When will my muscovies start laying eggs

[harleyjo]

I have 3 female muscovies from last years hatch and 1 male that is a little older. This is my first experience with ducks. Right now they are sharing a chicken coop with my chickens but I am thinking I need to get them there own space. How soon will they start laying eggs? I want ducklings!

 

[BirdBrain]

The easy answer is they will lay when they want to. I was told that they would lay before 8 am and that is what my three have done. Each one of the girls is different. They are under a year old. If you have felt their pelvic bones and they are about 2+ fingers apart then they are either very near laying or already laying. These ducks tend to hide their eggs in the hay or bedding. They may have also found an out of the way place outside. All my girls have layed eggs in one nest or left them here or there. My girls were hatched on June first of 2010. One layed her first round of eggs in December and then quit until early February. The others kinda straggled in after that.

I built a nest box that was roughly 2 feetl long and 15 inches high and deep. I cut a hole out of one of the long sides and hinged a lid. The ducks really liked the quiet dark spot for laying. Any time now you could probably move your crew into new digs and away from the chickens. It would also make it easier to see if anyone was hiding eggs or not.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

Harley, you and I are in the same boat.....Mine are not laying either and I posted this question a few days ago...mine too are in the hen house and I am not finding any eggs..there is no place they can hide them. Everyone else has them laying up and storm and even going broody. One of my customers even has some hatching. Mine will begin laying as soon as i can get them out onto the pond I hope, away from the chickens. My customer told me in the mean time to put a small house in the hen house..they like privacy and even if I can put some boards against a wall as a lean to and some straw or something for bedding behind it...they will lay. but not out in the open.