Pekin ducks mating for the first time

[Duckmom1980]

My 2 Pekin ducks are 17 weeks old and they were mating in the pond this morning for the first time. Does this mean my female has reached sexual maturity? I'm patiently waiting for eggs.

 

[Amiga]

How does the back of her neck look? After he is done, (is he doing the victory lap yet?) does she get up on her toes and flap her wings, or does she seem a bit less energetic? How does her vent look? Any blood? Does she limp, does she not seem to eat enough? Does she try to get away from the drake?

There are a number of couples who do fine. Just remember some drakes are so and so's . . .

 

[Scott Barr]

Sorry for just replying on this but today we did notice that se can see her skin on the back of her neck for the first time. Yes he takes his victory lap (swim) but so does she. They are inseperable day and night but the past two days the neck seems a bit more visibile.

I am assuming that the Drake is the one on top but clarification of that point would be good too. These two have been together since they were about 2 weeks old and seem perfectly content with one another with absolutely no agression except in the morning when the get out of their pen and head straingt for the pond for their morning frolick and neck biting. I have heard that getting a second female could be the answer but any feedback and ways to help the female would be appreciated.

 

[voodoozombie]

Scott,

I've had my ducks since March (their yellow feathers were just changing) and they were born sometime in January. I was under the impression that I had all girls because I hadn't seen and drake feathers. At the beginning of June they started trying to mount one another, without any real preference. Suddenly, one day in mid-June, BOOM!!! THREE of my GIRLS had drake feathers!! I estimate mine to be around 27 weeks now, and they were about 20 weeks when the feathers popped up. Just last week, my first girl laid an egg, soft shelled and fragile. I was cleaning the shed 2 days ago and found a clutch of 11 eggs!!

They still have time to develop drake feathers, or you may have just gotten lucky. They will still lay eggs without a drake, just not necessarily as frequently.

Also, there IS a distinct difference between the quacks. The girls have a totally indignant, impatient quack, while the boys have a softer, more pleasant and unobtrusive quack. Their quacks sound more like a dinner conversation, the girls' sound more like an argument. XD

 

[Mum]

Welcome to the forums, voodoozombie

 

[ducklucky]

Ours curled at about 16 weeks (they were supposed to be all females, but it's ok, he's a nice horny teenager LOL). Think might have another, but they are more than 19 weeks now, sounds like a female, but odd behavior from the others. The male for sure has a very low and quieter "wack" and is larger than the girls. He is very vocal, but never loud. Think he just wants to get a word in edgewise with the 12 (maybe) women around him...

 

[Scott Barr]

A jumbo chicken egg is 2.5 oz. Our first duck eggs were 2.9 and were double yolkers. We always feed the first eggs to the dogs, and if there was a hole in it, don't eat it yourself, but dogs and even cats will love it. They get better as time goes along. Yes, the shell is surpirisingly strong, it is nature's way of the egg surviving the ducks big clumsy feet and heavy weight. Hope you get lots more, ours at 19 weeks are giving us 2 a day, one huge, one medium. Enough for us right now, but we have customers waiting, so I give them a little squeeze each night and a pep talk...It's fun isn't it? They do taste different, but the nutritional value is higher in cholesterol, but much, much higher in vitamins and minerals than chickens. Great for baking as they are so rich, one duck egg =two chicken. Hope I helped.

Here are 4 of the first 5 ... I think the kids are going to cook them up this afternoon. I now think we definitely have two girls as the eggs are different sizes ...

 

[MistysMenagerie]

How does the back of her neck look? After he is done, (is he doing the victory lap yet?) does she get up on her toes and flap her wings, or does she seem a bit less energetic? How does her vent look? Any blood? Does she limp, does she not seem to eat enough? Does she try to get away from the drake?

There are a number of couples who do fine. Just remember some drakes are so and so's . . .

Our Pekin drake just "did it" with one of our 3 Pekin hens and yes, he did the "victory lap" and she did her flapping. Thank you so much for describing the ritual as we were wondering if she was ok with it. Lol...apparantly

 

[PeanutnCashew]

Oh wow..I have no idea when they start but that seems early. I just found out I have one girl and one boy. I have not seen any attempts of mating at all. They are both approx 2 1/2 -3 months old.

 

[PeanutnCashew]

just looked it up: one source says " Generally domestic ducks start to lay around 21 to 26 weeks of age.