Two hens a layin' and a drake a playin'?

[Seadog36]

Help! We have three Cayugas that we raised from chicks. Two seem to be laying pretty actively, we suspect the largest is a male. No curled tail feather but the voice seems lower and there seems to be lots of mating behavior in the tub. The other two's neck feathers are a thinner and worn from all the attention.

Is two hens to a drake more than the girls can handle, is there a way to sex an older ducks to verify gender? We have a good home for him if nesassary...

 

[Miss Lydia]

Help! We have three Cayugas that we raised from chicks. Two seem to be laying pretty actively, we suspect the largest is a male. No curled tail feather but the voice seems lower and there seems to be lots of mating behavior in the tub. The other two's neck feathers are a thinner and worn from all the attention.

Is two hens to a drake more than the girls can handle, is there a way to sex an older ducks to verify gender? We have a good home for him if nesassary...

If they are actually mating then that pretty much says it all, but spend some time outside watching when they are in the tub because girls will mount other girls too, but you cannot miss a drakes male parts. I have 2 ducks to each of my drakes and it seems to be working out fine, i just make sure one of the girls doesn't get more attention than the others. If your not seeing a drake feather but are seeing mating that makes me wonder if you don't have all girls. Can you posts some pics. also when you crack open an egg look for the bulls eye that will also tell you if you have a drake by being a fertile egg.

 

[needlessjunk]

There is a pretty big difference in the voice of a male and female. Here is clip of each a male and female sound.
http://www.majesticwaterfowl.org/artquacks.htm

 

[Seadog36]

We are not seeing any bullseyes in the eggs and I haven't seen any explicit confirmation during their shenanigans. I hope you are right and we just have a very alpha female. I'll pay closer attention next time. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Miss Lydia]

We are not seeing any bullseyes in the eggs and I haven't seen any explicit confirmation during their shenanigans. I hope you are right and we just have a very alpha female. I'll pay closer attention next time. Thanks for the feedback!

Be sure to let us know what to find out, And Welcome to BYC!