Only 1 female duck laying eggs

[Sue S]

I have 4 mallards 3 females & 1 male, their 22 weeks old, 1 of my females starting laying eggs last week, I've gotten 1 egg a day from her my other 2 females haven't started laying yet, is this normal??? They all stay together when they are outside during the day & at night they are in their pen. I'm a very protective mom I know where their at, at all times so I would assume I would see eggs when I walk around the yard when their outside. I feed them DuMour grower/finisher from Tractor Supply. Any ideas, are my 2 females just late bloomers?????

 

[PirateGirl]

1. It is normal for birds to start laying at different times. If one is laying the others are likely relatively close.

2. It is possible that you have more than one layer and your birds aren't consistently laying every day yet. Getting one egg a day doesn't necessarily mean only one layer.

 

[Sue S]

I thought that might be the case but wasn't sure, thanks

 

[snow5164]

Hi!
You feed them grower , have you thought about giving them layer? My chickens hardly eat the oyster shells so on layer I don’t have to worry about that ... just a thought

 

[Sue S]

Should I switch to the layer food???? I didn't know if the layer food would be good for my male, since they all eat from the same food dish

 

[Miss Lydia]

You can put out Oyster shell along with changing feed to an All flock that way your drake isn't getting extra calcium

 

[snow5164]

True , I don’t know ducks at all ,but my chickens don’t lay as well on grower as layer .

I’d listen to the others and just give them time ,be patient .

Are the eggs big? Compared to chicken eggs ?

 

[Sue S]

They are about the size of a medium chicken egg

 

[Sue S]

I buy the DuMor brand food from Tractor Supply not sure if they have All Flock but I will check, I will also start buying oyster shell to mix in with the food

 

[PirateGirl]

Should I switch to the layer food???? I didn't know if the layer food would be good for my male, since they all eat from the same food dish

Layer food is unnecessary and whether or not to feed it is a much debated topic. Through the BYC community I have heard that feeding it can delay laying due to decreased protein, yet I have heard others suggest to feed it to promote the start of laying. Obviously it can't work both ways. Personally I choose to feed all flock because even with my layers there always seems to be at least one that's not laying much whether it's broody, or wintertime, or molting, or too young, etc. As long as they have Oyster Shell on the side, they will get their calcium regardless of the type of feed you are giving them. The ones that aren't laying yet won't eat much of the Oyster Shell and my drake never touches it; somehow they just know when they need it and when they don't.