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Ducks not laying

(22 posts)

  1. melissa_r
    Member

    I have a pair of call ducks and a pair of Khaki Campbells. I have had them 3 months now and they came into lay about 2 months ago. It is very sporadic though. I have had about 4 call eggs and 5 kharki campbell eggs but nothing for a month.

    They are all free range and have access to a pond and I put them away at night at about 7pm and let them out at 0830am.

    They look in good health and seem very content.

    Should I be worried by the lack of eggs - any ideas why they are not laying. I read somewhere that if it gets very damp they go off lay and its certainly been raining a lot!

    Posted 1 year ago #

  2. Lorna
    Member

    Hello Melissa,
    What age are the ducks now? I know with my call ducks they have stopped laying now, usually they do that when it is late summer and will probably not start until next March/April time.

    I have KC too and one has stopped laying and is only laying occasionally, she has been through the moult, the other is still to go through it.

    They could also be coming into the moult and they will stop then, that is right about the damp weather affecting them too.

    Is it possible for you to let them stay out a wee bit longer at night? I know ducks need up to 14 hrs of daylight at least for optimun egg production, although the KC are great layers. I put mine in now about 8.30pm.

    Best Wishes
    Lorna

    Posted 1 year ago #

  3. m40mo
    Administrator

    hello I agree with lorna try leaving them out longer while its still light and let them out earlier to, my khakis lay all year bar the odd day, rain snow all weather, molt or not

    also what are you feeding them ?

    mo x
    Posted 1 year ago #

  4. melissa_r
    Member

    Hi

    Thanks for this, when I put them in they have an outside run that they are in until about 9pm and then I shut them in the house.

    I was leaving them in later in the morning as I was told often they lay around 8am (?) but its quite easy to let them out earlier.

    Feed - layers pellets, corn, grit and lots of grass, slugs and insects.

    Call ducks are about 30 weeks old and I would guess the Kharki's are about the same. My Kharki lady is looking as if she is about to moult but the call duck is still look sleek and pretty.

    Thanks very much for the replies

    Posted 1 year ago #

  5. m40mo
    Administrator

    ahh i understand now you put them in from free ranging, people on here who have known me a long time know my ducks 3 girls 2 boys live in a large shed over night and that I have a video camera in there and can tell you ducks can lay as early as 4am but have had them lay as late as 5pm, maybe its worth having a good search around your property to see if eggs can be found under bushes behind logs etc. also i have had times when eggs have been found at the bottom of the pond when its drained and cleaned,
    moulting can change things but have to say again though it has never stopped mine from laying, khaki campbells are the best egg layers, laying up to 365 eggs a year so not sure whats happening with yours sorry

    mo x
    Posted 1 year ago #

  6. dollydylo
    Member

    Hi Melissa. I have 4 khakis, and they have all been moulting for the last couple of months. They have continued laying until the last week, when we have only recieved 2 eggs each day. They free range during the day and we give them layers pellets. Hope you find out what is happening to your girls soon (or find those missing eggs hidden somewhere perhaps...)
    Karen x

    Karen x
    Posted 1 year ago #

  7. campbell ridge
    Administrator

    Hi Melissa,
    I have white campbells who don't lay as regularly as khakis but I too haven't had any eggs for the last 4 days from my 5 ladies. Two I know are moulting and one has just finished, but in my case I believe there is a bit of friction creeping back into my flock between my two drakes, chasing and snapping - which may be a contributing reason for me. So I will have to separate them again for a while to see if it relieves the tension.
    Mine also eat layers and insects etc and have found the more bugs they eat, the less often they lay.

    Sarah L
    Posted 1 year ago #

  8. quacking minx
    Member

    Daffy has stopped also unless shes hiding them from us (seen as though she went broody and we kept taking the eggs)

    someone is shedding white feathers but it could be any of the 5 white ducks (if not all of them) lol the garden looks all fluffy and white hehe snow is early here :D

    Posted 1 year ago #

  9. admin
    Sara @ farmingfriends

    Hi All,
    There must be something about this time of year as I have had an email yesterday from anne to say,

    I have just got 5 khaki campbell 2 male, 3 females they laid for three days now they have stopped laying can you tell me why? I have had them for three weeks now. Anne

    kind regards
    Sara @ farmingfriends

    http://www.farmingfriends.com
    http://farmingfriends.com/shop/
    Posted 1 year ago #

  10. m40mo
    Administrator

    all i'm going to say is opps same ratio to mine and you know i've had to seperate mine now...begining to realise though what amazing egg layers my girls are x

    mo x
    Posted 1 year ago #

  11. melissa_r
    Member

    well - there was an egg this morning in the box however extremely soft shell and what I can only describe as an umbilical; cord trailing from the top of the shell.

    Am going to put more grit in with the pellets but maybe she has started again. Had a good look everywhere and can't see any eggs but we do have a lot of dense hedges.

    I think that maybe it is to do with the moult.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  12. DuckM4d
    Member

    Hi

    This was very interesting to read as I have 3 Khaki Campbell girls who normally lay almot daily but in the last 2 weeks I have found only 2 broken eggs in their house. Apart from the fact that they are currently moulting they are healthy and happy so I haven't been too concerned apart from missing my lovely duck eggs! They are on layers pellets but do get to free range a fair bit too. These girls are pampered with a mixute of fresh spinach, grated carrot and chopped baby sweetcorn daily which they have always had. Still eating well so as I say not too concerned but its interesting to hear other folks ducks are not laying too. Maybe it's the awful weather! And they have a Khaki Cambell Drake for company so nothing has changed for them.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  13. melissa_r
    Member

    Well - the 2 eggs were a blip. Still nothing. She looks healthy and happy enough and the chickens are still laying so I'm not going to fuss

    Posted 1 year ago #

  14. flutterby
    Member

    Hi,

    I'm having the same problem with my 2 khakis, the smaller one has started to get her feathers back but the bigger one seems to have just started losing them - it looks like they have been beating each other up over night in their hut! We haven't had any eggs for 8 days now and I was starting to panic about it - they are eating well, swimming and wandering around the garden and behaving like happy ducks should - the lack of eggs was concerning me but as it coincided with the change in weather I wonder if that is a contribution. Here's to healthy, happy albeit eggless ducks!

    Posted 1 year ago #

  15. campbell ridge
    Administrator

    Don't worry. A lot of us have had problems with few or no eggs in the past month. I haven't had any eggs from my 5 girls for at least 3 weeks now, due to moulting and changing sleeping arrangements which has resulted in problems with restructuring the pecking order! so noisy atm too. oh well.
    I am not worried, just wishing for eggs again.

    Sarah L
    Posted 1 year ago #

  16. dollydylo
    Member

    I haven't had any duck eggs these past couple of days... two of them have finished moulting so they have no excuse!! I'm missing the eggs too x

    Karen x
    Posted 1 year ago #

  17. jenica1
    Member

    I am so pleased that my 2 girls Georgia and Benita [thought she was male to start,then had to add ita when she started laying] are not on there own by not laying, I havent had eggs for weeks now and thought it was there age[4yrs], both had bad moult so have been giving a spiced treatment that retailer suggested as nothing else seemed to work. At the moment Georgia is looking fluffy again,Benita never recovered all her feathers from last year but seems she may be getting some back this year-dont know whether it is spice treat or just a coincidence. Had to buy chicken eggs the other day-OMG! no comparison to duck eggs, dont know what I'll do when girls go to ducky heaven. By the way I know it sounds like a daft question but when they do-how will I find them? do they just lay down and die? will they both die about same time? if they are 4yrs old now how long mush longer will I have them for?

    Posted 1 year ago #

  18. admin
    Sara @ farmingfriends

    Hi Jenica,
    Hope your ducks have started to lay again. Ducks have a tendency to lay in the early hours so hopefully yours will lay in their hut.

    Ducks can live for a long time - Lorna has ducks that are 8-12 years old I think so they can live to a good age.

    Kind regards
    Sara @ farmingfriends

    http://www.farmingfriends.com
    http://farmingfriends.com/shop/
    Posted 1 year ago #

  19. admin
    Sara @ farmingfriends

    Hi All,

    Vinny & Toni have sent an email asking when their ducks may lay again,

    Ive 2 white (F) Peking Ducks and a black India Drake that we bought over a year ago. Our ducks layed around a doz eggs last July and took turn sitting on them BUT at the end of July there were NO ducklings or eggs in there little house!!! When will they begin laying eggs again because we havent seen any since last July!! Vinny & Toni

    I wonder if something is getting into the house and taking the eggs as it seems a long time that they have not laid and it's funny thst there were no eggs left at the end of them sitting. Could be rats, mink etc that are getting in and stealing the eggs.
    The ducks would have stopped laying whilst they were sitting and then they would go through a moult at some stage and would stop laying but they should have started to lay again this Spring/Summer. Are they well in themselves? When do you let them out, could they be laying elsewhere and you haven't found the eggs?

    Kind regards
    Sara @ farmingfriends

    http://www.farmingfriends.com
    http://farmingfriends.com/shop/
    Posted 1 year ago #

  20. DuckM4d
    Member

    Hi All

    Just read this trail as I was about to ask for advice on my 3 girls who haven't laid an egg at all in over 2 months. They appear to be healthy and happy and have gone through moult, I also gave them crushed garlic a couple of times in their feed having read about internal parasites. No sign of ill health just no lovely eggs. Been a couple of soft gooey ones but that's it. I even put a couple of fake eggs in but it makes no difference. They live with one drake but his attitude to them hasn't changed and no signs of anything else around stressing them. Missing my eggs so any other tips welcome. We've just built them a pond so hopefully they will respond by producing eggs again :-)

    Posted 1 year ago #

  21. m40mo
    Administrator

    hi maybe its down to your breed of ducks not all breeds lay all year round, think you have a mixture of ducks so not sure x

    mo x
    Posted 1 year ago #

  22. DuckM4d
    Member

    Thanks Mo They were all supposed to be Khaki Campbells but only 1 girl looks like a campbell, one is just like a Mallard and the other who knows she is mostly black with white markings. Up until a couple of months ago they all laid almost daily! Really missing my eggs but now at the point where I am going to have to give in and BUY some!! Yikes... They all seem happy though so that's the main thing and it seems lots of people ar having a no eggs issue - maybe it's the lack of sun this year who knows?

    Posted 1 year ago #

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