When we bought 20 ducks from a local egg farm, it was with the intent of putting meat on the table. However, after eggs began to appear, we decided to hold back a few layers for ourselves. Problem was, ages varied throughout the flock. We didn’t want to keep old birds that weren’t producing, so we learned how to tell if a duck is laying!
How to Tell If a Duck is Laying
The best way to tell if your duck is laying involves both dirt and manure. In any case, be sure to wear old farm clothes!
You’re going to have to inspect the pelvis of each hen (sorry, but it’s farm life)! If a hen is laying, you ought be able to fit 3-4 fingers between her pelvic bone points. Yes, you’ll have to feel around down there. Hence the farm clothes!
One at a time, you’ll have run this test on every female in your flock. I highly recommend containing your ducks to their house or a small enclosure for the procedure. This way, you can release the inspected birds outside!
Also, keep a tube of oil-based paint on hand so you can mark the old hens that need to go!
The Practical Process
Catch a duck and make it ‘sit’ in your lap. Like this!
Search for the pelvic bone. Gently work your way down the duck’s stomach until you find two V’s just above the rectum, pointing at one another. Like this > <!
Warning: when you are feeling for the pelvic bones, don’t push too hard on the duck’s stomach or you may get a dirty surprise!
One you find the pelvic bones, gently attempt to nestle 3-4 fingers between these points. If you can, your duck is laying well!
However, if only two fingers fit between the points, this usually means your hen isn’t laying consistently (unless she is a very small bird).
If all you can fit is one finger (or in some cases none) between the pelvic bones, it means your bird is past her laying days. Mark her with a swipe of paint. Be sure to place it in a location where she can’t wash it off!
Once you know what to feel for, the job will go fast! If you have a large flock ducks to work through, you’ll feel like a pro by the end of the testing process!
When You Should Run This Test
Try to run this test when ducks are producing well, ideally during the spring season. If you are testing later in the year, remember that egg production usually decreases with the cold and darkness of winter. This is particularly true of birds without artificial lighting! During the winter months, your laying bird’s pelvic bone span may narrow down.
Take this into account if testing during the ‘off’ season!
Wondering how to tell if your duck is going broody? Here are the 5 signs you should look for!
Conclusion
That’s how to tell if a duck is laying! And let me also say that while the finger-width test has been true for us, the best way to know when a duck is ‘on it’s way out’ is to keep records. When did you purchase them? How old were they? How long have you had them?
On average, a duck hen will produce well for 5 years. So keep track of the details and you should be able to skip this (sometimes) messy job altogether!
I'm Autumn. Join me in the simple cottage life and learn how to keep a traditional kitchen, garden and pantry!
I have a young mallard duck just stand laying eggs but they are about size of chicken egg. Is that about right size for her. I was think they would be bigger.
The size of egg depends on the duck breed and even, the duck. Some are smaller than others and when birds first start laying, their eggs are often small. They may get bigger with time.
we have 8 pekin ducks, two are males. The females have started laying here and there. This morning I had a large typical duck egg and two chicken size eggs. Also, one egg the other day, the shell was thin. What should I do to help them. I feed them laying pellets, as we also have 15 chickens. Not sure how to tell if they are fresh as well. Thank you for your help,so nice to have professionals that I can actually talk to.
When birds are young (or very old) and when they are in egg producing season, they sometimes need extra calcium for forming hard shells. You can accomplish this by feeding chickens and ducks oyster shells and that will help. But try to keep the shells away from drakes (or birds that aren’t laying). It can cause kidney problems and we once lost a drake in this way. I’m not sure I’m a pro, but I hope this helps!
Well I have a female mallard and a male white peckin that someone was giving them away. Young couple who thought they were cute and bought them. And wasn’t taking care of them really. Then they were moving out of the area and asked me if I wanted them cause I do live on a farm. So naturally I said yes now mind you that I’m no farmers wife and my husband is a mechanic. But I love animals and have always wanted a small animal farm. So I built them a house and a small enclosure. But mostly they run around in my backyard with my 3 little dogs occasionally terrorizing the dogs. It’s really funny to watch. And the ducks have really became my little buddies. But I was wondering since they are different breeds will the female mallard lay eggs and would he fertilize them
Ducks are so fun with their unique personalities! Yes, if there’s nothing wrong with your pekin, he should be able to mate a mallard hen. As long as he’s not too fat to do the job, that is! Good luck!
I have laying ducks, problem is three of them are laying soft shell eggs that rupture on the ground.
It sounds like they might have a calcium deficiency. Young layers often start with soft eggs and it seems like old hens also end with them! Have you tried adding eggshells to their feed?
I know my birds are laying my problem is I don’t know where. Is there an easy way to find the eggs, my animals free range .
Hey Tony! That is a problem with free range birds! 🙂 Ideally, you’d lock them up in a bird house at night and leave them in until around 10-10:30 am. Most of them will have laid eggs by that time. If you don’t have a house, you could try keeping them in electric bird netting, the kind you can move around easily. They’d still have grazing and you could turn them loose to 100% free range after they’ve laid in the morning, then put them back in their moveable pen at night so they will lay their eggs in that space once again the next day. And if that isn’t a feasible option…well. You’ll just have to watch them and see where they go! Good luck!