No drakes, no eggs

[leslie harris]

I have 8 ducks- 4 pekin and 4 khaki Campbells. They all stopped laying eggs on the same day. We did have 2 drakes- both khaki Campbells- but they only wanted to mate with the 4 pekin and it was just too much, so we moved them to a friends pond . I have had ducks for 7 years, but I've always had a couple drakes. After removing them is when this started. I thought about keeping one of them, but didnt want to send one to the other pond alone. I know some people have an all female flock, so I didn't expect this to happen. We normally get 6-7 eggs per day. Nothing else has changed. We have a duck house that they go in at night. We kept the drakes separate from them. Weird that this happened right after we took them away. I've also noticed them pecking at each other since there are no men around. They didn't do that before. We live in SC. They free range during the day in one of our pastures, which has a pond. Should I bring one of the drakes back? not sure what else to do.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

They could be stressed from the change to the flock or there is a predator lurking.

 

[leslie harris]

Thanks- I also thought about a predator- but the only thing that can get in the duck house is a snake- so it may be that. I’ll see if it improves over the next week and if not, I will need to look into catching the snake. Not sure what that involves. Any ideas on how to do that?

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I have 8 ducks- 4 pekin and 4 khaki Campbells. They all stopped laying eggs on the same day. We did have 2 drakes- both khaki Campbells- but they only wanted to mate with the 4 pekin and it was just too much, so we moved them to a friends pond . I have had ducks for 7 years, but I've always had a couple drakes. After removing them is when this started. I thought about keeping one of them, but didnt want to send one to the other pond alone. I know some people have an all female flock, so I didn't expect this to happen. We normally get 6-7 eggs per day. Nothing else has changed. We have a duck house that they go in at night. We kept the drakes separate from them. Weird that this happened right after we took them away. I've also noticed them pecking at each other since there are no men around. They didn't do that before. We live in SC. They free range during the day in one of our pastures, which has a pond. Should I bring one of the drakes back? not sure what else to do.

How long has it been since the drakes left? How long has it been since they stopped laying? Are they molting?

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Thanks- I also thought about a predator- but the only thing that can get in the duck house is a snake- so it may be that. I’ll see if it improves over the next week and if not, I will need to look into catching the snake. Not sure what that involves. Any ideas on how to do that?

Uh... no. I've seen snake pics in here and I'd probably faint if there was one big enough to cause issues.

However, I did catch a tiny snake once. I was in the run and one of my muscovy ducks was side-eyeing it. I thought, "dang it duck, you're supposed to eat this, right?" But, she just stood there. I was freaking out ... this thing was maybe 6" long and as thick as my pinky.
I finally went into the shed and grabbed a bucket and a stick. The stupid snake tried to coil around the stick. So, I grabbed a lid and covered the bucket (because what chicken and duck owner wouldn't have a spare lid hanging around?) Took the snake out about 10 feet into the closest field and told it not to return or else....
It must have listened, I never saw it again.

 

[leslie harris]

How long has it been since the drakes left? How long has it been since they stopped laying? Are they molting?

The drakes have been gone for almost 2 weeks. I have seen a lot of white feathers, so that is possible for the Pekins. But not sure about the Khaki Campbells. In the past even when they were molting I still got 3-4 eggs/day. In my 7 years of duck keeping, this is a first for me- all of them stopping at once.

 

[leslie harris]

Uh... no. I've seen snake pics in here and I'd probably faint if there was one big enough to cause issues.

However, I did catch a tiny snake once. I was in the run and one of my muscovy ducks was side-eyeing it. I thought, "dang it duck, you're supposed to eat this, right?" But, she just stood there. I was freaking out ... this thing was maybe 6" long and as thick as my pinky.
I finally went into the shed and grabbed a bucket and a stick. The stupid snake tried to coil around the stick. So, I grabbed a lid and covered the bucket (because what chicken and duck owner wouldn't have a spare lid hanging around?) Took the snake out about 10 feet into the closest field and told it not to return or else....
It must have listened, I never saw it again.

Haha- I hate them too. But we have king snakes around the farm and they eat the copperheads, so I love them at a far distance! I have delegated this snake watching and catching thing to my husband