He grew up with a pair of Swedish Blues - 1 drake, 1 duck. And I got 2 female mallards in March. The new girls are in an adjoining pen where everyone can see each other. I won't be putting him in the pen with the girls until August when the girls are 5 months old. He certainly ACTS like he has testosterone! He's a randy little character, for sure. LOL! The interesting thing is how he came to us. Peepers (my mallard drake - in my avatar) walked into my business alone at 1 day old. My hubby walked all around the neighborhood looking for a mallard family. But, he didn't find any around (they're there... but, he didn't come across any that day). So, now, I'm wondering if his Mama duck knew there was something wrong with him and left him??? IDK... I have always thought he just got separated from his brood. But, nature can definitely be cruel. So, anyway... he's the one who started my love of ducks - and, here I am, with 5 ducks a year later including one with weird plumage.
I'm talking about the curled feathers on the drake's tail. Known as sex or drake feathers.There are several instances in which ducks have been recorded growing drake feathers when males are absent.
