Farm Facts Explained How Often Do Ducks Lay Eggs

While some people may think it strange, it can actually be fun to have a few ducks and chickens in the backyard!The fun part? You get to eat fresh eggs throughout the week and can enjoy looking at these beautiful birds as they waddle around throughout the day.If you are considering having a mini poultry farm of your own, it’s important to know which kind of duck or chicken you should adopt. While duck breeds such as the Pekin duck can be great for meat, you would hardly get any eggs. For eggs, the Welsh Harlequin is the best choice. However, there is much more to consider when it comes to choosing the perfect bird. To learn all about ducks and the many ways in which their eggs can be beneficial for you and your family, read on!If you enjoy this article, then why not check out some more fun facts with Kidadl? We recommend that you take a look at when do baby birds leave the nest and why do peacocks spread their feathers.How many eggs do ducks lay?Having a few ducks in the backyard can mean that you will almost always have free, fresh eggs on the dinner menu.However, making sure that the process of egg production runs seamlessly can be quite stressful. Ducks are both egg layers and can be raised for meat, while also needing less maintenance in comparison to most hen breeds. Raising and feeding egg-laying ducks can still be a hassle because these animals are almost always messy and tend to poop everywhere.When it comes to dealing with the tantrums and maintenance of many duck breeds, the only saving grace is the delicious eggs that are laid by these birds. While raising these farm birds and spending hours putting up with their demands for food, it helps to have some delicious eggs to look forward to. This is where the most important question arises; how many eggs should you be expecting?The answer to this question varies due to a number of factors that affect the number of eggs which ducks can lay every day. The most relevant factor, which dictates the months during which your waterfowl lays eggs, is the breeding season. During the breeding season, which lasts from spring to summer in most duck breeds, you may expect at least one egg every day! This is because the breeding season is the time when ducks try to complete a clutch full of eggs and raise some ducklings. Hence, a duck will lay eggs every day until she thinks that the clutch is complete. If it so happens that your duck has been laying an egg every, and you have been removing them before she can start the incubation period, she will most likely continue to lay more!Another factor that can affect the number of eggs laid is the grass or other food that your duck has been eating. If your ducks have been having enough green, leafy foods, and if they have been raised on a proper diet consisting of chicken feed, it is likely that your ducks will begin laying more often.Ducks are also known to be waterfowl, and hence, it is important that wild ducks have access to water. Distance from water bodies, or at least a kiddie pool, can often result in far fewer eggs being laid.You will usually see ducks in some sort of group. This is because ducklings and adult ducks are social animals. However, egg production in ducks can be much lower if they are kept in large groups. This is because a duck is likely to experience nervousness when in a large group and may stop laying eggs for several weeks as a result! If you are planning to begin a backyard farm, it is best not to have a lot of other fowl out there already. This may considerably reduce the number of eggs that each duck lays and have a negative impact on your dinner menu!While wild ducks, and even other ducks such as the blue Swedish, may continue the egg laying process well into the cold winter season, ducklings that have recently hatched may not start laying until their first spring season begins.The amount of grass a duck feeds on, its nesting site, the amount of light it gets, and temperature that it is exposed to also greatly affect how many eggs it lays. Hence, some breeders and farmers use artificial light and keep the winter cold at bay in order to make sure that there are fresh eggs in each duck’s nest every week!Do male ducks lay eggs?A male duck, or a drake, does not lay eggs!While you may be under the impression that having a drake is required to get free eggs from your duck, that is hardly the case. Duck, much like chickens, can continue the production of eggs without having to search for a drake in the vicinity!Any duck can produce eggs without mating, but in such cases, incubation is unnecessary since the eggs are unfertilized and won’t hatch into ducklings. The same can also be applied to chickens if you are considering having a few hens as well!Do ducks lay eggs every day?The number of eggs that a duck can lay every day is largely dependent on the food that it gets as a duckling.During the first few weeks after hatching, ducklings require special attention. You can feed them the same food as your chickens; however, some extra nutrients should also be added in order to make sure that the duckling forms strong bones and can subsequently lay more eggs for you to eat as an adult.Ducks usually achieve sexual maturity after 4-7 weeks of hatching. Once they reach this age, eggs can be laid by ducks without having to search for a mate for fertilization. The number of eggs that your ducks can lay, however, is largely dependent upon the breed that you have in your backyard.The time at which your ducks start laying their first eggs is also influenced by the size that they can grow to. Larger ducks, such as the Pekin duck, are likely to start laying much later than smaller ones. Therefore, while a Pekin duck is a great choice if you want to cook some nice, duck-meat dishes, they don’t produce too many eggs.If you are looking for a duck breed that can lay many eggs throughout the year, Welsh harlequin ducks are an amazing choice. These ducks lay around 300 eggs per year, which means you can have at least one duck egg every day for most of the year. However, during the winter season, your pet ducks will enter a stage of inactivity.How old do ducks have to be to lay eggs?These water loving birds lay eggs throughout the year, barring times when it is too cold for an egg to hatch in the nest.If you decide to raise a duckling to the point where it can start laying eggs, the timeline around which you can expect good eggs can vary. Large ducks, such as Pekin ducks and Muscovies, are likely to reach sexual maturity quite late, and so you shouldn’t expect an egg in your duck’s nest until it is around seven months old. Smaller duck breeds, however, feed much less but also produce eggs much earlier! Such small breeds of ducks can include Bantams and Runners.If you have been lucky enough to see a duckling hatch and have followed it throughout its growth, it is natural to feel excited for the first egg to appear. However, if there are still no signs of eggs and it has been longer than the breed of duck is supposed to take to reach maturity, the weather and temperature in your area may be hindering the process. There is no need to stress out about the health of your bird at this point. Make sure that it is not crowded by other ducks or chickens and that there is a little kiddie pool filled with water that the dear bird can visit. If all these boxes are ticked and there is enough light around, expect the first few wonderful eggs on a particularly beautiful week during spring!Do ducks lay eggs like chickens?When it comes to laying eggs, ducks and chickens are both equally capable. However, have you found yourself wondering what the difference is between the eggs that chickens lay and the ones laid by ducks?Chickens and ducks are very different birds. Not only do they not look alike, but there is also a huge difference when it comes to the nutrients in each bird’s eggs. While both birds lay roughly the same number of eggs each week, duck eggs are more nutrient rich and a lot larger than chicken eggs. If you eat both eggs one after the other, you will also realize that the taste is not quite the same. Whether one is better than the other is subject to personal opinion. However, before you go on to search for a few ducks or chickens to have in your backyard, make sure to taste the eggs of both birds and decide which you like best. It may also be a good idea to try both of them in order to check for any allergies that you may not have known of!Did You Know!Different duck breeds have different incubation periods, and lay a different number of eggs on an annual basis!A duck egg is 30% larger than a chicken egg!A mallard can only lay around 60 eggs throughout the year.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for how often do ducks lay eggs, then why not take a look at why do roosters crow, or Perching Duck facts?

While some people may think it strange, it can actually be fun to have a few ducks and chickens in the backyard!