Questions.....

[TexasMomof5]

Sunday we found our first 3 eggs - 2 brown and one white, all small
Monday the same thing, all in the same place.
Tuesday we found the 2 brown eggs again in the same place and the white one in the pond.
Wednesday only 1 brown egg
Today nothing from any of them.

We have 5 hens, 3 female ducks and I suspect two of the hens and one of the ducks is laying. I am very suprised at the size of their eggs as they are so small.

My first question is - is it normal for them to all stop laying at the same time?
Secondly, they refuse to lay in the nesting boxes, we have put false eggs in them but they wont even go in them..any ideas?
Thirdly, what do you feed your birds?
We feed a mixture of gamebird, egg mash and scratch.

 

[Judy]

6 eggs a week is a good output. Their cycle is about 25 hours, so if they "read the book," they will lay a little later each day then skip a day and start over in the morning -- but they're individuals and will vary. I know essentially nothing about ducks, though I've read they will sometimes lay in water. Yes, the first eggs will be small -- we used to call them "pullet eggs," though they are pullets for a year, then hens, and it doesn't take til a year of age for the eggs to increase in size. They will often do several odd things for the first month or so of laying. It's almost like it takes them that long to get the hang of it.

One thing some people do is keep them in their coop and small run for a few weeks when they first start laying to teach them to use the nest boxes.

They have different preferences for nest boxes, but maybe there is something about them that is turning them off. Tell us more about them and maybe we can guess.

And they don't need scratch. It is a bit like candy to them, makes a good treat in small quantities, but most scratch formulas are lower in protein than a standard ration plus have no added vitamins and minerals.