How many duck eggs did you get today?

[Miss Lydia]

I am getting chicken eggs now 2 so far so hopefully things are improving and the ducks will be laying soon. Thankfully we made it out of the deep freeze for now.

 

[Texag87]

1. Also a lot of rain That we really need.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Congrats on the egg and rain!!

 

[Supercow]

Things getting a bit unusual with us...

We have been getting 5 eggs per day, with an occasional 4, all winter so far. But now - when the days have already noticeably lengthened, the weather has turned more user-friendly and the neighbors' chickens are starting to up their production - we've had the series 4, 4, 3.

Other than this, the ducks seem to be in fine shape by their looks and behavior, so I'm puzzled. They are all one year old.

- Is this an expected "darkest hour before dawn" situation and the ducks are making a brief pause immediately before starting a new season?

- For the last 20 days or so they have been getting frozen (thawed) peas as they love them so much. Let's say on average 50 g (roughly 2 oz) per duck per day. Are peas processed in this manner considered an anti-nutrient that could lead to not enough effective protein?

- Is the most likely explanation that the eggs are there, just scattered in other places in the (very thick) straw bedding? (It would be somewhat unusual since they normally all lay in the same pit they have created in the straw.) I haven't found any stray eggs just lying around the orchard.

I understand they're not machines, I just want to know they are OK.

Thank you!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Peas are a good sourse of niacin and if fed in moderation like you are doing shouldn't cause any problems.

What you are most likely seeing is their break where they stop laying and give their bodies time to replenish the calcium they have used to make all the yummy eggs you were getting. They will do this several times a year either slow down quite a bit or you'll not see an egg for a couple weeks.

As long as they are eating drinking and acting normal in every other duck way there isn't anything to worry about.

Are you giving them a calcium supplement like oyster shell?

 

[Supercow]

The pellets that they have been receiving since spring are 5,8% calcium and 20,5% protein. This, combined with various grains and corn 2:1, is their main food. There have been some bouncy eggs when they first started laying but not for several months now.

My worry about peas was that maybe they'd need to be cooked, I hope not because we tried that previously and they were not as well received.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I think most on here just thaw and give them that way mine have never been fond of them so I don’t buy them any more.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I feed layer and mine still eat a bunch of oyster shell

 

[Sequestered Ridge Ranch]

1

 

[Supercow]

I feed layer and mine still eat a bunch of oyster shell

Yeah it might do the trick for us as well -- I found a bouncy later today after all... Some good grit arriving tomorrow.