Winter is the season when most backyard duck owners see egg numbers drop or stop completely. Shorter days, lower temperatures, and heavier moisture loads all send natural signals to ducks to conserve energy rather than produce eggs. But with the right setup, you can maintain strong winter laying performance without compromising the health, comfort, or welfare of your flock.
At Shirlock Acres, we keep year-round breeder flocks in barns not only for safety and disease prevention, but also to maintain the environmental conditions ducks require to lay consistently. Over many winters, we’ve learned exactly what ducks need to stay warm, stay healthy, and stay productive even when temperatures drop outside.
This guide outlines the five core elements of winter layer management: heat, ventilation, bedding, lighting, and overall flock management. Whether you raise 6 ducks or 600, the same principles apply.
Do Ducks Lay Eggs in the Winter?
Yes, ducks can lay eggs in the winter, provided they have the proper conditions. Some breeds, like Khaki Campbells, are better suited for winter egg laying than others, but the environment is key to consistent egg production, which we will cover in more depth below.
Do Ducks Stop Laying Eggs in the Winter?
Yes, ducks can stop laying eggs in the winter. If temperatures drop below a certain point, ducks will stop laying eggs to prioritize staying warm. However, if you maintain the right conditions and focus on proper winter care, they can continue to lay eggs even in these cold temperatures.
How to Get Ducks to Lay Eggs in the Winter
As we touched on earlier, if conditions aren’t just right during the winter season, ducks may stop laying eggs to focus on warming themselves up. Here’s how you can create the ideal conditions to ensure your flock lays eggs year-round:
1. Heat: Keeping Ducks in Their Optimal Laying Temperature Range
Ducks are hardy birds, often more cold-tolerant than chickens. However, there’s a big difference between what ducks can survive and what they can lay eggs in.
If you want winter eggs, you need controlled temperatures. The ideal laying environment during winter is 55–65°F. At temperatures below that, ducks begin redirecting calories away from egg production and toward body heat. Once they hit the low 40s or freezing conditions, nearly all laying will stop unless supplemental heat is provided.
Why Temperature Matters for Egg Production:
Egg formation is metabolically expensive. A cold duck burns feed just to stay warm, meaning:
- Less excess energy to allocate to egg formation
- Thinner or softer shells
- Delayed or skipped ovulation cycles
- Higher stress and susceptibility to illness
When ambient temperatures drop, the duck’s reproductive system responds accordingly.
How We Heat Our Barns:
At Shirlock Acres, we use propane radiant heaters. These provide several advantages:
- Consistent heat output
- Safe for enclosed barn setups
- Quiet, with minimal disturbance to the flock
- More efficient at maintaining the 55–65°F target range
We recommend positioning heaters so warmth is evenly distributed but still allows ducks to move to cooler zones if they prefer. Ducks regulate themselves well.
2. Ventilation: The Most Overlooked Winter Requirement
Heating is important, but ventilation makes or breaks winter flock health. Too little ventilation traps moisture, ammonia, and pathogens. Too much ventilation strips heat and creates drafts, not good for egg productivity or your utility bill.
The goal is air exchange without direct airflow hitting the birds.
Why Ventilation is Essential in Winter:
Ducks produce a tremendous amount of moisture through:
- Breathing
- Pooping
- Bathing and playing in water
Without sufficient airflow:
- Bedding becomes wet
- Ammonia rises (hard on lungs, eyes, and overall immune function)
- Mold and bacteria proliferate
- Egg quality declines
- Respiratory illnesses spike
Most winter flock issues come back to one root cause: humidity and ammonia buildup.
Practical Ventilation Guidelines
- Keep upper-level vents open to allow warm, moist air to escape.
- Avoid drafts at bird level.
- Increase airflow gradually. Small changes make big differences.
- Check humidity daily; bedding should stay dry on top.
Good ventilation feels almost invisible. You shouldn’t feel wind, but you should smell fresh, clean air when you walk into the barn.
3. Bedding: Keeping Ducks Clean, Dry, and Comfortable
Ducks and winter do not mix well with poor bedding management. Moisture is your enemy, and ducks are professionals at creating it.
If you want clean eggs and healthy ducks, fresh bedding is a non-negotiable daily chore.
Our Bedding Regimen at Shirlock Acres:
We use a combination of:
- Chopped straw
- Pine shavings
Both work well, but they have differences.
- Chopped straw isn’t as dusty as shavings, but it doesn’t soak up moisture as well.
- Shavings are dustier but have better absorbency, reducing ammonia and moisture.
The blend creates a softer, cleaner surface for ducks to walk, nest, and rest on.
Nest Boxes: Refresh Bedding Daily
If you don’t want cracked or filthy eggs, keep nests clean. During winter:
- Ducks track in snow, mud, and water
- Moisture collects faster
- Nests get dirty within hours
Adding fresh bedding daily to nests keeps eggs cleaner and reduces the chance of broodiness from ducks sitting on older eggs.
Clean bedding = clean eggs = less washing = better shell integrity.
4. Lighting: The Key to Maintaining the Hormonal Cycle of Laying
Even if you get temperature, ventilation, and bedding perfect, your ducks won’t continue laying without proper lighting.
Ducks require a minimum of 13 hours of daylight-equivalent light to sustain egg production. Winter days naturally fall well short of this.
Why Light Matters for Egg Production:
Light stimulates the duck’s pituitary gland, which controls the reproductive cycle. Short days naturally shut the system down—an evolutionary mechanism for survival.
Artificial lighting extends the productive cycle by signaling that conditions are still favorable for laying.
What Lighting We Use:
We use 3000K, 60W bulbs because:
- 3000K color temperature is close to natural sunlight
- It provides a warm, natural spectrum ducks respond well to
- It’s bright enough to reach the corners of the barn without being harsh
Set your lights on a timer to ensure consistency. A simple schedule:
- Lights on early morning before sunrise
- Lights off after evening chores
Keep the total photoperiod at 13–14 hours.
5. Winter Management: Daily Habits That Keep Ducks Productive
Winter laying success is built on consistency. Once environmental conditions are set, your daily management practices maintain the system.
Feed Requirements
Ducks must receive:
- Plenty of feed (winter energy demands increase)
- A quality layer feed with at least 17% protein
- Adequate calcium, ideally through a formulated feed plus free-choice oyster shell if needed
When it’s cold, ducks burn more calories staying warm. If feed intake isn’t high enough, eggs are the first thing to shut down.
Water Access
Even in winter, ducks need constant access to:
- Clean drinking water
- A way to wet their nostrils
Without this, they develop sinus issues and respiratory irritation. Just make sure waterers are designed to minimize splashing; excess moisture ruins bedding fast.
Egg Collection
Collect eggs twice a day in winter. Cold temperatures can:
- Freeze eggs within hours
- Cause shells to crack
- Encourage broodiness if eggs sit too long in the nest
Morning and late afternoon egg collection keeps things clean and protects both birds and eggs.
Maintain Spring and Summer Management Standards
One mistake many duck owners make is relaxing their routines in winter. But ducks are creatures of habit. If anything, winter requires more structure.
Your checklist should remain the same:
- Specific egg collection times
- Daily flock walk-through
- Add fresh bedding as needed.
The more consistent your routine, the fewer problems you’ll face.
Winter Laying Is Absolutely Possible with the Right Setup
Ducks don’t stop laying in winter because they’re incapable; it’s because the environment signals them to conserve energy. By proactively controlling heat, humidity, lighting, and daily management, you recreate the conditions ducks naturally associate with spring and summer.
At Shirlock Acres, we house our breeder flocks indoors year-round primarily to protect them from disease and wild birds, but this also gives us the ability to maintain ideal laying conditions even in January. The result is a healthier flock, cleaner eggs, and consistent production no matter what the weather does.
Whether you’re managing six ducks in a backyard coop or several hundred breeders in a barn, these principles stay the same:
- Keep them warm
- Keep the air fresh
- Keep the bedding dry
- Keep the light consistent
- Keep the management steady
When you get these fundamentals right, winter laying doesn’t just continue; it becomes predictable.
Find Everything You Need For the Right Setup
Shirlock Acres is an NPIP-certified hatchery built around consistent results. We focus on proper setup, sound management, and proven practices that support healthy ducks and reliable egg production. To help you apply the same principles at home, we offer a complete duck starter kit, quality feed, and clear, practical guidance through our blog and FAQs.
