when do welsh harliquin ducks start to lay and mate?

[leeboyz337]

i have a male and a female harliquin they are just over 18 weeks old now. i want to know when roughly will she start to lay? when do they start to breed? how often to the hens go broody and is it all year round like chickens or is a seasonal thing like wild ducks? thank you for any help you can give.

the ducks a few weeks ago before his head turned full on green

ducks hanging with there chicken friends

 

[LLCoyote]

I don't expect her to start laying for some time. Mine are over 25 weeks and still not laying. Now it's possible, and in some strains of genetics it happens, so just keep your eyes peeled. I can't remember really well but I think around 18 week my male started to get his green head so he's probably reaching maturity. All I know, is that my male was more than happy to start 'doing his job' as soon as possible. I think around...20 weeks maybe but that was also when I got a new female. They sort of work through these things on their own. Quins lay eggs year round and quite a bit of them, I'm not sure if they breed year round or if they have 'heat cycles' like mammals. Hope this helps. Sorry I'm fairly new to ducks, only had them about half a year but I did to a good amount of research and I've found out things on my own. This is an awsome breed! You picked well XD

 

[Eroc1_1]

One of our welsh starting to lay about 3 weeks ago and the other started 2 weeks ago. We got them the beginning of March of this year.

 

[dumb_cluck]

My Mallards ( I know, not Welshies) started laying at 8 months. They were babies in June and in January started laying.

I have to add though, they were kept in a 50 degree heated garage during the winter. They laid all year around after that.

I now have 3 Welshies that are about 3 months old now. And, I am eagerly watching for some "golden eggs".