Chook Me!

Mallard duck questions!!!! need answers for my my mallard duck question 10 points for best answsers.?

ok i had 3 mallard 2 female 1 male last week the male got killed buy a racoon. the 2 females were sad for a couple day but then got over it. they ust to be great egg layers but now wont lay any eggs. why wont they lay any more eggs? where can i get a cheap egg incubator?where can i get a new male? and any advise on mallards would be helpful thank u for your help! ya we got out ducks from a naibor who's female and male duck had died and they had no interest in keeping the ducklings( all duckling but 2 servived the raccooon) ya i guess our naibor hood doesn't have vary good luck with coons but we got our male from inside a stray dogs mouth lol ya he was almost dead when we rescued him from the dog but i think there is a poultry store around that hand raises the ducks from the day they are born i will check there

Public Comments

1. Egg-laying doesn't have anything to do with whether or not a male is in with the hens. It is affected by the time of the year - it's natural for egg-laying to decrease or stop during winter - and by stress. If the hens were stressed out by the drake being killed they may not start laying again until spring. It's harder for the ducks's system to get back into the groove of things after a shock during the winter. Young ducks that mature during the winter usually don't start laying until spring for the same reason. You can get a cheap GQF hovabator for around $60 off of eBay. That would be still air and no turner, so don't expect very good hatch rates. Where did you get the ducks you have? I'd just go back. ;) Most hatcheries are starting to ship ducklings right about now, and depending on where you live the feedstores should be getting chicks and ducklings in within a month or two. If you only want one a local store would be your best bet.
2. Ducks typically do not begin laying till around mid to late spring (depending on your location) Once they begin laying they will lay any where from 10 to 75 eggs. Much of this depends on the breed, mallards on average lay between 10 and 30 eggs a season. The domestic strain can lay more then the wild variety. They don't need a drake to lay they simply need him for fertilization. All female birds and reptiles can lay a fertile egg without a male it is a type of a-sexual reproduction. It isn't common so don't rely on this for fertile eggs. Birds can stop laying if they become overly stressed so the raccoon killing the drake could have stressed them out. Give them a few days to get their collective crap in line. If they are not done for the season they should return to laying.
3. I really don't know what to tell you sorry it is just one of those questions that doesn't come up often don't expect a lot of answers sorry!