Results of Duck Breeder Flock Culling

Originally posted by John Metzer on Wed, Aug 11, 2010 @ 12:37 PM

Last week we went through our Rouen, Cayuga, White Crested and Fawn and White Runner breeder flocks.  Each female was picked up and the distance between her pelvic bones was estimated.  This technique was shown in our last blog: Determining Which of Your Ducks Is Laying. I want to share the results with you.
The Fawn and White Runner flock had 405 females in it that were at 33% egg production (this means we were getting an average 33 eggs a day for every 100 females).  We put a fence down the middle of the pen, one side for the "keepers" and one side for the cull birds. After checking each female, we had 175 females in the "keep" flock and 230 females in the cull flock.  The next day the females in the "keep" flock layed 112 eggs which is a rate of 64%.  The females in the group that we will not keep laid 6 eggs which is a rate of 3%!

So by checking each female, we removed 57% of our feed bill and only lost 5% of our eggs!  As there are now fewer females in the pen, we will also use less shavings.  Of course we were able to remove some of the males, too.  As far as we know, there is no way to visually determine the fertility of a male but you can cull out any males that are less thrifty than the others, have bad legs or appear to have been picked on by other birds.
The results for the other flocks was just as impressive:

Cayuga start 49%, after culling: keep flock 66%, cull flock 7%

White Crested start 35%, after culling: keep flock 69%, cull flock 1%

Rouen start 43%, after culling: keep flock 66%, cull flock 7%

Mallard start 30%. after culling: keep flock 63%, cull flock 0%

Of all the breeds, the Mallards were the easiest to differentiate layers from nonlayers.  As you can see, over half the females were  removed and there were no eggs in the cull flock pen the next morning.

The picture shows the keep and cull flocks of Fawn and White Runners.  As you can see, there is very little difference in appearance in the two flocks.  You have to pick up each bird and check it.  It is basically a comparison with other birds of the same breed so if you have never done it before, check 10-15 birds and note the difference among them.  Then start over and remove those birds in which their pelvic bones are stiffer and closer together than the others.

In our next blog we will be addressing how to use the feed formulation program on our website. http://www.metzerfarms.com/FeedConversion.cfm.  Many times you cannot find feed with the correct level of protein.  This program will show you how much to mix of two different feeds to achieve the protein (or other nutrient) level you want to achieve.
Thank you! Enjoy your ducks and geese!

How Do I Know Which of My Ducks Are Laying Eggs?

Originally posted by John Metzer on Thu, Aug 05, 2010 @ 12:16 PM
 

There are several ways to determine which of your ducks are laying eggs.  No one indication is proof positive but collectively they can give you a good indication of which birds are laying eggs.  During the middle of every summer, we use these criteria in our duck breeder flocks to remove nonlaying birds.  If, for example, we can go through a breeder flock of 500 Rouen ducks, remove half the birds but only drop the egg production a little bit (due to the inadvertent culling of laying birds), we are much better off.  We have just cut our feed, water and bedding bill in half with barely any loss in egg production!

If you have Pekins, look at their bill.  If it is bright orange, they are probably not laying.  Those birds that have been laying for quite awhile have a washed out, pale bill.  Prior to production most Pekin ducks will accumulate xanthophylls in their bill and feet.  Xanthophylls are a pigment in corn, alfalfa, and some other feed ingredients.  But as the ducks start to lay, those xanthophylls are deposited in the yolk of the egg.  With high egg production, more xanthophylls are deposited in the eggs than absorbed in the feed, causing their bills and feet to become lighter and lighter in color.

In this group of Pekins, the female on the right is probably not laying.  Notice her bill and feet are darker orange and her feathers are bright and clean which means she has recently molted.  The female in the front left is probably laying well.  She has all her feathers but they are dirty, original feathers meaning she has not molted.  The female in the left back is missing her flight feathers which means she is now going through a molt and probably not laying.

The best way to know if your birds are laying is to catch them and measure the distance between their pelvic bones.  If the birds are laying, their pelvic bones are flexible and wide apart to allow passage of the egg.  If they are not laying, they are close together and rather stiff and nonpliable.  You do not have to turn the duck over to do this.  Just pick them up and slide your hand under their abdomen down to their pelvis.  Is the distance between the bones two fingers or three fingers or four fingers?   The more fingers you can get between their pelvic bones, the better chance they are laying eggs now.  Of course the larger breeds will naturally have more space between their pelvic bones so you need to compare among birds of the same breed or size.

The pelvic bones are only two fingers apart in this female Rouen - she is not laying.

The pelvic bones are four fingers apart in this female.  She is definitely laying!

On our next blog we will give you the results of our first cull.  How efficient were they in removing  the nonlayers?  What was our egg production before and after the cull?