Do ducks always lay flat for a few weeks first before starting to lay eggs?

[PaulX]

So... my runner girls are 5 months and 1 week old. They haven't laid any egg yet. They haven't ever laid flat either.

I remember before my pekin started laying she'd already been laying flat periodically for 3 weeks, so...

Can I expect my runners to start laying any time now? Or will they start laying flat for a few weeks first before they can lay?

Daylight is over 12 hours, by the way. Northern hemisphere.

Here are they and the pekin from a week ago.

 

[katiebrock]

So... my runner girls are 5 months and 1 week old. They haven't laid any egg yet. They haven't ever laid flat either.

I remember before my pekin started laying she'd already been laying flat periodically for 3 weeks, so...

Can I expect my runners to start laying any time now? Or will they start laying flat for a few weeks first before they can lay?

Daylight is over 12 hours, by the way. Northern hemisphere.

Here are they and the pekin from a week ago.
View attachment 1858234

I’m sorry I can’t answer your question, but that picture is so good!

 

[Duckworth]

Great picture! If by laying flat you mean that they flatten their bodies as if ready to be mounted for mating, that may be an indication that they are reaching sexual maturity, but I don’t think it is a necessary precursor to laying eggs. My girls all play mounted each other and still do. The first began laying at about 5.5 months, the next about ten days later, the third a month after that and the fourth not until the following February when the days started getting longer again. They are on their own schedule.

 

[PaulX]

I don’t think it is a necessary precursor to laying eggs.

Thanks! That I sure hope so.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Lovely picture! - What do you mean by "laying flat"? My Spring duckling girls started to flatten for the drakes at an age of 4½ months, but none of my duck even flattened to lay an egg, on the contrary. Two of my runner girls literally curled up when they laid their first egg. They were whining and i was afraid they may die, but all went well and now they pump out roughly an egg per day. Just be patient, the eggs will come to you soon…

 

[chickens really]

No they can become sexually active early and not lay eggs till the following spring. They are not like chickens.

 

[PaulX]

Lovely picture! - What do you mean by "laying flat"? My Spring duckling girls started to flatten for the drakes at an age of 4½ months, but none of my duck even flattened to lay an egg, on the contrary. Two of my runner girls literally curled up when they laid their first egg. They were whining and i was afraid they may die, but all went well and now they pump out roughly an egg per day. Just be patient, the eggs will come to you soon…

No I don't mean to flatten right before they lay eggs. I mean to flatten for the drake. (in this case, me or for each other... my pekin flattens for me.)

 

[Muscovy-palooza]

What a cute picture!!! You have an adorable little group of ducks!

 

[Miss Lydia]

So my Fawn an White Runners just turned 3 months on July 24 and one just flattened herself out for my Muscovy drake. Thankfully he just ignored her. My Adult Runners were 4 months old before mating started and 4.5 months old before laying began. Yes Runners will lay in the year they hatch.