Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: Chickensrus on August 06, 2011, 11:50
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Hi All
I have some Cherry Valley and Khaki Campbell Ducks and we were told they were point of lay! As yet we have had no eggs, can anyone tell me what age ducks usually start laying. Then I will know if they are going to start laying anytime soon!
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My Khakis were born in May and started to lay in December - when we were totally frozen up with double figure minus temperatures!! :)
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I've just had a look in my duck book and it says 16 - 24 weeks. Hopefully you haven't been sold drakes that have had their curly tail feather removed before sale!
You'll love the eggs. Yum!
Orchardlady. :)
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Do you know exactly how old the ducks are? Ducks tend to come into lay between 18 and 24 weeks which is a little later than chickens and is a span of 2 months. The breeder is obviously going to want to sell the duck as soon as possible so that it is you paying to feed them, not the breeder!
Ducks can be quite variable in when they start to lay. I have had ducks that didn't start till 35 weeks old and those that started at 16 weeks but generally it is a bit longer. They are also pretty seasonal and I have found that if they haven't started by mid October or so they tend to leave it till the following year (begining of Feb in my experience).
The breed makes a difference too. Campbells are good layers but from what I understand Cherry Valley are more of a table bird and these tend to be less prolific and more seasonal in their laying and more likely to start in the spring.
All depends on how olod they are really but whenever they lay, they are fab to have about!