Got my first duck egg!!!

[NuggetTheChicken]

Half of mine like the boxes and the other half lay on the floor of the coop or even outside under the nearest spikey shrub.

My KC's took an age to start laying, I have no idea why - once they started they were like laying factories though !

What are you feeding them ?

Layer feed for about a month, fresh greens almost everyday, and they love to forage for worms and bugs

 

[21hens-incharge]

I got them from TSC on March 8th of this year, so they should be about 22-23 weeks old, I got them when they were 2 weeks old. Hopefully your start to lay soon!

I have a while to go yet. Mine are Welsh Harlequin hatched on April 1. I figure the end of August at the very earliest.

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

COOL! I was so excited to find an egg, then 2, then 3!!!!! Enjoy I love the duck eggs , very tasty. Lotsa yolk.

 

[nao57]

I don't have any nesting boxes just a coop. Mine are about 5 months old, but I think they started laying early because mine are a production duck breed, lightweight and lay many eggs, white layers and golden layer 300s. I also have a pekin, but I suspect she won't start laying until much later. I started giving layer feed a month ago since this breed of duck lays a lot of eggs and needs a lot of calcium. What breeds are your ducks?

Mine are pekings mostly. Thanks.

Wow its so neat to hear your experiences.

Is there a trick to having that many ducks and chickens on a property wo trouble from the town too?

This is great to see that other people have more, because I'm hoping that means I can increase my herd too.

 

[NuggetTheChicken]

Mine are pekings mostly. Thanks.

Wow its so neat to hear your experiences.

Is there a trick to having that many ducks and chickens on a property wo trouble from the town too?

This is great to see that other people have more, because I'm hoping that means I can increase my herd too.

I live in an area where you can have unlimited animals and any animals as long as the coop is 100 feet from your house. I can pretty much have any livestock I could possibly want, granted I have space and housing

 

[sunnie7]

Soooo I found my first egg on my chicken coop floor yesterday I got Pekin ducks and chickens from TSC March 10....here’s the egg I found and I’m not sure why the color is so weird but could it be a duck egg? I was just assuming it was a chicken! Then today there was an egg with a very very thin shell that broke when I touched it. I’m hoping its just because who ever is just starting to lay and it will get better. This is an ugly egg though!

 

[HalfWayUpAMountain]

Soooo I found my first egg on my chicken coop floor yesterday I got Pekin ducks and chickens from TSC March 10....here’s the egg I found and I’m not sure why the color is so weird but could it be a duck egg? I was just assuming it was a chicken! Then today there was an egg with a very very thin shell that broke when I touched it. I’m hoping its just because who ever is just starting to lay and it will get better. This is an ugly egg though!
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That my friend is a beautiful duck egg !

You would know for sure by cracking it - the yolk in a duck is way larger than a chickens egg.

And its not ugly !

 

[3bird]

Can you guys clarify...

Does it matter if ducks have nesting boxes? Or not? I was initially told that ducks didn't need actual nesting boxes, but how slow its been waiting for eggs is making me wonder why its slow.

I'm trying to figure out why mine aren't laying yet, and they are almost 7 months.

What months are yours?

And maybe you can tell us a bit about what helped promote them laying eggs and what got them started? What made the difference?

Our ducks build their own nests in the corners of the duckhouse (and sometimes in the run). They hatched in early May, and I think we had our first eggs in October, but I may have that wrong. We have silver Appleyards, and we did nothing to promote laying beyond a good diet and oysters shells. We do feed them back their egg shells, which they adore.

 

[nao57]

Our ducks build their own nests in the corners of the duckhouse (and sometimes in the run). They hatched in early May, and I think we had our first eggs in October, but I may have that wrong. We have silver Appleyards, and we did nothing to promote laying beyond a good diet and oysters shells. We do feed them back their egg shells, which they adore.

Sorry, I wonder if you could describe what their homemade nests look like.

And silver appleyards sound very cool!

 

[3bird]

Sorry, I wonder if you could describe what their homemade nests look like.

And silver appleyards sound very cool!

I was trying to find a picture, but I could not find a good one. We use the deep litter method in the duckhouse, and basically they just create deep nests in their bedding and then pull straw up all around the outside. Here's a picture of Martha and Stella sharing a nest.