When is laying season for ducks?

[Ted_Harrell]

I have 4 females(2 Runners, 2 Pekins) and 1 male(Ancona) and my ducks have not layed any eggs for the last two months. I was just wondering if anyone else has had this to happen before?

 

[Ratchnick]

Thank you, I was worried that some thing might be wrong

If they are acting fine they are ok. You need about 14 hours of light and adequate protein and about 6 months or more of age to lay.

 

[Ratchnick]

They should start soon if conditions are right.

 

[Ted_Harrell]

Thank you 3bird, the last time the runner duck got out, she made fools of us all with how well she can get away from us. I will make provisions for them to have some outside time.

 

[3bird]

With my few chickens, i have trained them to hear a bag rattling and they know the contents inside are for them, I need to find a similar incentive for my ducks, anyone have any ideas...

We use "Soup for Ducks"! Listen for the call around 0:07.

Soup for Ducks is peas in water (warm in the winter) with greens (usually pea shoots, lettuce or kale) and a mealworm crumble. They get very excited, and will come in from anywhere on the property!

We do the same with a mealworm snack before locking them in. They charge into the run and up the ramp ready for the "flock party!"

 

[Ted_Harrell]

Thank you, I was worried that some thing might be wrong

 

[Ted_Harrell]

Thank you...

 

[Flockincrazy]

I had the same problem mine hit 20wks when it was getting cold so we didn't get any eggs till this spring now I get 7-9 a day

 

[Ted_Harrell]

Our morning temps here have been between 55-70 degrees, and they have free choice between Purina Duck food with oyster shell or chicken layer with oyster shell. Maybe I need to get them some feeder guppys or something to interest them so they can snap out of it. The duckling I have will be at least another 5 months till they are laying eggs. Maybe a kiddie pool outing will help them out..

 

[3bird]

We have silver Appleyards, and they lay year-round, but slow down significantly from December through early March. They are three years old this year, and they took their biggest break yet this past winter, but since early March, they have been producing 1+ egg per hen per day! Go girls!

We find that treats high in calcium (like Grubblies) and feeding their egg shells back to them makes a huge difference. We do not feed a layer feed because we keep a drake. Our ducks free range supervised 2x per day for a total of at least 2 hours/day, and that also makes a huge difference in terms of egg laying we find (we live in Maine, so the ground just starts to thaw in March). We do not provide supplemental light, so the much longer days now also makes a huge difference.