Where do your ducks lay their eggs?

[sandy sea]

I have my ducks living with my chickens and pot bellied pigs, everyone gets along. Only problem is that the pigs get to the duck eggs before I do. The chickens lay their eggs in the coop and the pigs can not jump over the short wall, to get to their eggs. The ducks lay their eggs in the run on the hay. What do I do? I have only got 4 eggs from my duck.

 

[Happycheese]

To train my females to lay in their house, I first moved their already laid eggs to the spot, then locked them in the pen with the house every night. They would always choose to lay with the other eggs and after a while, I didn't have to pen them at all, they would go into the run, into the house and nest

They even continued to do so after i took all that clutch. I suggest leaving at least 1 or a fake egg to encourage laying in a particular spot.

Anyone know if fertile eggs can be left in this heat? (80-90 degrees, but they are in the shade) If I don't plan to incubate for about a week or 2? My hens are laying again, but last time they did it was much cooler!

 

[CityChicker]

Not much you can do. Some ducks lay in nests (a lot of my bantam ducks do). Some never will. In answer to the question, "Where do your ducks lay their egg"? In their feed dishes, in their pool, in their houses, in their runs, in the middle of the yard, probably mid-air if they can fly, and apparently just about anywhere they can. My Runners are the worst. They will lay absolutely anywhere they decide to plop an egg out, LOL. I had one for the longest time that would lay every morning in their empty feed dish. I loved that she kept it convenient for me! LOL

 

[FenDruadin]

My Runners used to lay just anywhere. I finally took the time to create nestboxes (just partitions at the back of their house, about 18 inches wide), stuff them full of hay, and--this is critical--put a golfball in each.

Some of them still lay anywhere, but 6 of 8 eggs will be in the nests.

Another thing--most ducks will lay before 8 in the morning, so if you can confine them overnight away from the pigs and then let them out after 8, you'll be able to collect most of their eggs.

Good luck. Duck eggs are well worth the extra effort!

 

[LittleSquidgenHome]

Our girls lay in their nest boxes in the barn. Their nest boxes are on the floor so they are easy for them to get into. We also leave a wooden egg, like the ones for crafting, in each nest and most of the girls use the same 2 nests. We have also bred for and picked laying hens that lay at night or very early morning and who consistently lay in the nest boxes. We dont let them out till 7am this typically assures that all eggs have been laid in the appropriate place. Aside from when a new hen just starts laying we almost always have clean eggs in the boxes. Some breeds will, "learn" to lay in a box, and SOME breeds, I think Runners are notorious for this, will lay anywhere, any time of day, in any conditions, with no regard for the cleanliness or safety of their eggs.

My advice, lock them up with some dummy eggs in a nest overnight or into the day if you have to and they will lay in the boxes.

Oh and our Muscovy hens are NOTORIOUS for "holding it" until let out and then they RUN to their chosen hiding spot and lay a whole clutch. Silly ducks.

 

[CityChicker]

Yeah, my Runners are without a doubt the worst for laying anywhere and everywhere. It should go without saying that if they are locked up at night in an enclosed area, that is where they are going to lay. Ours have covered runs made of welded wire that are attached to the houses/nests. They are completely confined, but able to get out into the runs (covered runs) during the night as it adjoins the wood houses, hence they lay every where they have access to. Some of the Runners will go in the houses to lay, but at least half of ours don't. In contrast, most of our bantam ducks lay inside in the nest boxes.

 

[lovesduckies]

my duckies have a cute little dog house and my hen layed her eggs there and now she's sittin on them. she's a smart cookie. she layed and set on her first clutch in my bedroom in a box sooo i think she got the hint that's where you lay your eggs plus my drake for some reason is scared of the house and he won't go in there.. he's kinda slow... lol

 

[duckyfromoz]

My pekin duck has been laying since August- and usually lays about ten in an area before moving on somewhere else- I guess she realised i have found her nest esch time and tries to find a better hiding spot.

My Runners are penned up at night and have 4 nesting boxes in the night area- Usually I find eggs in a number of them- But this morning when I let them out - I found all four eggs in the one nest. When they started laying- they would lay all over the place- but now they are more settled they always lay in the nesting boxes.

 

[sandy sea]

If I put my pekin ducks in an area in the coop away from the pigs at night, should I give them a large water dish?