Newbie

[tsandhage]

Hi! I'm just joining. I found this site today and have already learned so much about my WHs. They are 7 weeks old. I'm supposed to have 3 ducks and 1 drake. So far, I'm certain I have 1 Silver WH duck and I'm pretty sure 1 of them is a drake. The other 2 are up for grabs. I'm brand new to ducks so this is a real learning experience for me.

Can anyone tell me how old WHs are when they start laying?

 

[Kevin565]

. Many ducks start laying around 6 months

 

[FireTigeris]

Not sure, but welcome to BYC!

 

[Amiga]

Age at laying depends on size. My earliest runner, a small breed, started at 16 weeks, 4 days. Everyone else was laying within six weeks of that.

The larger the duck, the longer it takes for them to reach maturity, and so 6 months is about right for larger breeds. Sometimes a duck will wait till the following spring to start laying, especially if she was hatched later in the summer.

 

[tsandhage]

Thank you so much for this information! I've been trying to find this out for about 6 months. I hope it is more like 6 months rather than 1 year since they are about full grown now.

 

[Amiga]

At seven weeks they have already grown quite a bit, and I think by 8 to 10 weeks they will be close to adult size, but they will need several more weeks for their organs and internal systems to mature.

My girls started playing hop on top at about 12 weeks, which was my cue to start setting out a small dish of free choice crushed oyster shell. They are supposed to need extra calcium about a month before they start laying. At the time, I was just guessing that this was the case, but it proved to be true.

 

[Mum]

Welcome to BYC

My girls started playing hop on top at about 12 weeks,

 

[tsandhage]

This is excellent information for me. Thank you! I shall set Oyster shells out for mine when I notice the indicative behavior.