Do Male Ducks Sit on nest? w/Pic

[Dogginfox]

I have three Ducks. One is a silverappleyard Drake and the other 2 are Pekins, I am 99% sure one is male and the other is female but for the past few days both pekins have been sitting on a nest of eggs. The silver appleyard jumps in the middle at night but stays outside with the chickens most of the day. I was just under the impression that only female ducks sit on the nest, maybe i was wrong

 

[Poultrybonkers]

yes male pekings sit on the eggs. i  have male n female and they have mated so i know they both r diffrent sexes. the male sits on some and the female sits on some. as it getting closer to hatchlings ive noticed the male laying next to her on eggs also

Just because there mating dont mean you have a pair i have two pekin ducks that mate with eachother.

 

[Orca5094]

I have no experience with domestic male ducks sitting on eggs, but I can confirm that some wild species do share in the incubation duties. I used to be an Avian Keeper at a zoo and had several different male Whistling Ducks (Cuban, Spotted, etc) that would take turns with the females in incubating the eggs.

 

[Duck Drover]

We had a drake sit on a nest while the hen took a break but not full time. He is not hormonal enough to have the right body temperature to hatch the eggs but he can keep them from getting cold and keep predators such as crows from stealing eggs since they will patiently wait for the hen to get off the nest and leave the eggs unprotected. I am sure not all drakes are as invested in sharing parental duties but it is nice to see some of them take an interest in the eggs and not just the hen.

 

[Orca5094]

Hello, I'm new to BYC. This post looks a little old but I thought I'd chime in and say that I'm not sure about all breeds, but my free range Pekin Drake does indeed sit on his hens nest. She is in the process of laying now (one per day). We're at 8 eggs and while she will not lay on her nest until she is satisfied with the number of eggs in it, he lays on it the majority of the day. I know, sounds odd. Some will say "are you sure your Drake is a Drake?" Absolutely, positively, no doubt in my mind! Not only was he vented, but also has his Drake feather and call. Maybe some of us just have an odd couple, who knows? But to answer the question, yes, pekin drakes will lay on a nest.

Aww, that is so cute he shares the egg care duties! Thanks for sharing your experience, and welcome to BYC!

 

[MilleFluersRus]

I have a blue runner duck Drake that I've spotted once or twice setting on an egg. He never stays because he is constantly pestering the chickens about coming close to his egg. The mom (a crested mallard) usually handles the brooding

 

[efficacy]

For what its worth, just spotted a semi-wild mallard drake sitting:

 

[fatty and friends]

my khaki boy was trying to sit on eggs the other day lol, he also gets mad when i take them away even though the girls don’t care about the eggs at all (here’s some pics of him, he’s definitely a drake)

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Drakes won't sit on the eggs. I don't know if Pekins are an exception or not. My feeling is that you may have two females.

 

[theOEGBman]

I've yet to see a drake sit on a nest, but I've seen Male Turkeys and Pheasants do it, so why not a duck?! Im guessing you have two females as well though. Do you have pics of their tails? They could be moulting right now though, I dont know. Mine moulted a while back, so the drake has his curly tail feather back.