Pekin duck egg question

[mylittleaviary]

I have 2 female and one male Pekin ducks. They were born in April. Last weekend my boys were out checking the chicken coop for eggs and walked through the duck coop to get there. There was an egg in the duck coop. The next 3 mornings there was another egg in the duck side of the coop, but those 3 eggs had been broke open and eaten (probably by my pterodactyls/aka turkeys). I've kept the turkeys out of the duck coop now for the past 4 nights and no more eggs have been laid. Do ducks skip that many days in a row laying eggs? or did the duck just get disgruntled after having the turkey eat her eggs for 3 days in a row and go on strike? What's up?

 

[GitaBooks]

Is she new at laying? Could she be sneaking out to lay elsewhere? Could she be nearing molting?

 

[mylittleaviary]

She is very new to laying and it's possible she's sneaking off and hiding a nest, but not real likely. As for molting, I don't know. She was just born this past April, do they molt that young? Was just kind of curious, the kids and I ate the first duck egg and liked it, so it'd be bonus if we got a few more

It's not the end of the world to me at all if I never get another egg from her as I never actually planned on eggs from the ducks anyway. They were little summer pets and honestly, a new meat to try in the smoker this fall. The property we currently live on doesn't have any option of keeping open water for ducks in the winter. This particular little female has actually been promised to a friend who had a pair of pekings until a fox killed their female. So she's going to live in a heated greenhouse, with a swimmy pool and people who can grow her fresh little turf through the Minnesota winter until spring when she and their male duck can cruise around outside some again and make people smile over their morning cup of coffee.

 

[GitaBooks]

Sounds like she's going to have the good life at her new home.

When they are getting the hang of laying, they sometimes stop for a few days at a time. It may take them a month to finally normal-out.
Just thought I'd add, ducks don't need water, they only need enough to clean their nostrils. However, they LOVE it, which is why, when I get ducks (I hope to soon) I want to have a pond for them.