So I was curious how many eggs a duck can lay, only to discover they lay nearly as many eggs as chickens! An average duck lays between 16-28 eggs a month. I genuinely assumed those rates were something we bred into chickens.
My birds lay so many eggs. The one duck, named Mama Duck, steals all the eggs and hides them for a while before sitting on them. She gets very aggressive when I try to take them, so I have to put a bucket on her head and move her outside. I got 20 eggs from her yesterday and almost all of them had developing embryos. She hid them for so long. Idek where she puts them. I check for eggs every day. I can’t afford more birds, so I had to throw the eggs away. Made me a bit sad, but the embryos weren’t that far along.
That is sad, I’m sure. One of the hardest things about animal rescue and care is knowing your limits. Stretch yourself too thin and you’re not able to help as much anymore.
Those rates ARE something we’ve bred into chickens. Sad news is: we’ve also bred that trait into ducks. It’s extremely taxing on them, and most hens are culled after 3 years of intense laying.
So I was curious how many eggs a duck can lay, only to discover they lay nearly as many eggs as chickens! An average duck lays between 16-28 eggs a month. I genuinely assumed those rates were something we bred into chickens.
My birds lay so many eggs. The one duck, named Mama Duck, steals all the eggs and hides them for a while before sitting on them. She gets very aggressive when I try to take them, so I have to put a bucket on her head and move her outside. I got 20 eggs from her yesterday and almost all of them had developing embryos. She hid them for so long. Idek where she puts them. I check for eggs every day. I can’t afford more birds, so I had to throw the eggs away. Made me a bit sad, but the embryos weren’t that far along.
That is sad, I’m sure. One of the hardest things about animal rescue and care is knowing your limits. Stretch yourself too thin and you’re not able to help as much anymore.
It is. I’d love to take in so many more ducks and allow some eggs to hatch, but a dozen birds is my limit.
Those rates ARE something we’ve bred into chickens. Sad news is: we’ve also bred that trait into ducks. It’s extremely taxing on them, and most hens are culled after 3 years of intense laying.