Egg laying questions

[Fenris Lupa]

Hello everyone. So, I've tried to look up the info I'm looking for, but I just can't find an exact answer.

I had an Ancona years back and she laid an egg almost everyday. ((Posted about her all that time ago.........miss her))

Now....we have had 2 female domesticated Mallards....and then a few months later we were given a duckling that needed to be rescued and ended up being a male Rouen. All have been house ducks since we got them.

Both our females have been laying eggs pretty much daily for months now. And now our male is a full Drake.

Our sweet lil boy duckling, that was actually hand raised with us, 2 days after he was born....he was with us 24/7, if not we had a sitter. He obviously was too young and little to introduce to our girls. So he slept with us, and I mean literally went everywhere with us....bathroom and all. So we thought for sure he imprinted on at least one of us....but as soon as he was big enough to be with the girls, that's all he wanted....now he's full of hormones and nippy.... Ugh...hate new male hormones....

Cuz we all kno, that as soon as you as a male to the equation.....things get....complicated.

....that is where my question comes in.

There will be times that a female will go flat, and then the male and the other female will start picking at her and pulling feathers. We stop it but then every once and a while, the male..."tries" to mount her....tries is "" cuz poor guy just can't figure it out....and that's ok. We stop that as well. But since they are both laying pretty much everyday, is there a possibility of mating happening, in or out of mating season? Like....cuz their bodies are already ovulating, if he ever does figure out to mount the back...and not their sides....is it possible for fertilization?

Like stated above, the girls are about 7 months old and the male about 4 months, just got his drake feathers in the past few months, they are separated at night when they sleep, and separated when we have to leave for any reason. And at the moment neither one of us work, starting school in Jan, full time, so they are pretty much with us from the moment they wake up, til we put them to bed. So they are supervised and interacted with all day long. ((Just putting that bit in to show that we kno their everyday habits and as we all kno, house ducks are pretty much perpetual toddlers so constant supervision is ideal.))

Any info and suggestions are welcome.

Here's a pic of all 3....helping us with school stuff

 

[sourland]

The flattening out is an invitation to mating. A pool or swimming water facilitates mating, and yes he could breed your mallards and they would lay viable eggs.

 

[Fenris Lupa]

The flattening out is an invitation to mating. A pool or swimming water facilitates mating, and yes he could breed your mallards and they would lay viable eggs.

I kno the flat as a pancake means mating and all that. They are watched even closer when we do have them outside and in the pool or lake....they go flat for us too just walking near them or sitting on the floor with them.....

Just don't kno why the other female will pick at the other one when flat as well.

I'm just asking cuz all my experience has been with female ducks, having them in the past. This is just the first time I've had to deal with males.

And thank you.

 

[Fenris Lupa]

The flattening out is an invitation to mating. A pool or swimming water facilitates mating, and yes he could breed your mallards and they would lay viable eggs.

Ok so here's another question off of that......

So as of right now, our girls just lay.....everywhere and anywhere, don't care after that..... So if by some chance they do become viable, will they start to care about the eggs? Will they start to actually make and keep a nest? Will they kno/feel the difference from non-viable and viable?

 

[KathiQuacks]

So if by some chance they do become viable, will they start to care about the eggs? Will they start to actually make and keep a nest? Will they kno/feel the difference from non-viable and viable?

Female ducks will go broody and make a nest when they feel like it, even if their eggs are non-viable, and sometimes even when there’s no eggs at all! They don’t know the difference in viability.
Your girls are pretty young + it’s winter, so they may not choose to go broody now. Still though, you can encourage nest-making and broodiness by providing a quiet, dry area with hay and putting real / fake eggs in a group together.
Also know that nest-building doesn’t always mean broodiness, and you can not make a duck go broody, only encourage it.

They go flat for us too just walking near them or sitting on the floor with them.....

I had a girl do this - she thought I was her mate lol

Just don't kno why the other female will pick at the other one when flat as well.

If it’s just picking, I’d guess this is a display of dominance. If they get along most of the time + there’s no blood or patches in her feathers, I wouldn’t worry too much.