Thought I would start a new duck thread since my recent adoptions....
And looky what surprise I found this morning...
Looks like I'm going to have to get some ceramic eggs if she goes broody on me. Now I just have to figure out which one did it.
Would the color of the egg help? Or do both breeds lay the same?
I'm going to have to defer to the duck pros what color they should be... this one I have is white.
Here is the story on the egg... I went out to check them at about 6:30am and I didn't notice an egg anywhere. I went back in to get my son up for his last day of school (yea!) and did my usual morning stuff. We were getting ready to leave around 7:45am and Jacob said 'let me go see them' and the boom over there it was sitting in the corner. I picked it up and it was warm so she must have just did it...little rascal. I was totally not expecting any eggs for a few days, but she must be happy enough to feel like she can do her thing.
I went to the store and got them some cabbage and put some in the water pan. I also put out some cantaloupe (it was on sale in the beat-up/overripe bin) for them. I hope that is OK for both chickens and ducks.
Do ducks lay all year like chickens do? Or just spring/summer for the purpose of having babies?
domestic ducks lay all yr. very heavy spring to early summer. Mine are slowing down in this heat now. 2 are broodie, 1 just got over being broody. So out of the 7 other hens I am down to getting 3 or 4 a day which is fine with me. I just gave my Mom 40 of the older eggs and hubbie sold 3 dozen of the freshest ones at work today. 10 eggs a day was way more than I needed with no set customers to sell to. They also don't necessarily lay everyday but pretty close to it.
Exotic/Wild Ducks only lay in the spring with the exception of the Hottentot Teal. They can lay any time of the year so have to keep check on them in winter. Not sure if they lay more than once a year though. mine haven't laid yet. They are just a year old and may not lay until they are 3 yrs. You can get many of the wild ducks to dbl clutch if you pull their eggs 2 weeks into incubation and put them in a incubator and also sometimes will lay again if they loose all their offspring very quickly after hatching
That's interesting, I had no idea they did that. Wow, 40 duck eggs! I've never eaten a duck egg but have heard the taste is stronger than chicken eggs. I still haven't eaten an egg from my girl's, in a bread or cake recipe, yes, but NO egg salad, fried, boiled or scrambled.
I love Donna's Teal Hottentot's, they are gorgeous and cute both. I have five new pheasants that I hatched a week ago, just one day before the new owner picked up the incubator...These phesants only lay from April - June but I get an egg from her every other day like clock work...Hay
Hay, they are adorable, of course. What are the other two? They all look alike to me....
Wow, we have another egg this morning... we got some busy girls. This one was a little smaller that the first. So my next question is if the same hen can lay different size eggs or are they consistently the same size from them once they get started? I'm just trying to figure out if I have one laying or this is a second female laying.
Also, I have been changing the water in the pan I have for them twice a day. I thought it would be better to do that since they seem to dirty it up so quick. I want them to have fresh water for drinking and the chickens seem to like to go over and drink out of it too. Do I need to change it so much? I just want them to be able to clean up themselves since they look like they need a bath. I'll be glad when I can take them out to the pond and they can clean-up there. That will be fun to watch them let loose.
When the Canadian geese splash around out there is is a sight, there is water flying everywhere. They don't just do it a little bit - it is like a 15-20 minute process. The other little duck out there splashes around quite a bit too....That is the one I think is a female Redhead (thanks Donna for helping me identify).
yes keep it clean if that is their only water source until you start free ranging them. They herd easy like geese. Just get you a bamboo pole or 3' stick. If you want them to go right hold the stick out to your left and vice versa. It doesn't take them long to know when it is time to go back to their cage. Try to do it the same time everyday. I usually lock mine up about 5 since I have to lock up the chickens to and start dinner in summer. In Fall/Winter I lock them up about 3:30, 4:00. It is best to not let them out until 1 after full day light and 1 hour prior to dusk if you want to avoid predators. I did see my first fox this spring chasing them to the pond and it was 10:00 a.m. I shot at it and have never seen it again. Must have been passing through thankfully.
My eggs are all super jumbo sized and occasionally I get a real monster one. I ordered some egg cartons just for duck eggs since most of them will not fit in a jumbo eggs carton
OK ... these ducks are blowing my mind... I found 2 more eggs this afternoon after I got back from the store... tell me I got some unusual ducks....I made one of those upside down flower pots with the cut out and both eggs were in there. I didn't look in there this morning because I found that one egg this morning out in the middle of the run. One of the newest ones had been there a for a little bit cause it was cool to the touch. The other one was quite warm like it had just been laid. These ducks are some busy or very happy girls.
I put up a little netting around the front of the run and opened the door for them all to go out and enjoy the pool I got for them. They splashed around and got the dirt off of them. The blue Swedish one looked like a wet rat because she was one from the hording case. Not sure about the if the other one needed it because he was black. The Swedish girl looked like she enjoyed herself and she looks a lot cleaner now. They only were out in the area I netted off for about an hour then came 2 hawks and the chickens put out the alert and they all scrambled back into the coop. The ducks followed a little more leisurely so they knew there was a threat. I yelled at the hawks to scare them off and they moved on. I had to come in and check my laundry so it was actually good timing to put them up.
I'll probably let them out again here again for another hour when it cools down a little bit. I'll take a few pictures of the ducks and chickens searching for goodies.
Such good ducks!
Lucky too.
As promised...pictures!
Sorry they are so dark but it is really shady over there and the ducks move away if I get to close. I didn't want to interrupt their outside time.
OOPS double post...
This message was edited Jun 12, 2011 6:38 PM
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looks like they were having fun. One may have laid last night then today when they had the nest boxes they had to lay again for you.
Have you eaten any yet?? Looks like a nice area for them and a good job you are doing for them. Shade is a must in this horrid heat.
When you go to eat a egg put in a chicken egg beside the ducks eggs so you can really see the difference
I haven't had any of the eggs yet. I need to get busy and have some because they are piling up. I am not a big egg eater usually, but if duck eggs are better then I might just change my tune. I've been use to eating store bought eggs so that is probably why I'm not a fan.
I was out there checking on things this morning before work putting in new water and feed for them and my blue Swedish was out there in the nest making things comfy for herself. She is probably going to lay me one this morning. The black Swedish was peeking in there too....Don't know if she was saying 'hurry up already its my turn' or if she was cheering the other one on. She was bobbing her head around and pacing around so she probably wants to lay one too.
I'll have to check this afternoon for eggs...I had to go into the office today so I can't go take a look like I did last week when I was working from home. Got to show up once in a while so people don't think I'm a slacker.
Duck eggs are great in cakes!!!!! Wish I had some one close to get some
I have has a major drop off of egg laying. Since I let them roam around now. Since then they have only given me one egg...and that one was broken. Also, my black Swedish has disappeared on me....I'm really hoping she just went off somewhere quiet to sit on some eggs and will show back up. Unfortunately, I don't have a good feeling that she is being broody. She probably was a casualty of being in an area with predators. It is just strange that she went missing in the middle of the day (between 10 and 11:30am).
I will hold out a little hope that she will come back ... if she doesn't I've got plenty of other animals to keep me busy.
it was that time of day for me when I caught the fox chasing them into my pond. I don't know what they will do now that the pond has dried up
They may be laying out in the yard somewhere. I have found eggs several times by my fountain and by my Aviary where they hang out in the shade during the heat of the day. They have slowed down in the heat though. I am getting 3 to 5 eggs a day now from 10 hens 2 which are broody
The timeframe is also consistent with what I think is a fox, here. I suspect that if they're feeding a litter, daylight foraging is not out of the ordinary.
I suspected that it may be a predator that may have taken it.... she was probably my best layer for the short time I had her. I only have 2 girls left (and 3 boys). I also have the 18 mallards, but they won't be giving me any eggs since they are still juvies plus they only nest in the spring. I have been walking around the bank of the pond where they all hang out when I get home and there is usually nothing laying around. It is probably just the heat and that they are more interested in foraging for goodies during the day.
