When do indian runner ducks start laying

Our ducks started laying about 18 months ago, when they were around six to seven months old, which is standard for most duck breeds. Although some, like the Khaki Campbell, start laying as early as four months of age. Outdoor Happens is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Click to learn more. On a mature female duck, the space between the pelvic bones will increase from a two-finger width, so you should be able to fit four fingers between them instead.

Like your backyard chickens, most breeds of ducks slow down during the winter months, producing fewer eggs as the number of daylight hours reduces. Some breeds, like the Khaki Campbell , keep laying throughout the year, while the Mallard and Indian Runner will at least reduce their egg production during the cold months, if not stop altogether. Poor hygiene, over-feeding, bullying within the flock, and limited access to water can also impair her ability to lay.

Read more in our Guide to Raising Ducks for Beginners! Environmental factors also impact egg production so having a serviceable duck house is vital, as is giving ducks the freedom to forage and easy access to drinking water. Richer in vitamins and nutrients, duck eggs contain higher amounts of iron, vitamin B12, and folate than chicken eggs do.

They are, however, highly prized by pastry chefs who appreciate the richness they bring to cakes and other desserts. Other keepers prefer to remove the eggs and incubate them inside. Indian Runner Duck eggs are somewhat difficult to incubate, but it is possible.

To do this, wait until the female leaves the nest every day to eat, drink and bathe. While she is gone, shake each egg vigorously and return to the nest. Shaking the egg will break the blood vessels inside, preventing the egg from becoming a chick. It is important to return the eggs to the nest after shaking them, or the female will simply go to another place and start to deposit another group of eggs. Indian Runner Duck eggs are quite large, as you would expect from such large ducks.

Some keepers like to place protective structures around the females to prevent predators from attacking her or the eggs. While the female often leaves the nest when she confronted by a large predator which will then eat most or all of the eggs occasionally they stay and try to defend their nest.

When this happens, females often suffer serious injuries and may not even protect the eggs. Snakes, weasels, raccoons, and dogs are frequent predators of duck eggs. Most will attack the nest at night, so you can consider allowing the mother freedom during the day so she can get food and water and stretch her legs a little. If you find that predators are a frequent problem, you may have to enclose the entire area that contains the breeding females.

The only other reasonable course of action is to employ the talents of a well-trained watchdog. Usually, the Indian runner ducks will start laying eggs when they are approximately 7 months old. They are layers of prolific eggs and will lay around eggs each year. Collecting these eggs and incubating them successfully is a challenge. There are two options for hatching eggs:. Breeding is the process when a female sits on the eggs to hatch them. There are some obvious signs you can look for when your hen is ready to brood.

To start, she will stop laying eggs. She will also make a very different quaking noise. She also sits on the eggs without moving. There must be more than 15 eggs in each nest to increase the hatchability of the eggs.

Once the hen begins to brood, she will provide the eggs with the moisture and heat necessary for the eggs to hatch. There are some things you should keep in mind when you have a broody hen:. After the first week of brooding, you should check if the eggs are fertile. All you have to do is hold them against any bright light.

If you can see a dark form in the egg, you can be sure that it is fertile. If the egg is clear, it is infertile. Indian runner ducks will not become broody if eggs are collected regularly. In such cases, you must opt for artificial incubation. You can use commercial incubators to incubate the eggs. The capacity of these incubators varies and most often depends on fuels such as gas or kerosene and even electricity to provide heat.

The temperature of the device can be controlled with the help of a thermostat that comes with the incubator. When removing eggs from storage, make sure they are kept at room temperature for at least 6 hours before transferring them to the incubator. The temperature should be The humidity must also be perfectly maintained. If it is excessive, the eggs will not be dry enough to hatch. If the humidity is lower, the eggs dry too quickly.

There are special humidity trays to control humidity. The eggs in the incubator should be rotated every day to ensure that the contents do not adhere to the shell. In general, it is recommended to rotate the eggs at an angle of 90 degrees.

This process can be done automatically with the help of a spinning machine that will turn the eggs every hour. Be sure to constantly verify the fertilization of the egg by lighting them. Fumigation is an important process in artificial incubation.

Use a mixture of formalin and potassium permanganate to ensure that harmful bacteria, especially salmonella, are completely eliminated. Prepare a brooder with the required heat source when the eggs are near the hatching date. The hatch must be transferred to the brooder almost as soon as the process is completed. Even if the eggs are incubated by natural incubation, brooders are necessary.

When the eggs approach the hatching date, you will see the hen sit on them for shorter periods of time. The hen will spend maximum time away from the nest. These pellets contain the necessary nutrients and minerals that ensure the proper development of ducklings.

When the ducklings are around 5 weeks old, you can introduce wheat with the grit. The grit usually consists of oyster shells and helps provide the fiber needed to break down food while digesting. Several breeders prefer natural incubation even though there are no problems registered with artificial insemination.

Sometimes Indian runner ducks can stop brooding. In such cases, you can reintroduce them to nesting and brooding using model eggs and even rocks. Eggs can be naturally incubated using certain chicken breeds as well. Be sure to check the brooding and maternity history of the chicken you choose as a brooder. For those whose main interest lies in earning through the eggs that are available in the breeding season, this is a matter of great concern.

Although Indian Runner Ducks are known for their incredible egg-laying abilities. If this happens, the first thing you should do is take your Indian Runner Duck to an expert in waterfowl. This past week November 16, a male drake several years old got into the safety of the pen in which I had the female ducklings. Unfortunately, some drakes will try to mate anything, even ducklings. Do you mean that the Ameracaunas and guinea hen are in with the ducklings, or with the other adult ducks?

Unless the ducklings are alone in the pen you found the egg in, I would suspect that the egg came from one of the Ameracaunas or the guinea. Ducks and chickens both occasionally have a slight malfunction in their system and lay a misshapen, small, or soft-shelled egg. All 3 are healthy but I am not knowing the reason for them not laying.

She sounds okay. Just keep a close eye on her next time she lays and egg. The first egg can indeed be a bit stressful. Does she have a companion, though? They need a friend of their own kind. I have 2 female ducks and 1 drake. They have laid 3 eggs so far beginning this past Saturday, but neither female has nested them. One is a white layer and my other is a runner.

Thank you for your time and help. Unfortunately, Runners and white layers are among the best layers of all breeds, which means that they are very unlikely to go broody. If you want ducklings, you probably need a Muscovy or Call or something. I have a few hybrid commercial laying chickens equivalent to your hybrid white layers and I know they will never go broody in their life.

Also, eggs should generally be incubated within a week after being laid. And the 21 days is only for chickens. Duck eggs take 28 days to hatch, and Muscovy eggs take 35 days.

Almost no duck goes broody on three eggs. A Mallard couple hung around my yard on the water , and female laid 13 eggs in a ground level concealed nest. If there are 13 eggs, then the oldest egg is at least 13 days old.

Can 1 duck be raised with chickens? I have a young Indian Runner female. And 3 female young hens. They are on day 2 living together and the duck is a bit of a bully Always pecking and chasing the young chicks and sometimes blocking them from eating. She is twice their size. And how would i round her up if I was to let the chicks and duck free range?

I think a duck should really have at least one other companion of her own species. You could also add another feeder so they can eat at the same time. My ducks free range, and I herd them to bed every night. The chickens generally go on their own since their roost is in their night pen, but the ducks are a little less keen on going to bed.

But it can take some training to teach a duck to go back to its pen for the evening. Always feeding them in the pen helps a lot. It would probably be best to wait a little while, at least a week or two, before trying to hatch her eggs. Do you have any other ducks? It would be safer to have several more females, or get rid of one drake. I have 3 female ducks and they have been sitting on eggs since may 26th I know this is to long. They have punched some eggs out and even took them and put it into thier little swimming pool.

Should I check the eggs or leave them alone. They do get off about once a day to eat and bath. Any suggestions on what I should do? Do you want to hatch the eggs or not? Just shine a flashlight through the eggs and look for blood vessels. Do you mean the ducks have been throwing some of the eggs out? My seven month old Pekins mated a few weeks ago and the female has begun laying eggs. Should I take them since we are in November and it is starting to get cold?

Thank you for the advice! So if her eggs are normal size at least 70 grams or 2. If not, take them. Duck eggs are just as good as chicken eggs for eating if not better. Mating has nothing to do with laying. My Muscovies start mating at 4 months and laying at 6 months. They eat the bird seed we put out and swim in the plastic pool we put out for them. Today they mated in the pool.

I imagine she will nest near the pond. Will she bring her baby duckies up the road to our yard? Hannah- we purchased several ducks that we have allowed to free range on our large pond and acreage. Unfortunately even with nesting them and offering moderate protection two ducklings were lost to a Bobcat. We still have one of the younger ducklings and two of the older ducks who now are no longer white and look more like a saxony or golden cascade.

When we rescued the two older ducks we were told that they were great egg layers. And wow they really are! A wild Mallard has found favor with the two larger ducks and they are now a cute little family in our backyard. At least one of the ducks continues to lay eggs around our pool and in random areas of our yard.

We have made several nesting areas for them that they do not seem to be interested in.