My "Mallard" is my best LAYER!!

[Punk-Rock_Chicken]

I have a Mallard duck in with my laying hens, they've been together since they were chicks. About 3 months ago,mid-May, she(the duck) started laying, and has laid an egg EVERY day since!! More than my best laying hen! I thought that ducks laid seasonally and only a clutch at a time. Is this normal, or has living with chickens and eating Layer feed(Mana-Pro-Egg Layer 15%) all her life done this?

 

[Punk-Rock_Chicken]

Hello? Anybody?

 

[FenDruadin]

Hi--I don't know about mallards, but it is true that egg-bred ducks lay better than egg-bred chickens. It is not unusual for a khaki campbell to lay more than 300 eggs a year. Indian Runners, Welsh Harlequins, and several other breeds often lay 250-300 eggs a year. Are you sure you have a mallard? Khaki campbells are a smallish brown duck... They are, along with most domesticated ducks (the muscovy being the exception) mallard derivatives.

Anyway, congrats!

Duck eggs are yummy.

 

[L0rraine]

Well I'm no expert, but until mine went broody (because I couldn't or didn't keep up with gathering all their eggs), my Runners and Magpie were laying nearly an egg a day. I've read that some ducks lay over 300 a year. They've been slow to start laying again though after hatching a few broods of ducklings.

 

[Punk-Rock_Chicken]

Quote:
Positive she is a Mallard. She is a hatchery "Wild" Mallard to be exact. As for the eggs... We found that they make the BEST French Toast!!! Thanks for the info on the egg count, I am glad to hear that they lay all year long. I was waiting for her to stop laying soon.

 

[FenDruadin]

Punk-Rock: I can't speak for the laying ability of "wild" mallards--like chickens, ducks vary according to breed and individual. But enjoy them while you have them--I like them better than chicken eggs, and absolutely don't bother with store-bought eggs any more. I'll still eat chicken eggs if they're a nice quality, local, fresh, etc. But duck eggs RULE.

And now you need to get more ducks.

 

[FenDruadin]

Okay--got it. According to Dave Holderread in Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks (the duck-raising bible according to many duck owners), mallards can lay between 25 and 100 eggs a year. They make excellent mothers, so if you leave her eggs in the nest she will probably raise a brood for you. However, then you don't get to eat them so... I'd go on eating them and order some khaki campbells, welsh harlequins, or Indian runners to lay more eggs for you.

 

[Goat_Walker]

My buff has only ever stopped laying when I let her go broody. Other than hat she lays all year long.

 

[cantley2003]

After all my chickens moved on I switched over to ducks only, the little ones aren't laying yet, but my rouen lays daily. She has been far more reliable than the chickens ever were. Enjoy your duck Eggs.