The ducks are finally laying eggs at Vidamour Farm! The problem is, I just don’t know which duck/s are responsible.
On the 14th of April, the first egg was found in the coop. Since the ducks are about five months old, it’s a great result and should have been expected.
In the back of my mind, I knew that they were about due to start laying but it was still a fantastic surprise. The best way to describe the feeling of finding that first egg, is that it was similar to a young kid waking up on Easter and finding a bounty of chocolate eggs. I felt jubilant, let me assure you!
As you can see from the image above, the eggs are dirty from being laid in the grubbiest spot the duck could possibly find. I’ve even found one egg in a puddle in the paddock!
The first eggs that a duck lays will often be a little small and may have defects. Over time, the duck’s laying ability improves and the eggs get better. Chickens also often start with a few dud eggs.
At the moment, I think only one of the ducks are laying. I’ve had a good look at the underside of the ducks, and there are a couple that have a more developed underside and I have read that this can suggest that the duck is laying or about to begin. The laying ducks at our house have a similar feature. Unfortunately my phone camera isn’t good enough to take a photo of the ducks’ undersides at Vidamour Farm.
Hopefully I start to get more ducks laying in the near future. One egg a day is exciting for now – but I’ve got my fingers crossed that there are ten eggs in the box soon!
