The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: northfifeduckling on April 04, 2015, 10:38:51 am
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I have 2 duck houses, the small one houses 5 young girls. I am getting between 3 and 5 eggs a day from them at the moment.
The large house is lived in by 12 girls of mixed ages and the boy. At best I am getting 3 eggs, worst none....
There are not many eggs outdoors this year but I can't give those to other people any way...
I tried to herd other girls into the wee house as there is still room for more but that just seems to distress them, they go where they want.
Does anyone have any clever thoughts?
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No ... But I'll be glad to hear any suggestions - ducks are so cantankerous!
We're looking to move ours this summer, going to be a challenge to say the least....
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Rats - my answer to most things I know, :innocent: but they can take eggs away and often do. Check, they can get through even the tiniest space or the roof of your duck house.
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Are you more worried by the lack of eggs or the fact they won't move house? Not sure how advanced your spring is but could it just be that if they're older ducks they haven't started laying yet for the year? Admittedly it does seem very late even for your neck of the woods but I think the older they get, the further into spring they start laying. Alternative as Doganjo says is that something else is nicking them and if it's from the house before you let them out, rats is a good call. I've got an empty shed at the moment which I was leaving the chicken food in and I found rat droppings in it - they'd scaled 4ft up the front wall and in through the mesh covered windows (and back the same way I presume).
As for moving them, ducks are dim creatures. They get used to going where you herd them but if you need them somewhere else it does take a few days and normally an extra pair of hands to 'train' them.
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Thanks, folks. The youngest are 2 years old this summer, so bar the elderlies all should be laying.
I found a broken shell this morning in the big house, that might explain some losses.
I don't think it's rats as there are always some "lost" eggs on the ground nearer where they live and I can't get to which are left alone. And I never found droppings in either of the houses. Wouldn't rats also hurt the birds?
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Thanks, folks. The youngest are 2 years old this summer, so bar the elderlies all should be laying.
I found a broken shell this morning in the big house, that might explain some losses.
I don't think it's rats as there are always some "lost" eggs on the ground nearer where they live and I can't get to which are left alone. And I never found droppings in either of the houses. Wouldn't rats also hurt the birds?
No they're' too big for rats to bother with. If you have old eggs lying around that you can't remove that's encouraging rats and other vermine. Would the ducks break their own eggs? Mine were always pretty gentle
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I'll have a crack at tidying the "lost" eggs soon but here rats are mainly attracted by the real food...they are dealt with twice a year.
If they break and eat them it's normally not evident through broken shells (maybe they scoff the lot). I think they run around in their house a bit thanks to the boy some mornings and I wish I could do something about the overcrowding. Even one of the youngsters deserted the new house she grew up in to be with the larger crowd...
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Could you put the drake in the smaller house with a couple of girls to keep him company?
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An interesting thought as the crowd of girls tend to follow him ;) .
How are you getting on with yours, Annie? Have you heard from Cameron lately? I wonder how he's faring in the big town...