what the heck...?

[lovesduckies]

i had 3 girls hatch in may and everyone told me they weren't going to lay eggs because of the change in season, but all FOUR of my girls are laying eggs. one of my four is momma duck who has had 2 UNsuccessful clutches. my poor baby, she is the only duck with a drake. do your ducks lay all year round too??? duckyfromoz aka my bff lol, we all know yours do!! hehe

 

[xxSonja]

I dont know where you are located so i dont know how much the weather changes with your seasons, but im in Australia and with our weather and seasons my ducks still lay all year round.

 

[lovesduckies]

i am in southern california USA our weather changes on a daily basis LOL

 

[Quacking]

Lucky you to be getting so many eggs this late in the year. My ducks surprise me too. I usually get eggs at least 10 - 11 months of the year and dont have to give them any suplimentary light. Since day light hours perceived by the duck are recognised as photstimulatory and hormones to stimulate ovulation occurs if there is still daylight 12 to 15 hours after sunrise, I guess there is enough light here except for the coldest few weeks in the middle of winter. My ducks are in an open coop at night- so it doesnt block out any light - they get the benefit of it from the moment the sun is up.

 

[duckyfromoz]

LOL duckies.. You need that incubator before Christmas I think. YEP..My ducks were 18- 24 weeks and started laying in our winter earlier this year. I was impatient to start setting their eggs so I did give them an extra 2 hours light in the evenings to try to keep them laying.... and it worked. Only problem is it also stopped them molting at the normal time so that is happening now and they look terrible.

xxSonja - have you noticed any increase in egg production at all after moving further north - or have they always been excellent layers??

 

[xxSonja]

Duckyfromoz - no change in egg production as far as i can tell after moving. It will be interesting to see if moving up to the tropical north affects them at all considering my original flock we hatched and raised in chilly Canberra...

 

[lovesduckies]

Quote:
yessssss i do need it NOW hahaha. well i don't lock them up at night so could that be it?

 

[pirtykitty]

My Welsh harlequin female quit laying mid. August, molted and then has started laying again Nov. 1.

 

[Amiga]

My runners have slowed down. I don't know if they are taking turns at several-day intervals or if I have three or four (of the ten) laying.

I am backing off on laying ration and still keep free choice oyster shell available.

The roof of their house is clear polycarbonate, and the ceiling is plexiglass, so that's the light they get indoors. Night time temperatures have been near 30F, and I think that slows down laying also (just the amount of energy to keep warm versus developing eggs).

 

[katharinad]

I'm pretty sure the temps are slowing them down. I keep a small oil filled heater in my duck house running, because it is safe. I have my duck house divided in two 10x10 spaces with a small wire covered gate in between. I keep the heater on the side where the ducks are not living. That way they cannot make it dirty or mess with it. Mine love to play with things. They move my broom, the poo removal bucket, and the litter scoops around all the time. They are quite inventive to get things they want. I even had to put a small wall up next to the food bin or they would sit on top of it making a poo mess on the lid.

Temps are between 40-50 right now on the lowest setting. It helps that the duck house is insulated. I also run a light on a timer. Even though they have a huge window front going all the way down to the ground.