The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary addition of capsaicin (CAP) on egg production performance, follicular development and ovarian antioxidant capacity in laying ducks. Three hundred and seventy eight 58-week-old laying ducks were randomly divided into three treatments, each treatment was consisted of 6 replicates, with 12 individually caged laying ducks per replicate. Ducks fed a basal diet served as control, the other two groups of ducks were fed the same diet containing 150 mg/kg CAP, but in the manner of feed restriction (pair-fed) or ad libitum ad libitum fed. The experiment lasted for 8 weeks. The results showed that the dietary supplementation with capsaicin under condition of free intake increased feed intake (P < 0.001), and tended (P < 0.1) to increase egg production and egg weight in laying ducks, but had no effects on daily egg mass and feed conversion ratio. The relative weight of large yellow follicles from the two CAP-supplemented groups at 64 wk of age were significantly higher than that of controls (P = 0.01). The relative weight of the small yellow follicles in the CAP free-fed group was significantly higher than that of the other two groups (P < 0.01). CAP supplementation under ad libutum fed conditions tended to increase the number of dominant follicles in laying ducks (P = 0.06). The ovarian mRNA expression of TRPV4, ATP2A2, ITPR1, and CaM in the CAP ad libitum fed groups were significantly higher than those of the other two groups (P < 0.05). The ovarian mRNA expression of CDK1 in CAP free-fed ducks was significantly higher than that of the other two groups (P = 0.01). CAP supplementation significantly increased the plasma Gpx activity (P < 0.01) in comparison to the control group, but reduced the MDA content in the ovaries of laying ducks (P < 0.01). The results of this study indicates that dietary supplementation of CAP increased feed intake and improved egg production performance probably by activating calcium signaling pathway and improving redox status.