What's your experience with Pekin duck eggs?

[owkaye]

I have a flock of 6 Pekin ducks and one drake. Most of them started laying a month or so ago, and now I get 2-3 eggs a day from their nest boxes, and sometimes I find an egg or two elsewhere in their yard -- so I don't know if they are all laying yet. I wonder if I'm experiencing typical egg laying behavior for young Pekin ducks, here's why:

1- I have one bowl of crushed oyster shells near their main feed bucket, so they can have all the calcium their bodies need. But I still get a soft-shelled egg on an almost daily basis. This makes me wonder if some are simply not eating the oyster shells? Naturally I can mix the oyster shells with their regular feed, to basically force them to ingest more calcium. But should I do this? I wonder if the drake's health will suffer if he gets too much calcium? The other reason why I'm not already mixing oyster shell with their regular feed is because I'm hoping that if the soft-shelled eggs are coming from a new layer, or one that hasn't learned that oyster shell is good for her, she will eventually start eating the oyster shells on her own, and I won't have to mix it with their feed.

2- I still get a goose-sized double-yolk egg each day on average. Will this stop when they get older and more mature? Or is the laying of huge double-yolk eggs something that some Pekin ducks do, even when they have been laying for 3-6-12-24 months or more? I don't mind getting these huge eggs, so if it's no big deal for the ducks then I won't worry about it.

For additional details, I feed my ducks Purina Flock Raiser Pellets in their main feeder on the "duck deck" that's attached to their house and pool. Then I have a separate "water and feed bucket" in a distant part of their yard. I put whole kernel corn in the bottom of this bucket, and they enjoy eating some of it every day when I let them into that part of the yard to graze.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@CrystaBub hopefully can address these issues since she has Pekins also @onaharley. I wouldn't mix the oyster shell into their feed they will use it as needed. Soft shell eggs can be normal with new layers, and goose size eggs too. My Buffs were laying double yolkers at least 2X a week when they first started laying finally after a few months they laid normal size

 

[CrystaBub]

For some reason, my female Pekin did exactly what you are describing when she first started laying. Softies, skipping days, double yolkers - but after about 6 months of laying, she finally got it right and now I don't get softies or double yolkers - she did skip a few days in the dead of winter which was fine by me. I'm guessing it's because they aren't really bred as layers (and instead for meat) so the good laying traits just aren't there like they are with other breeds like Runners and White Layers. I wouldn't worry and just keep doing what you're doing. I agree with @Miss Lydia about not mixing oyster shell in with food. I think your girls will get it right after a few months. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[owkaye]

Thanks for the replies!

I actually suspected that their current laying behavior might be because they are new layers and their bodies are still learning and adjusting. I just have to be more patient and give them time to work things out on their own ...

 

[onaharley]

Sorry I'm late to the thread! Everything you describe sounds normal to me for new layers. Both @DuckyDonna and @Miss Lydia are spot on with their advice. I'd say if things don't start evening within a month, it might draw concern. Currently I have one that is not laying all that good so I keep a calendar to keep track of her laying patterns, because as much as I think I can keep track of 4 females laying..... I just can't!!! Lol

 

[Gerty0630]

I have a pekin female who is about 4 months into laying now. While I never had any soft eggs from her, I have had a few double yolkers. I read the double yolk eggs are from too much protein in their diet and at the time I was feeding a decent amount of mealworms as a before bed snack. I eliminated the extra protein snacks and haven’t gotten a double yolk since. In the beginning my girl skipped a few days but has been laying every single day like clockwork since the first couple weeks! Supplementing calcium is a good idea but as the others said I wouldn’t mix it in feed. Ducks seem to know when they need more calcium. I feed an all flock feed with egg shells in a separate bowl on the side as extra calcium. My female eats all the egg shells for her extra calcium, my drake never does. Somehow they know!