Suddenly - no more eggs!

[happydog]

Do ducks eat eggs? I was getting 4-6 eggs a day from my 6 runner hens. And then, one day, nothing. No more eggs! What gives?

They share a house with a pair of geese and the goose was setting. Is it possible the goose (or gander) is eating all the duck eggs to eliminate competition or for some other inscrutable goose reason? Have the ducks taken to eating all their eggs all of a sudden?

I let them out around 8-9am and they free range on 5 acres of great pasture with a nice pond. Am I not feeding them enough to produce eggs at all? Or do runners only lay in the spring?

Any ideas? I miss my eggs!

 

[TLWR]

Are there a bunch more eggs under your goose?

One of my runners lays where ever she feels like, when ever she feels like it. The other 2 still lay in their house overnight.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Oooh, I'd miss my ducks' eggs too!

Check all around your yard for hidden nests. My Khakis & Pekins recently decided to change their laying habits and instead of nicely leaving their eggs in their duck houses in the early morning hours they've been holding them to lay later in other places of their choosing around the yard. Sometimes I'll leave those nest places and check them for new eggs daily. If there's a way to keep them penned in longer, see if you can persuade them to go back to laying in their houses.

 

[happydog]

No extra eggs under the goose. I checked.

I thought ducks always laid their eggs in the early morning. I'll try leaving them in their house till later. They'll hate that. As soon as I come outside they start quacking to get let out. I'll start spying a little closer as well. If they're laying in the yard the dog is probably eating them.

^%$#@^ egg sucking dog

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I make a lesson for my kids from it. "Be like the ducks", I say, "get your work done first thing in the morning, then you can enjoy recess for the rest of the day". Not like the chickens, who must stay in their pens near the coops until mid-afternoon, so they will lay their eggs in the nest boxes there.

 

[maralynn28]

Quote:

LOVE IT! I'm stealing this for my kids now.

I had this issue when my ducks started laying, turns out they would BURY their eggs deep in the hay (guess they didn't like that I was an egg thief! lol) I have heard runners lay wherever they please, some ducks even lay in the water.

If they really have stopped laying, there could be some possible reasons. I know "Storey's" says things like diet change, lighting change, stress, etc could cause ducks to stop laying. Hope you find those eggs! Too bad you don't live near me....I have so many eggs, I'm trying to find someone to take some off my hands but it seems ppl here are prejudice against duck eggs and scared of trying them.

They don't know what they are missing!

 

[catsmithpuddin]

Snakes??

 

[mominoz]

My runners have their own night houses and usually lay in the bins with straw, but occasionally they just lay one on the gravel or even outside in the day run or even the water bin,the mothering is pretty well bred out of runners. Sometimes, they stop for a day or two , even a week or two if we get a sudden weather change here (Georgia) ... not including molt. I also notice that if I cut the feed back accidently a bit or change it they lay less well.... heat seems to put them off a bit, some more than others. My penciled are pretty consistant, but my grays are a bit more tempermental... but mine are from Holdereads show quality, not preduction runners.....