no eggs, why?

[seaside ducky]

My 2 yr old female peking has never laid an egg. Although I rescued her last year and have identified her as a female due to the flat smooth tail and distinctive "quack", she still hasn't laid an egg. She is able to free range in a small backyard, but we also have built her a secured area with two shelters, one for bad weather, one for food, a wading pond and plenty of shade or sun areas as she prefers.
I feed her egg-layer pellets and other ducky treats. She had been shot in the wing by a pellet gun when I found her but she healed up nicely. She is otherwise, healthy, hungry, and friendly to our cats and us.

I'm starting to worry there is something wrong with her. Any suggestions or comments?

 

[jdywntr]

Are you POSITIVE that she is female?
Are you sure of her age? Though ducks are pretty long lived and should lay at least occasionally in later years.
Could she have hidden a nest somewhere?
Could something be stealing her eggs?

How long have you had her? Has she molted since you have had her?

 

[seaside ducky]

thanks for your response.

I am as positive as I can be about her sex. There is no drake feather on the tail and it the feathers all lay in a smooth pattern over her tail. The whole tail is ever so slightly curved upward, but that looks like the pics I've seen of other female ducks.

Her age..hmm, only guessing. I was told when I first found her she was approx 1 year then, and that was last summer, July 7, 2011. She molted this year in early spring. I live in a residential area so the chances of foxes are rare. I have thought of racoons, but would have notice coon activity around my fish pond (missing fish, plants askew,etc).

 

[jdywntr]

can you post a pic of her?

 

[seaside ducky]

will try to. Gotta go to an event tonite. will see if I can download some pics tomorrow. sorry, computers are not my strong suit. thanks for hanging with me.

 

[FenDruadin]

So many possibilities! She could be older than you think... and Pekins are not known to be great egg layers. I have a crested white chinese goose I got from a rescue, and I thought she'd have laid at least an occasional egg, but in three years never even one.

Trauma, malnutrition, and a host of other issues can permanently damage laying ability, so even if she's healthy now, it's possible she won't ever lay for one of those reasons in her past.

Could also be:

Water supply (use a home test kit & see if there's anything untoward in your water, especially from the hose--hoses can leach chemicals that can suppress laying ability)
Time (maybe she just needs more time to recuperate)
Egg thieves--snakes, rats, and other small critters can steal eggs, not to mention neighborhood dogs, raccoons, etc.
Poor genetics (she just may never lay much or at all)

Good luck. Duck eggs are yummy, so I sure hope she lays for you.