Muscovy Duck Forum
March 29, 2024, 02:01:20 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: Welcome to the Muscovy Duck Central forum!
 
  Home   Forum   Help Search Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Login Register  

LED christmas lights to induce laying in mature female muscovy ducks experiment

+-+-
+-User
Pages: 1 [2]   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: LED christmas lights to induce laying in mature female muscovy ducks experiment  (Read 3081 times)
DUCK_GARDENER
Full Member
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 216


« Reply #15 on: February 18, 2010, 07:30:06 pm »

Sorry that I have not given updates... my computer went down in flames! It was 7 years old! Anyway, had to save for a new one! AS you can tell, we finally got one! This is my first stop, after clearing out the email of 2 months!

So, where were we; In her first laying, Smokey, had layed 6 eggs, then stopped. She is a vetern layer. Koko had not layed any, yet, but it was her first season. The feral pair had not been included in the experiment, and were not yet laying.

Now for the changes almost 2 months brings: Smokey has layed a clutch of at least 14 eggs, possibbly 16....she is not telling, but we counted 14 before she started setting. Koko has layed 8 eggs so far, 6 of which have been harvested as the book says not to set the first week's eggs of the season.  Carolina has layed 7 eggs, all harvested as they are not fertile, having had no drake "cuddle". Carrie is not yet laying, but has a pronounced belly forming as well as a pronounced waddle:we expect her to lay any day now.
 

So... the results are as follows for our situation with the LED lights: the lights at a 14.5 hour daylight length is as follows... it seems to have stimulated a mature hen which had previously layed to initiate laying. The young duck which had never layed was not stimulated to lay at this level of light for the state 14.5 hour duration. It is unknown if it was a personal light level requirement to initate layng, or that level was not enough to initiate first lay. We plan to use the lights throughout the spring to insure that they have not allowed Koko to lay as the only other new hen has not yet layed. We will use the lights in the fall to see if it is possible to prolong the laying season of the now fully mature production ducks. However, the feral pair will again be exempt for contractual reasons.


Conclusion: It seems enought light to induce a 2nd year duck to lay, but not for a new hen to initate laying. We will be saving 2 ducks from Smokeys clutch and will again try the experiment with upto 17 hour of light to see if it can initate laying after 7 months of age, but out of season.
Report Spam   Logged
Cathy
Duck Herder Extraordinaire
Administrator
Sr. Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 489



WWW
« Reply #16 on: February 22, 2010, 04:50:20 am »

Typically Muscovy aren't bred to lay eggs for long periods of time.  Usually they'll lay 10-15 or so and then set.  You might get a few more eggs from them but I wonder if they won't go broody whether they have eggs in a nest or not.  It's hard to say as I don't have ducks lay out of season.
Report Spam   Logged

The information I have provided in this message is based on my own personal experiences, the experiences of others who have shared their experiences and knowledge with me, and a dash of opinion thrown in for extra flavor.  Your mileage may vary! Shocked)
DUCK_GARDENER
Full Member
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 216


« Reply #17 on: February 22, 2010, 05:36:37 pm »

I can only assume it is laying season here as the feral ducks are also laying, and not close enough to the lights to be affected by them. Smokey and Koko are from a farm that sells meat and eggs, so I must assume that they are selected for production. I will have to wait and see if Carolina goes broody with no eggs. If so I can try taking Koko's eggs and giving some of them to Carolina to brood. She has a proven track record: Carrie.
 But here is a neat piece of news... it would appear that Carrie, the youngest duck and one of the feral pair seems to be a moulard, or a cross! Shocked she is laying eggs with no yolk that are about the smaller than a large gumball! Huh From what have read, this is standard for muscovy hybrids. The only physical trait that she has is orange feet, whick I cannot find any reference to brown ducks having orange leggs and feet. Undecided Now, I know that the first eggs can be smaller, but this goes beyond smaller! Maybe she would like to voulnteer for broody service? Wink If she is a moulard, will she go broody? Time will tell. I will post a question in another section to see if anyone has info on moulards.
Report Spam   Logged
rollyard
Newbie
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 17


WWW
« Reply #18 on: February 23, 2010, 03:28:48 am »

DUCK_GARDENER, I have just skimmed this & it is so much havent been able to take it all in (& a bit jet lagged as from Australia), but I think your commitment and industry are to be highly applauded.

Did not in particular the last post on the moulard, have responded to your other post, & find it interesting your info provided on the small yolk-less eggs.  Some questions; does she lay daily?  what size exactly are the eggs?  & are they all yolk-less?  & anything else peculiar?

Thanks in advance  Smiley  This is good stuff because it helps to clarify older info

Cheers

rollyard
Report Spam   Logged

DUCK_GARDENER
Full Member
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 216


« Reply #19 on: February 23, 2010, 01:31:42 pm »

She is one of the two ducks that we adopted from a muscovy rescue in south CArolina. We live in CA. She was about 2-3 months olds when she arrived with her mother. She is a little different in personality, vs the other muscovies, but other than her foot color, she looks like a muscovy.(she has a wicked sense of humor! plays tricks on her mom and the other hens all the time and a regular chatter box. She also has a better quack when she gets mad or startled. COme to think of it she also flys the best, too. She lays eggs about 2.5cm wide and about 3cm long. Very small. All only whites, layed only a few so far, as it is her first season. When I read Storey's Guide to raising ducks, Mr. Hollerread states that the cross of mallard derivitive to muscovy results in 2 types of hybrids, one takes after the m.d. and one takes after the muscovy, but one lays very small eggs that cannot hatch and the other does not lay at all. I don't remember where I read that the small eggs are yolkless, but I read it when I was researching muscovies prior to getting out birds.(we bought 4 and adopted 2 as rescue pets, one of which is Carrie.) We will watch to see if she starts to lay yolked eggs as her season progresses, but none so far.

As to the AU site... I could sign on now if it would accept the password I had chosen! I asked for a reminder email, but it never arrived...i think that my email account is messed up. I get all the spam, but no personal emails. Huh Oh, well...DSL comes Friday, so I will reload my email program then to see if it will fix it. Dial-up download takes tooo long and has failed already. I will try again to sign on Sat or Sun.

Had additional egg to day from  all hens except Smokey, who is still setting.
Is anyone from around here... Fresno, CA Valley area? Are your hens laying/ setting , too? Are they in their regular season, or are the feral hens too close to the LED lights? They are about 15 feet outside of what I thought would affect them.

Everyday brings more answers and more questions about them, but I really do love them. They are so engaging to watch and the kids love feeding them dandilion leaves and having even the drake eat out of their hands without biting them! Although they love to try for their little toes! Cheesy
Report Spam   Logged
DUCK_GARDENER
Full Member
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 216


« Reply #20 on: February 26, 2010, 05:52:08 pm »

About Carrie, either she has stopped laying, she layed 6 gumballs, or is now laying normal eggs in her mom's nest. I go by the kids counts as the pen is only 3 feet tall and her nest is at the back. SO I will have the dh check and do a thurough count. I will let you know what we find. Huh
DG
Report Spam   Logged
DUCK_GARDENER
Full Member
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 216


« Reply #21 on: February 28, 2010, 12:46:55 am »

Update:
Smokey still on nest...2 weeks to go to expected hatch of 14+ eggs.
Koko is now sitting on 10 eggs, for a total of 19 eggs layed, 9 harvested, then left to set clutch. Hatch expected around the 29the of March...during our spring break! the kids are so excited!
Carolina had layed 10 non-fertile eggs, stopped laying, getting broody, removed eggs and replaced with 12 hatching eggs from local producer, same colors so should not notice difference...I hope!
Carrie layed 6 gumball sized yolkless eggs, stopped laying, not broody. Light may have played a part...rain tarp over pen, so reduced light.

Will post more as they hatch.(assuming our drake is fertile for his part!)
Report Spam   Logged
DUCK_GARDENER
Full Member
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 216


« Reply #22 on: March 08, 2010, 05:24:19 pm »

A rat got into the pen and got one of the eggs from Koko's nest. The rat has been exterminated! The pen secured. The only good point is that there were veins in the shell, so we know that Dicky the drake is using live amo!
Will post again soon as Smokey's nest is due to hatch this weekend sometime, or monday at the very latest! We can't wait!
We have noticed some duck lice in the bathing water after the broodies bathe. Is it safe to use a insecticide like seven dust around the eggs, so the ducklings don't get attacked by lice when they hatch? We are pulling all of the bedding out and putting in fresh, except the actual nests, which we will do after they hatch. Would removal of the bedding be enough at this time to reduce the population? We are changing the bathing water 2x daily and empting it far away from the pens to reduce the lice population. They are fewer, but still present. The ducks do not seem bothered. We have added vitamin/mineral/protein/biotic suppliment to their food to help keep them healthy. Any other suggestions?
DG
Report Spam   Logged
DUCK_GARDENER
Full Member
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 216


« Reply #23 on: March 12, 2010, 06:22:07 pm »

Still no hatch, at day 33, but that would really be too soon in this cold weather. Smokey's behavior is altering, she seems more at ease and is not sitting as tightly to the nest as before! Probably the eggs are heating up as hatch approaches. She snuck out of the pen while I was cleaning it and did a flapping run around the garden, then went, docile as a lamb back into the pen, had a bath, a bite to eat, then went back to the nest. She is talking to the eggs now, too. Her new brooding/duck house is ready for her to move into as soon as her ducklings hatch. We will put together the run tomorrow. We are going to build the top in sections this time so we can access sections of the pen as needed. The run will attach to the duck house with bungy cords or tie downs and the front door will need to secured and opened evening and morning, so the access panels on the top of the run will make this easier. The door is doing double duty as a ramp with cleats for duckling foot traction as the house enterence is raised 4 inches off ground level.We plan to remove Smokey from the brooding pen after about 4 weeks, returning her to the night pen. The brooding pens/duck houses for the other setting ducks will be done next week. Same set up.
We will let you now when they hatch!
Report Spam   Logged
DUCK_GARDENER
Full Member
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 216


« Reply #24 on: March 14, 2010, 09:07:35 pm »

We have ducklings! Cheesy She sat on 14 eggs, had one bad egg and one infertile eggs, and hatched 15 ducklings! WOW, bow down to the power of the mussie! Wink 12 mallard-camo pattern and 3 dark browish-black atipico types. Moved Smokey and brood into the duckling house/pen. All doing well! No losses, so far! Cute fuzzies!
DG
Report Spam   Logged
BennieStevens
Newbie
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 1


« Reply #25 on: August 29, 2013, 12:22:47 am »

Undecided Ok, Here is the experiment:
I am going to try to induce out of season laying of eggs, fertile or unfertile, for table use only, using a string of LED christmas lights on a timer set to mimic the first natural day of 14 hours of daylight for our location. The timer will be set for the number of hours of natural daylight for November 7, 2009 +15 minutes of additional light, with daily increases in light duration every day until a total of 14 hours daily is achieved. At this point the 14 hour artifical day-length will be continued until lay is acheived or until 2 months have passed if no laying results. If result are positive and laying begins with the artifical day-length increase, the artifical day-length will be continued until the natural light day-length is equal to or greater than the 14 hour artifical day-length. The number of eggs, if any, laid by each of the hens will be tallied each week and recorded here for the duration of the experiment. Any abnormalities or other information which presents itself will also be recorded
Theory: out of season egg laying can be induced in mature muscovy ducks using a eco-friendly sting of LED Christmas lights on a timer at a reduced electricity usage compared to conventional
led lights.
If, at any time, the ducks are, or seem adversely affected by the experiment, it will be immediately stopped. If anyone knows of any reason why this may harm the ducks, please reply here so that the experiment can be halted asap. Information on feed, temps, natural light amounts, and LED lights Specs, and light placement arangement and hight in relation to the ducks will be in next posting: Nov 07,2009.
Any questions, as well as any comments in relation to this experiment are gratefully welcomed. Cross you fingers...here we go!
DUCK_GARDENER


Were you successful with the experiment.. It seems effective but can you please share some experience
« Last Edit: August 30, 2013, 10:22:51 am by BennieStevens » Report Spam   Logged
duyugdv
Newbie
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 2


« Reply #26 on: November 07, 2013, 10:57:50 am »

I've just found this thread and being a scientist by training I've enjoyed following it.  I would be interested in an update if the Op is still active on this forum.  It was a great idea to test if the lower wattage and energy consuming christmas lights would work to stimulate out of season egg production. 

Hope to hear an update.
Report Spam   Logged
Pages: 1 [2]   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

+-Recent Topics
Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum

Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy