Breeding

[MamaLynn23]

I have 8 ducks, even ratio of drakes/hens. I know this is not ideal, but we have not had much luck getting females. My question is why does my Cayuga drake keep trying to mate with my Barred Rock chicken hens?

 

[SolarDuck]

You should separate him from your hens. It can be very dangerous for him to try mating them because ducks have a penis and chickens do not. It isn't uncommon for drakes to try mating with chicken hens.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Because he sees an opportunity and is trying to take it

 

[MamaLynn23]

Because he sees an opportunity and is trying to take it

Oh he certainly took it, many times. Even after we got a rooster to tend to our girls. And funny/frustrating thing was that he knew he wasn’t supposed to. Every time he saw us coming towards him while chasing them he would immediately stop and run the other way.

 

[MamaLynn23]

You should separate him from your hens. It can be very dangerous for him to try mating them because ducks have a penis and chickens do not. It isn't uncommon for drakes to try mating with chicken hens.

It’s not really feasible for us separate chickens from ducks right now. Our property is 2 and a half open acres, no fenced runs. I ended up finding him a new home with a local breeder that was in need of a Cayuga drake. Now he will have his own flock of gals his own kind to satisfy his lust!