mazuri. Since scratch lacks nutrition the duck doesn't have the nutrients to make eggs. Really, I would never be ok doing this without regular bloodwork and vet exams - which my duck had. As my duck became older (5+ years) her vet told me to give her small amounts of Mazuri maintenance along with her scratch, but not layer. Since as an older duck she needed the nutrition.

3) Hurricanes time is not a safe time to have babies. I don't know if this will work for your ducks are not since they are used to an inconsistent routine. But it won't hurt, right? And it is one of the easiest to do.

4) My girls were very sexually active together and I never interrupted them. My duck who had reproductive disease was the one duck who seemed to enjoy me touching her a little, and I did stop because my vet told me to and it was her life at risk. I did continue to touch her bill and feet only. And I head bobbed at her, and she head bobbed back at me to show affection that way. I took her on long walks almost everyday and she enjoyed sitting close to me.

5) Great about removing the eggs! Apparently keeping eggs around stimulate more egg production, as do nests. If you want to reduce nutrition I wouldn't feed the eggs back to them. But personally, I would only do that if they are having health issues with laying.

My dark khaki was an egg laying machine for the first few years of life, even giving eggs everyday all winter long. She'll be 8 soon and hasn't had any issues aside from some lopsided or thin shelled eggs. She takes winters off now. I understand the fear of reproductive issues, very much. I'm longing for the day my ducks experience henopause.

Are your sweethearts sick, or are you just afraid they'll become sick from the tax on their bodies from continuous egg production?