One Of My Welsh Harlequin Ducks Is Doing The Flat Duck

[pirtykitty]

One of my welsh harlequin female ducks is starting to do the flat duck.. I have a cayuqu drake and a welsh harlequin drake. I have noticed tha the cayuga male has been trying to mate.. My male welsh harlequin is clueless so far.. I have two more females one welsh harlequin and a female cayuga..
they are 18 weeks old this monday. I let them free range in the morning and evenings.. Did not plan on starting them on layena for at least another month.. surely she won't start until after I start her on it.. or can she find enough food free ranging to make her start laying.. I also give them mazuri waterfowl maintence mixed with some oat groats.. twice a day. they find a lot of snails etc in the yard also.

 

[Wifezilla]

surely she won't start until after I start her on it

She will lay when her body is ready to lay. It has nothing to do with layena. If she is deficient in calcium, she will still lay but the shells will be really thin or even soft and jello-ish.

My mutt started laying at 5 months exactly. One of my Welsh Harelquins started laying a week later and she is a whole month younger than my mutt.

I would just leave a bowl of oyster shells out for the girls to get free choice.​

 

[pirtykitty]

Will do.. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Wifezilla]

Exactly. I saw one of the girls that wasn't laying yet with her bill in the oyster shell bowl last night. I think they start having cravings for calcium when they eggs start developing.

 

[pirtykitty]

I put some oyster shell in a little container and placed it in with their mazuri this moring.. can't tell if they've eaten any yet . will put it in with their night feeding too.
I noticed that the male cayuga was trying to mate with the female cayuga today and again with one of the welsh harlequins..
He keeps chasing my male welsh harlequin around.