LEMON:
Look at the adorable little egg I laid this morning. Isn’t it the cutest thing you’ve ever seen? It was as easy as pie to lay this little egg! This year, I started laying eggs on Easter Morning. Why Easter? Well, the Easter Bunny shouldn’t have all of the fun!
LAURA:
The amount of light affects egg production in ducks. When the days get longer they start laying. In the past Lemon was having too many laying cycles throughout the year. Pekin ducks have been bred to lay and lay and lay. One of my ducky expert friends told me about the light affecting egg production. Lemon lives in the house with me. The lights go on when it gets dark. Could it be that the house lights were confusing her about how long the day was?
This past winter we did a little experiment. In the fall, as they days got shorter, I put her to bed when it became dark rather than keeping her up with me until I went to bed. I put her to bed every night by 6PM (no exceptions) and made sure the room was completely dark. No light was allowed! Even the hall light had to be off before I entered the room so she wouldn’t see even a sliver of light shining into the room. I missed cuddling with her at night and I did a whole lot of bumping into things as I felt my way around in the dark---but, it was soooo worth it because she didn’t lay at all this winter! One laying cycle a year is plenty for Lemon.
QUESTION: Will Lemon’s eggs hatch?
ANSWER: No, Lemon’s eggs are not fertilized so they’re just like the eggs you buy at the grocery store. People can eat duck eggs (they're great for baking with) but what I do with Lemon’s eggs is hard boil them. Some I put back in her basket and some I feed to her. It helps replace things like calcium and protein that she used to make the egg. She loves to eat them. By the time she’s finished we’re both covered in eggy mush! This duck definitely needs a bib!
