Mating

[MartinFamilyHomestead]

I’ve owned ducks for a few years and for some reason tonight I had the question on how many eggs are fertilized through one mating session. Google helped me come to the conclusion that typically the sperm will stay in hen for up to 14 days, so essentially a clutch of eggs is fertilized by the one mating. What I could not find an answer to was if a hen is mated by 2 different drakes could she lay a clutch of eggs where the ducklings belong to both drakes. Meaning half the ducklings are the first drakes and the other half are the seconds.

 

[citymeetscountry]

I think it would depend on if he accepted sperm from both drakes. My understanding is they have multiple “tunnels” and if they reject that drake they can “trick” them.

 

[sourland]

Very likely if mated by multiple drakes the ducklings will have different fathers. In actuality sperm may be retained for as long as 4 weeks with diminishing fertility over the period of time.

 

[MartinFamilyHomestead]

I think it would depend on if he accepted sperm from both drakes. My understanding is they have multiple “tunnels” and if they reject that drake they can “trick” them.

I read that. So very interesting their reproductive abilities