My muscovies will not lay!

[kristinn]

Hello, I'm in SE Michigan and have 3 Muscovy ducks and neither of my ducks have laid 1 egg yet! The 2 mostly white ones (1 duck, 1 drake) are 8 1/2 months old and the other duck who is 1/2 yrs I just got last week.. has anyone else in my region gotten any Muscovy eggs yet? Or am I just being extremely impatient? Lol.

 

[what eggs]

It takes a while after any changes for my Muscovy hens to lay any eggs. My free range girls would lay eggs under things (tarp, woodpile, shed) until I read the thread below and put some rubbermaid totes in the area they slept in. Now they lay in the totes and it is much easier to keep track of the eggs. One female lives with the chickens and would lay under the coop ramp until I put a small tote in the run and now she uses that for her egg laying. I am not sure if that will work for you mine sure seemed to prefer these for nesting. With the new addition just last week yours might take a while to adjust and start laying for you. That chocolate hen sure is a pretty girl!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/348247/nest-boxes-for-muscovies

 

[kristinn]

It takes a while after any changes for my Muscovy hens to lay any eggs. My free range girls would lay eggs under things (tarp, woodpile, shed) until I read the thread below and put some rubbermaid totes in the area they slept in.  Now they lay in the totes and it is much easier to keep track of the eggs.   One female lives with the chickens and would lay under the coop ramp until I put a small tote in the run and now she uses that for her egg laying.  I am not sure if that will work for you mine sure seemed to prefer these for nesting. With the new addition just last week yours might take a while to adjust and start laying for you.  That chocolate hen sure is a pretty girl!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/348247/nest-boxes-for-muscovies

Thank you!

I could see that, especially because they still seem to be getting used to each other..

 

[Going Quackers]

They are cute! ducks dislike change, tends to toss laying right off. I do know mine laid later this year than they have previous years due to that horrible weather. What have they got for feed? do they have free choice oyster shell.

I'll be honest i have no proper next boxes i find they lay wherever they please and in some wild places lol

 

[kristinn]

I give them DuMor layer pellets, same as my chickens, but yes they do have free choice oyster shells. This is the pen I just built for them, I'm hoping the house is cozy and dark enough for them to choose to nest in, and I don't want to free range them for that exact reason.. I feel the dogs would find the eggs before I did lol

 

[Going Quackers]

I give them DuMor layer pellets, same as my chickens, but yes they do have free choice oyster shells. This is the pen I just built for them, I'm hoping the house is cozy and dark enough for them to choose to nest in, and I don't want to free range them for that exact reason.. I feel the dogs would find the eggs before I did lol

Cute set-up. Not necessarily but it's a reasonable concern, have they always been confined though? mine are overnight then free range... the bulk of the eggs are laid in the barn overnight, however since i have quite a few they will lay in other places. I have one who will go into the one chicken coop each day.. my chickens despise this lol

The duck whom you recently got will likely take time to lay, and the disruption of a new flock member may delay any others.. scovies have quite the pecking order... and females are extremely territorial.

 

[kristinn]

Yes they've always been confined. They were in with my chickens over the winter because the chickens had a heated coop and large enclosed pen, but they mucked up the coop so much that I decided to make them their own pen, which they were moved to a few weeks ago.

I guess I will be more patient for now lol I never knew how sensitive ducks were to change!