How Often Do Ducks Lay Eggs?

Most domestic duck breeds start laying at around 4 to 7 months old. Some smaller duck breeds, such as bantams, start laying at approximately four months old.

Heavier species, such as Muscovy ducks, begin laying much later, usually around six months old.

Most duck breeds produce an egg daily. How often your duck will lay will depend on its breed. Some duck breeds can occasionally lay more than one egg daily.

Factors Affecting Egg Laying in Ducks

Many factors affect egg production in domestic ducks. Knowing and understanding these factors is imperative, especially if you raise ducks for commercial or domestic egg production.

These are the factors that affect egg-laying in ducks.

Age of Duck

There exists a close relationship between egg production and the age of a laying duck. Young duck hens lay more constantly when they start laying. Egg laying will continue for many years, provided the duck is productive.

However, egg production in your duck will decrease as the hen ages. The bird will lay less frequently as it nears the end of its productive years. Overall, the younger a duck is, the more regularly it will lay.

No wonder old duck hens lay less frequently, while their younger counterparts can lay more than a single egg daily.

Breed of Duck

A duck’s breed can impact its egg-laying capabilities. Some duck breeds are excellent layers, while others aren’t good layers.

You can’t, for example, expect a dual-purpose breed like Pekin to lay more frequently than a terrific layer such as the Campbell duck.

Overall, prolific duck layers will lay more regularly than their meat bird counterparts.

Lighting Conditions

Ducks need at least 14 hours of exposure to daylight to maintain their egg production capabilities. The prevailing lighting conditions don’t only affect egg production in ducks, but it also influences the size and number of eggs your ducks will lay.

Lighting conditions will affect a duck’s reproductive system and its laying frequency. Lighting helps stimulate an egg-laying duck’s reproductive system by increasing egg production when a duck gets adequate exposure to light.

Ducks usually lay more frequently during summer and spring since they have more prolonged sunlight exposure. Poor lighting conditions will affect a duck’s reproductive system and the quality of eggs your ducks will produce.

For instance, a duck that receives less than 14 hours of light exposure daily will lay less frequently. No wonder egg-laying ducks lay less regularly during the winter because they have a shorter exposure to light.

The decreasing light intensity during wintertime can cause a severe reduction in egg production or even halt egg production unless you provide your ducks with supplemental light.

Overall, the better the lighting conditions, the more frequently a duck will lay.

Nutrition and Diet

Nutrition and diet have a significant impact on egg laying in ducks. Laying ducks need a balanced diet and proper nutrition to help the layers maintain maximum egg production in the long run. Poor nutrition can make ducks cease laying.

Furthermore, a poor diet with low energy levels, calcium, and protein can lead to severe egg production in ducks. Consequently, it makes sense why your ducks should have a steady supply of a nutritious layer feed.

Providing scratch feeds, whole grains, and table scraps to your laying ducks will deny them the proper diet and nutrition required to sustain their egg production capabilities.

Nutritional imbalances can also cause other reproductive problems, such as oviductal prolapse, which occurs when a duck hen is too fat to expel eggs from its reproductive tract.

Health Condition

Any duck disease can severely affect egg production, the quality, and the size of the egg a duck lays. Some health conditions, such as Avian disease and Egg Drop Syndrome, can affect egg laying in ducks.

Such diseases affect a duck’s reproductive system, prompting the layers to cease laying or producing low-quality eggs. Furthermore, any condition that affects a duck’s overall health can affect the bird’s egg production capabilities.

You shouldn’t expect your sick duck to lay frequently because its reproductive system isn’t at its peak.

Egg Laying Patterns of Different Duck Breeds

Ducks have different laying patterns depending on their breed. Here is an analysis of egg-laying patterns of different duck breeds to know when raising ducks strictly for egg production.

• Campbell– The Campbell is a terrific layer that starts laying at around five to seven months old. The breed can lay up to 340 eggs yearly. Campbell hens usually lay an egg daily, although they lay less frequently during winter.
• The Buff– The duck breed is among the best dual-purpose breeds to raise for large eggs. While the breed isn’t a champion layer compared to other prolific layers, it can produce 200 eggs yearly. Buff ducks start laying when they are about 25 to 30 weeks old. They continue laying until they reach between 5 and 7 years old. Buff hens can lay between three and four eggs per week, although their laying capabilities can diminish significantly or temporarily halt during wintertime.
• Magpie– The lovely lightweight breed can lay up to 290 eggs annually. Magpie ducks start laying when they are between 25 and 30 weeks old. Magpie ducks can produce 4 to 5 eggs weekly. These ducks usually lay more frequently during summer and spring, but their egg production plummets during wintertime because of extreme cold and shorter daylight hours.
• The Indian Runner– The Indian Runner is among the oldest duck species. The highly productive layer produces up to 300 eggs annually, although its eggs are smaller than those of other duck breeds. Indian Runners start laying between 6 and 7 months old. Some Indian Runners can start laying as young as four months old. They can lay around five eggs weekly, but don’t expect them to lay frequently during wintertime.
• Pekin –Pekin ducks start laying between 26 and 28 weeks old. These ducks can lay around 200 to 300 jumbo or extra-large eggs. Pekin ducks lay between 3 and 5 eggs weekly. However, you won’t get many eggs from your Pekin ducks during wintertime.
• Saxony-Saxony ducks start laying at their maturity, which kicks in when they are around 25 weeks old. They lay between 200 and 250 eggs annually. Saxony ducks can lay between 3 and 4 creamy white eggs weekly.

How Often Do Wild Ducks Lay Eggs?

Wild ducks aren’t as good layers as their domestic counterparts. Wild female ducks start laying at about 4 and 7 weeks old. Most wild duck species lay one egg after every two days.

Wild ducks will continue laying until they get a sizable clutch. Wild ducks lay more eggs in the spring, and egg production in these wild fowls can cease in the cold months.

Maximizing Egg Production in Domestic Ducks

Ducks are better layers than chickens, and their eggs are also nutritious and large. Like chickens, egg production in ducks can vary tremendously because of management and genetics.

Happily, you can quickly maximize egg production in your ducks when your birds’ laying capabilities are at their lowest.

Below are some insights into maximizing egg production in domestic ducks.

Choose Duck Breed Wisely

The problem with novice duck keepers is that they raise the wrong duck species expecting to have many duck eggs. For instance, choosing a meat duck breed like the Muscovy or Moulard duck won’t boost egg production in your duck flock.

Select your duck breed wisely when raising ducks for eggs. The best duck breeds to choose from for maximum duck egg production include Ancona, Indian Runner, Welsh Harlequin, and Magpie.

These breeds aren’t seasonal layers, so you can look forward to getting many duck eggs year-round.

Again, these prolific laying breeds seldom go broody, and you will continue harvesting duck eggs for a long time before the females go broody.

Provide Adequate Nutrition

Ducks that get poor nutrition have a poor egg yield. Maximum egg production in ducks starts with proper nutrition. Duck hens need a diet with essential nutrients like riboflavin, crude protein, calcium, and niacin.

The appropriate layer feed for ducks should have at least 16% crude protein. The feed should also have at least 3% calcium because insufficient calcium in your ducks’ diet can adversely affect their egg production.

You can introduce additional protein sources to your ducks to boost egg production.

For instance, your ducks can get sufficient protein from fishmeal and scrambled eggs. Supplemental protein is also essential for egg-laying ducks because most don’t get adequate calcium from their regular feed.

Some excellent calcium sources for your egg-yielding duck flock include crushed eggshells and oyster shells.

Besides providing egg-laying ducks with high-quality feed to boost nutrition, you should also adhere to proper feed quantity by ensuring the layers eat high-quality feed thrice daily.

Ensure Optimal Lighting

Optimal lighting can help maximize egg production in your duck flock. Increasing your duck’s exposure to more daylight hours can help boost its egg yields.

Using artificial lighting, you can prevent poor egg production in your duck flock due to poor lighting conditions during shorter days and winter.

You can provide optimal lighting to your flock to maximize egg production by supplementing natural lighting with artificial lighting in the evening and morning to ensure your laying ducks get at least 14 hours of exposure to light.

Keep Ducks Comfortable

The environment can affect egg production in your duck flock. You can encourage maximum egg production in your flock by ensuring the layers live comfortably and safely. For instance, you can protect your ducks from predators that persistently stress the birds.

Stress ultimately lowers egg production. Additionally, ensure your ducks live in clean conditions to make the birds feel comfortable.

Monitor Health Conditions

Poor egg production in egg-laying ducks can be due to several health conditions. For instance, ducks with reproductive diseases can’t realize their full egg production potential.

So, it’s best to monitor health conditions in your egg-laying ducks to improve egg production.

Regular health inspections by a certified and professional vet can help diagnose, prevent, and cure any duck diseases that can lead to poor egg production.

Conclusion

Ducks are great domestic fowl to raise for eggs because they lay more frequently than other domestic birds.

Although egg production and egg laying frequency in ducks depend on factors like breed, genetics, and age, you can maximize egg production in your flock by ensuring the ducks get proper nutrition and live comfortably.