Are 2 of my 3 runner ducks male and if so, what are my options? :(

[jennytg3]

Yes, I'm just going to keep them, since they seem to get along w/each other so well - the two supposed males seem to nurture and protect the female looking one. Plus I love them all very much - it would be like giving up one of my kids (if I had any.)

I think I'm just going to think positive and tell them I'd like two eggs a day, I don't care who does it.

 

[Sweetfolly]

You asked about eating the fertilized eggs - it's perfectly okay, there's really no difference. You don't even have to eat them that same day - the eggs won't start to develop at all unless you incubate them. If you collect an egg every morning and put it in the fridge, they'll last weeks, and be no different than an unfertilized egg.

 

[FenDruadin]

If you do end up re-homing, just make sure you ask a small re-homing fee--even just a couple bucks will keep someone from lying about their intentions and then bringing home a "free" dinner for a large snake or other captive predator (for which even a Runner would be adequate).

Drakes do make good pets, and since they were raised together there is a greater likelihood that they will continue to get on together just fine. Our neighbors have a trio of Old English Game bantams--one is a hen and two are roosters and they have been together for three years without any problems whatsoever. They don't even pick at each other.

And an egg a day will go farther than you might think--I used to think we ate SO MANY eggs until I started getting four, five, six, eight eggs a day and realized just how quickly they add up. Even one a day is a LOT unless you have a large family or just a fetish for eggs.

As for fertility, what's been said is correct in our days of refrigeration. In the old days, fertile eggs would not keep as long in the summer because at 80+ degrees for 24 hours they will begin developing, but below about 98 degrees, they will then die after a couple days development. There would be nothing really obvious in the egg to show that they had begun developing, but the dead embryo would cause the egg to rot much more quickly. These days, though, if you collect the eggs daily and refrigerate them or even keep them in the house below 80 degrees, there is no problem whatsoever--they will look the same (to an untrained eye), smell the same, taste the same, and keep just as long.

 

[jennytg3]

Thanks everyone for your responses! I'm not sure if I should start another thread w/this question, but here goes: in just the last couple of days, the one female seems to be displaying mating behavior, except just to me! She comes over to me and lays flat, so I've just been petting her, at first just thinking she liked to be petted that way. Just now I was petting her again, and she laid flat and lifted her behind, and I noticed some clear liquid coming out of her behind. I'm new to ducks but that definitely seems like 'hey, I want to get laid!' However, her brothers (I think) just look at me and don't seem interested. That's fine, since I just want eggs, not necessarily fertilized ones.

Does this mean she's going to lay eggs early? I was thinking it was going to be September as she is only 4 months old.

 

[FenDruadin]

Yup, she's coming on to you. LOL. And yes, if you want a bunch of responses, a new thread is often a good idea--but if you're happy with just a few answers from folks already invested in this thread, then post away with the questions.

Whether she'll lay early or not is hard to say. You don't really want her to start laying too early, as it can interfere with growth and lead to health problems. But she's probably a few weeks off anyway, and it's normal for some to start laying around 5 months.

Yay for eggs! Good luck.

 

[jennytg3]

Thank you so much for your responses, I really appreciate it! Why is she coming on to me and not her brothers? I do hold each of them every day and pet them. Are male ducks just 'slower' to develop, just like humans? Is there anything I need to do now that she's displaying this behavior - i.e. put a wooden egg in the nesting box in a few weeks or change her feed? I can't find my storey's guide anywhere - have searched the whole house!

 

[Amiga]

A few of my runners are laying already. One began at sixteen weeks. They are almost nineteen weeks old now, and based on the eggs, we have two chocolates and a black that have started laying, not counting whoever have produced the two without shells.

I expect we won't all be on board until September, but we shall see. I started giving them oyster shell free choice when they all started displaying that breeding behavior. I gave it just once a week, whatever they would take, and then took it away. Once we had our first egg, I starting setting it out daily.

It was a few weeks between the time they began displaying their romantic urges and the first egg, by the way.

 

[FenDruadin]

Like most adolescents, she's just a little confused right now.

She'll figure it out.

Wooden eggs--or golf balls, which work just as well--in the nest is a great idea now or later. She'll probably pop out her first few eggs just wherever the heck she happens to be when it happens, but mine get pretty good about the nest boxes if I leave golf balls in them.

Enjoy!