Possible Signs of Laying

[Miss Lydia]

I went to my coop tonight and saw this. It is my mallard hen inside the nest box. She is not yet laying, but is this an indicator that it won't be long? What color eggs might she lay?

I'd say that is a good indicator ,mine ducks like to practice before hand. @silkie1472 I don't have any Mallards though.

 

[silkie1472]

Okay, so I have a strong feeling that my mallard will lay her first egg tomorrow. I isolated her in a small wooden coop tonight to see if she will lay her egg tomorrow morning. However, I do not want to keep her in this coop as it contains my rouens as well. My question is: If I move her, will she stress out and stop laying?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Okay, so I have a strong feeling that my mallard will lay her first egg tomorrow. I isolated her in a small wooden coop tonight to see if she will lay her egg tomorrow morning. However, I do not want to keep her in this coop as it contains my rouens as well. My question is: If I move her, will she stress out and stop laying?

@silkie1472 You best get her where you really want her to lay then don't open the door till around 7:30-8am to give her time to lay. Once they start to lay they usually go back to that same place.

Did she lay this morning ?Most of my ducks Runner/Buffs have laid by the time i open their door in the morning but My Muscovy's who haven't started laying yet can wait till later to lay and some lay in chickens next boxes some in their own house Just give her a private spot where she will be safe if you want her to eventually brood some eggs.

 

[silkie1472]

She has not laid this morning...yet. She is a wild mallard and gets stressed very easily. I put her in a small coop just to find that she stressed out trying to get out. I have her with her drake in my chicken coop hoping that she will decide to lay before 10:00. If she hasn't by then, I will let her out.

 

[Miss Lydia]

She has not laid this morning...yet. She is a wild mallard and gets stressed very easily. I put her in a small coop just to find that she stressed out trying to get out. I have her with her drake in my chicken coop hoping that she will decide to lay before 10:00. If she hasn't by then, I will let her out.

I'd let her out and just let nature take it's course , so you don't lock them up at all? just being closed up might cause her to not lay. She may go by instinct and not lay inside if she never has.

 

[GoldenFlight]

She has not laid this morning...yet. She is a wild mallard and gets stressed very easily. I put her in a small coop just to find that she stressed out trying to get out. I have her with her drake in my chicken coop hoping that she will decide to lay before 10:00. If she hasn't by then, I will let her out.

I have found if they get stressed they can easily stop all laying.

 

[silkie1472]

I'd let her out and just let nature take it's course , so you don't lock them up at all?  just being closed up might cause her to not lay. She may go by instinct and not lay inside if she never has.

At night, I put all of them in a coop. However, they do not like to go in at free will. With their wings being clipped, they have no chance of survival without being cooped up at night. She has calmed down a lot, and she has never been scared of me, but now that she is getting ready to lay, she has went crazy.

 

[Miss Lydia]

At night, I put all of them in a coop. However, they do not like to go in at free will. With their wings being clipped, they have no chance of survival without being cooped up at night. She has calmed down a lot, and she has never been scared of me, but now that she is getting ready to lay, she has went crazy.

In their house I make her a place with privacy you can use a piece of plywood or some kind of scrap wood, Lay it up against the wall and secure [Half an A frame]she may just choose this as a place to lay. Mine like their privacy when laying.

 

[Krazyquilts]

I'm not sure if this might help or not, but the "wooden dummy egg in the nesting box" trick really seemed to work with my girls. Plus, after I added a second nesting box and they weren't using it, I put one of the dummy eggs in the second box and boom - they started laying it that one too.

 

[Krazyquilts]

Oh, and I forgot to add that I bought this litter box on Amazon for nesting boxes. My ducks, with their fat badonka-duck butts (thank you @dotknott !), kept flipping them over when trying to get in them so I just have a half-size square cement block in front to provide them with a sturdy step as well as wedging the litter box in place.

This was taken before putting the second nesting box right next to the first, but here's what I mean about the cement block: