Those birds that have been laying for quite awhile have a washed out, pale bill. Some ducks will only start eating their eggs if the shell is already cracked, but once they get the taste for egg it can cause them to deliberately crack their eggs to get inside. This is actually a jackfruit. What Exactly Is a Broody Hen and How to Stop It? A feed mixture of laying ducks should contain about 16% to 18% protein. A Pekin hen typically starts laying eggs when she is five to six months old. As a duck’s body prepares to lay eggs, their pelvic bones start to loosen up and become wider apart, allowing for the passage of eggs. They mature at an age of 4-7 months or 16-28 weeks. After that, your duck will start laying again until winter hits. Very surprised to find eggs so soon. The Definitive List of Chicken Treats: What Can Chickens Eat? Also can ducks cross-breed like dogs can do? There is a very simple and short answer to that question … no. One of these ducks isn’t laying eggs…can you tell which one? document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a2b40f4e70a364c901955490fd80bf91" );document.getElementById("h4cb6faa55").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read our blog! Pekin ducks … ), What does this have to do with telling if your ducks are laying eggs? Even though all of the duck eggs in the nest, called a clutch, hatch at the same time, the hen starts spending increasing amounts of time on the nest from the laying of the first egg. Many ducks are seasonal layers. We also write for Edible Upcountry Magazine, so be sure to check out our articles over there as well! Pekins start laying eggs when they are about 26–28 weeks of age and can be kept economically for about 40 weeks of production, when they will have laid about 160 eggs. The Happy Chicken Coop - All Rights Reserved. How can you tell if they’re almost ready to start laying? Pekin Duck Egg Laying On average, Pekin ducks lay between 200 to 300 extra large white eggs annually. Ideally, you can switch them to layer feed three weeks before they start laying to make sure they have the extra nutrition they’ll need. How Many Years Do Ducks Lay Eggs Unlike chickens, ducks continue to lay eggs at high rates for as long as 3-5 years. Tyrant Farms is reader-supported. Ducks entirely stop laying eggs at the age of 7 to 9 years. We hope this article was helpful to you duck parents out there! If you have a smaller or larger breed, the width will likely be different. Young young ducks may be about to start laying eggs. A Pekin hen typically starts laying eggs when she is five to six months old. The weather has started warming up so you want to know if your ducks are about to start laying so you can switch them back to layer feed. . My ducks have houses with nest boxes and they almost always use them before I let them out before 6:45 am. Plan on adding a few minutes to the cook time when making hard boiled duck eggs. Then something exciting happened on our journey raising Pekin ducks: the ducks started laying eggs in a corner of the run. You should supply a second waterer when adding ducks to an existing coop of chickens. A lot…. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Also, chickens all love to share the same nest box … This strain of Pekin, the Jumbo Pekin, is the biggest Pekin Duck available. It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with them. The laying phase. Technically, ducks can begin mating with one another when they reach 4 months old but sometimes it takes longer depending on the breed and the specific duck. Again, to establish a baseline of what your ducks feel like when they’re NOT laying, it’s important to handle them when they’ve reached adulthood but before their bodies have started preparing to lay (13 weeks or earlier). We call this piece of duck art “Jackson on Jackfruit.”. Starting with hatching eggs is an economical and fun way to start your flock of these big white ducks. So, to help Margaret realize that she needed to start laying eggs for us, we made two small additions to her life: How To Store Your Chickens’ Freshly Laid Eggs. : 193 They are not good sitters, and eggs may need to be artificially incubated. One of the reasons we chose Welsh Harlequins ducks is because they’re regarded as one of the most sociable breeds (in addition to other attributes). Duck hens are usually far less likely to turn broody than chicken hens. In fact, ducks will even use their bottoms to wiggle round nest depressions into moist soil. The opposite is also true: when they’re not laying, their pelvic bones stiffen and the width decreases. Jumbo Pekins are pure white with bright yellow-orange bills and feet. I have a silkie or pekin laying at 20wks. Their plumage is thick and plush. Show birds are often larger than commercial production stock. Thanks. The Pekin ducklings are fast growers and at 6-9 weeks of age they are known as 'green ducklings' meaning that they are large enough to eat, but have not developed their pin feathers yet. Please be sure to subscribe to Tyrant Farms to see what's in-season out in nature, have fresh seasonal recipes delivered to your inbox and get helpful organic/permaculture gardening & duck keeping tips. Chickens like to nest off the ground in a dry location. Food explorer, seed & soil geek, duck evangelist, writer, health nut, and entrepreneur. Your young ducks are about 16 weeks old and should start laying soon. They're usually done laying by 7:30 am, so their eggs are almost always in their run & not out in the yard somewhere. You can tell if an egg is fertilized only by incubating it, or cracking it open. How to choose the perfect breed of chicken for you- including our top 5 beginner picks. 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