I'm doing something wrong

[Harriet&Lucy]

I'm getting no eggs at all. I have six ducks: two 2 year old ducks, two 5-month old ducks, and two 5 month old drakes. I've never had an egg from the young ducks, and the older ones have stopped laying as well.

Food? I feed them all-purpose and layer feed (1/2 and 1/2) and kitchen scraps.

Crowded? The duckhouse is 4' by 4' and they're in it from sundown to sunup. They have a yard 40' by 30' during the day, with two kiddie pools.

No privacy? The nestbox is 2' wide, leaving a 1' space on either side which is not covered. For a while, one of the older ducks laid her eggs in both of those spaces.

My chickens have slowed way down, so maybe it's the dark and the rain (Puget Sound area), but my older ducks laid through the winter last year. So, I think I must be doing something wrong. Help?

 

[Kevin565]

How much daylight are you getting?

 

[Harriet&Lucy]

7:40A to 4:19P, so less than 9 hours. And, honestly, it's been raining around here the way people think it rains in Seattle, and heavily cloudy. Could it be that simple?

What I've been most worried about is 16 square feet for 6 birds, including drakes. That doesn't seem like enough. But, of course, that's the most difficult to fix.

 

[jdywntr]

Their breed will determine how much space they need but you are at the bare minimum for housing space if they are even just medium size. 2.5-4 sq ft per bird is recommended. If the nestbox is actually taking up some of the 4x4' of floor space then they are overcrowded.

Egg laying depends on breed, daylight hours and age. Your older girls have probably stopped because of the time of year and your younger ones are about the age to start but because of the time of year probably won't start til spring.

 

[ChristineR]

I'm in the Puget Sound area, too, and none of my ducks are laying right now. I currently have 9 month old ducks and 3 year old ducks. I've noticed that my ducks that hatch in the early spring will start to lay the same year (usually late August). If they hatch later in the spring or summer, they haven't started to lay until the following spring (your 5 month olds would fall in that category and probably won't start to lay until spring). You may not be doing anything wrong, it's just the time of year.

I do think their 4'x4' house is a little small for six ducks. I don't know that that has anything to do with them not laying, though. My ducks lay anywhere. It seems like wherever they happen to be when it's time, is where they lay them.

 

[Onewiththeducks]

To me 4'x4' seems a little small. For six Pekins, I have an 8'x4' coop off of my back shed and a "doggy door" that leads into the shed here they have a 9'x4' chicken wire pen. They also free range during the day.

 

[wildpeas]

I am also in the Puget Sound area and my ducks are still laying every day. They do have a dim night light though I don't know if it makes a difference.

 

[Amiga]

My runners laid most of the winter their first two years, but this, almost at three years of age, they seem to have taken a time out a little early. Part of it may be the intro-duck-tion of three new buffs a couple of months ago. I have three in midmolt right now, so I am not going to push them. In a couple of months, I will see if a decoy egg gets things started.

But already a couple of my ducks, done with molting, are starting to act like they want to mate, so it may not take long.

By the way, I feed a combination of Blue Seal Organic Layer and Mazuri maintenance, with a sprinkling of Eagle Pak dry cat kibble and oyster shell free choice (we now have a drake).