Khaki Campbell just starting to lay

[KJ6485]

My 2 Khaki'shave just started to lay (At least one of them) yesterday I found a small egg near the pond that they swim in, it was little but it seemed fine, tasted good too! Today, I saw her lay an egg, but she layed it on the decorative rocks surrounding the pond, and it rolled in. I scooped it out with a net, and it is soft shelled. So...\

1.....Is the soft shell normal for them just starting to lay, I will be picking up layer feed this Friday (they are still on grower) and oyster shell to help with the protein.

2.....How can I convince them to lay NOT in the pond, or on the rocks? They do have a coop located across the yard, but they don;t even sleep in it.

Oh, and this egg was layed at 5:15pm, I thought they lay overnight??

 

[quackingdom]

1. A couple soft-shelled or undersized eggs are perfectly normal for ducks just starting to lay. They definitely should be eating layer feed by now, though.
2. Ducks hate sleeping in coops, and Khakis (and other breeds that don’t set on their eggs) don’t care an ounce where they lay their eggs. The only way to keep them from laying in the pond is to lock them up in their coop for the night.

Ducks normally do lay in early morning, often before 8 A.M. (although my Muscovies seem to have a propensity for laying at noon). I don’t think your Khakis will keep laying this late; they’ll probably settle into the normal routine soon.