The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: irenemcc on October 20, 2016, 08:11:25 am
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Can anyone tell me if the 2 small eggs I have started getting from my ducks this week are young ones (March hatch) starting to lay (in October!) or older ones having a second flush. The eggs had dwindled to one large egg every 2/3 days but for last 9 days have had 2 eggs only 2/3 the size of normal as well as the odd larger one.
There are 4 Young ducks and 7 older ones ( 2 to 6 years old)
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Sounds like the youngsters, as that's what happens with chickens (pullets). We bred previous Spring just to ensure we had eggs over last Winter. This year they probably won't lay though, in fact none of them are laying at the moment because they are all moulting.
Just to add, pullet eggs are about 70% the size of adults.
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I reckon the youngsters too, they will probably lay for a couple of weeks, then go off again until the spring. I haven't had a duck egg for 6 weeks now :(
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One of my two Shetlands is still laying, and the other one about every third day. Hens are down to two a day from 6 of them. Expect them to finish in next few days till spring with the time change coming up
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Eggs tend to get larger as the bird ages, hence thinner shells as the same amount of shell is distributed over a larger egg. It's one of the reasons commercial laying flocks cull their birds quite young as the shells become too thin to go through the collection and packing system without damage.