My Call Ducks ..Are??...Laying?????

[Feathered Wings]

3 Days ago i found a egg in with my Grey Calls they are about 8 months i had been told they wouldn't lay till spring? The egg was the call duck egg color the light tinted greenish color i had seen from the mated pair i have when they hatch their brood in August.
But i discounted it as being a old dirty silkie egg there were silkies in that pen before the calls and they were laying so i assumed it was hidden in the back and they had rolled it out.
Well yesterday i found another egg same as the first and i knew it was a call egg so i took it inside.
Today i went out and found a egg in the other Grey call pen???
So i now have 2 pair of Grey calls laying isn't this unusual i was told they wouldn't lay until February in the spring??

I have no idea what to do with the eggs i was going to buy a incu after christmas but i don't have anything right now and it's winter my hens aren't setting.
I'm in a real pickle here and don't know what to do their pens i was preparing are not done i have no nest built??
If they set won't the ducklings freeze we been having some really cold temps I'm just in a tizzy

 

[pardygwyn]

Christmas is only next week. Store the eggs airsac-side-up at room temp, they'll still be good for the incubator. I wouldn't leave them outside... as you said, they'll freeze.

Ducks have always laid better for me than chickens, especially in the winter. They're not usually big on laying boxes in my experience - they prefer bare dirt, maybe a spare amount of nesting grass, all under a low shelter. I use half a plastic doghouse, but you can just work with whatever you've got.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

My Calls are laying too but I have 2 females. LOL So we're eating the eggs.

Laurie

 

[briarpatchfarms]

Letting calls lay in the spring messes up spring production and the males usually aren't ready to mate so more than likely any eggs you are getting aren't fertile! You want to wait until february for them to lay! Switch them to all corn the will make them stop laying then when ms Jan. Come switch tem to laying mash and around the first of feb. You will begin getting eggs and they should be fertile! Also I don't remember if you give an age or not but a male call should be aroud 8 to 10 months old before he is fertile anyway! Not to say he's not now because I have one that produced 6 wonderful ducklings for me at 5 months old when mine started laying! But you can have them lay all year round if you want but the male usually can't keep up with the female! Also keeping a drake on layer pellets/mash will make them go sterile too!

 

[Feathered Wings]

Quote:
I was told that they wouldn't lay till spring so i was thinking i had ample time to get prepared i guess the Calls had a different idea.

Are duck eggs like chicken eggs is it 2 weeks for collecting and holding them "Gracious" I'm just in a tizzy i just wasn't expecting this now.
I may be able to borrow a incubator or add them to someones incu thats setting i will figure this out somehow

 

[Feathered Wings]

Quote:
We crossed posted
I have seen them mating so i assume the eggs are fertile i have my ducks separated into pairs in individual pens and they are 8 months old.
The breeder who i got my Calls from said feed them layer pellets and she shows ducks so i trust her judgement on the feed.
I never feed corn not even to my chickens it only makes them fat and has no nutritional value so i prefer not to do that.

It won't hurt to collect them and at least try and who knows they could be fertile and i hatch some cute little winter duckies

 

[onthespot]

what is the proper feed for drakes? I am watching some muscovies for someone and not sure what they need to eat. She had just been letting them eat her chicken food and said that was fine, but there must be some duck chow or something that they should be eating I would think?

 

[pardygwyn]

Quote:
It's been awhile since I dealt with this, but I'm pretty sure I remember 2 weeks being the cut-off. On the other hand, I've had ducks set nests of 25 eggs or more and get a very high hatch rate, so I think there's some wiggle room there. LOL It amazes me to this day how many babies those mallard mutts could hatch!

 

[briarpatchfarms]

Quote:
We crossed posted
I have seen them mating so i assume the eggs are fertile i have my ducks separated into pairs in individual pens and they are 8 months old.
The breeder who i got my Calls from said feed them layer pellets and she shows ducks so i trust her judgement on the feed.
I never feed corn not even to my chickens it only makes them fat and has no nutritional value so i prefer not to do that.

It won't hurt to collect them and at least try and who knows they could be fertile and i hatch some cute little winter duckies

"The breeder who i got my Calls from said feed them layer pellets and she shows ducks so i trust her judgement on the feed.
I never feed corn not even to my chickens it only makes them fat and has no nutritional value so i prefer not to do that."

A show quality call duck is really a fat duck to be honest I show myself and I get all my info from a guy that has been doing this for 30 years I wouldnt give my drake pellets all year round believe me or not it will make your drake sterile he will not produce young after so long this is why im telling you this! I dont keep them on all corn all the time when they quit laying I give them flock raiser from purina mostly it has no calcium! No Calcium is the main thing to what Im suggesting to you!


Where is the call breeder located???

 

[briarpatchfarms]

Quote:
Muscovies does best on a cheap dog food mixed with scratch! There bodies are heavy so they need a little extra protien to obtain that heaviness