I have six ducks. The oldest is my pure Cayuga drake, who will be two soon. The rest are all the same age and will be turning a year this spring. I bought two Cayuga female ducklings, but due to predator problems at the old house, I lost one and the other ended up with a broken leg. My Equine vet tends to a lot of animals and tried to set her leg, but it was healing too quickly. Anyway, she gets around fine and the other ducks don't leave her. I'm getting off-topic...
Anyway, due to losing my drake's mate(she was nesting) to a predator, I had no laying hen, so I bought a Khaki Campbell that was approaching laying age. Then I got three East Indie crosses, all hens.
I've now moved and the ducks have a large pond, but no fenced enclosure. I was worried about this at first, but the pond is large enough that nothing can get at them. Plus, we can't fence the pond off and it would be impossible to herd them into a pen at night.
All of that aside, I'd like to know when to expect my hens to start laying. I know the East Indies are not very good layers, so I don't expect much out of them, but will my Cayuga hen lay considering her broken leg? It happened when she was a duckling, but I have to wonder if it causes her stress to the point where she won't lay. I noticed she is quite dull in color compared to the East Indie crosses and the drake. She has almost none of the sheen her breed is known for, which is unusual even for a hen. My Khaki Campbell hasn't laid in a couple of months either, and I'd like to know when she'll start again. Also, at what time of the year should I expect fertilized eggs? I want to use an incubator.
Sorry if my writing is all over the place. I have a habit of going off topic.
Forgot to add this. I live in Pennsylvania.
Anyway, due to losing my drake's mate(she was nesting) to a predator, I had no laying hen, so I bought a Khaki Campbell that was approaching laying age. Then I got three East Indie crosses, all hens.
I've now moved and the ducks have a large pond, but no fenced enclosure. I was worried about this at first, but the pond is large enough that nothing can get at them. Plus, we can't fence the pond off and it would be impossible to herd them into a pen at night.
All of that aside, I'd like to know when to expect my hens to start laying. I know the East Indies are not very good layers, so I don't expect much out of them, but will my Cayuga hen lay considering her broken leg? It happened when she was a duckling, but I have to wonder if it causes her stress to the point where she won't lay. I noticed she is quite dull in color compared to the East Indie crosses and the drake. She has almost none of the sheen her breed is known for, which is unusual even for a hen. My Khaki Campbell hasn't laid in a couple of months either, and I'd like to know when she'll start again. Also, at what time of the year should I expect fertilized eggs? I want to use an incubator.
Sorry if my writing is all over the place. I have a habit of going off topic.
Forgot to add this. I live in Pennsylvania.
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