Cayuga drakes

[G gallus]

I've been combing the interwebs for hours looking for an answer to this question with no luck at all, so hopefully someone here can help.

How aggressive are male Cayuga ducks towards females? I live on Cayuga lake and would like to start breeding Cayugas to sell to local people interested in chemical-free pest control (we will also be breeding a special kind of sheep that mows grass without harming trees and shrubs). Permaculture and other forms of alternative ag are huge around here, and everyone loves keeping it local, so I think I'll have a lot of takers.

But reading about what prolific and forceful rapists some drakes are REALLY bothers me. There is no way I could watch that go on for very long; I'd have to dispatch the offender, and I'd rather not be put in that position since I don't enjoy killing things. The only reason I'm even considering letting a male near my females is because I've read anecdotal accounts of Cayuga males who are sweet towards females and even ones who pair-bond. However I'm a scientist and I'd like a bigger sample size than the two accounts of two individual birds I found buried in other forums on BYC before I make a decision, which has to be soon, as my order is shipping out March 16th and there are few Cayuga males available to add to it

So far I have 4 Cayuga females and 2 wild flying mallard females. I have to order a minimum of two ducks, so the question is, should I get one male and one female, or two males? I want high fertilization rates but not at the cost of the health and safety of my girls.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

 

[needlessjunk]

Duck sex is rough but it is what it is. Females are designed to handle it if they are not over bred. Have you seen any videos of it? It isn't as bad as it is made out to be but it can be rough depending on your drake. Mine is just getting the hang of things and now has decided to breed all 5 females. One is abut shaggy because she jumped out of the water while he had her neck and lost some feathers. But my girls are asking for it with a their head bobbing.

A drake will be a drake and there isn't anything you can do about that especially if you want babies. Some are nicer than others but unless you know the sire you won't know what you are getting. I think 2 males for all your females is going to be kinda drake heavy, but it could work out. I would make back up plans if you do go that route and be aware that a male will mate will both breeds and you will have cayuga and mallards mixes.

I really like my drake and he is so quiet.

 

[Crazy4Fowl]

Duck sex is rough but it is what it is. Females are designed to handle it if they are not over bread.

Lol that made me laugh. I know you meant "bred" but still funny.

 

[needlessjunk]

Lol that made me laugh. I know you meant "bred" but still funny. 

I hate my phone right now...

 

[Crazy4Fowl]

I hate my phone right now...

I love your little, I forgot what its called but under your posts it says "My phone thinks that it is smarter than I, so please excuse the typos and nonsense jabber". Do you only go on BYC thro ur phone?

 

[needlessjunk]

I love your little, I forgot what its called but under your posts it says "My phone thinks that it is smarter than I, so please excuse the typos and nonsense jabber". Do you only go on BYC thro ur phone?

Thank you. I feel I need a disclaimer since half the time I have to edit my post 50 thousand times usually I'm on my phone. I hardly every use my computer.

 

[StBob]

Hi,
I have a Cayuga male Bob who lives with my Pekin female Wendi. They seem pretty happy together and when they do mate there is a fair bit of mutual head bobbing going on first. If Wendi is not interested she stays off the pond and I've only seen him jump on her once or twice off the pond. I got them both from the same farm and they were sexually immature so had no history with other ducks.

However...

they have had three hatches which Wendi has brooded herself. In all cases at some point Bob has attacked the ducklings. Only today I have had to separate him from 8 x 1 week old hatchlings as he has gone from occasional interference (picking them up by the neck and shaking them) to full time chasing and attacking. One of them was even bleeding which is why I took action as usually try and let them sort things out themselves. He killed one of his first hatch though the duckling was a dwarf and probably sick by then. The second hatch was a single duck and he started trying to mount her when she was about 4 weeks old. I separated him for a few days and he settled down again. He is only separated by a picket fence but spends all his time pacing up and down trying to get back with his family.

As various people on here have advised sometimes you need to separate your drake from your ducks and babies so it's best to have a plan in advance on how to do this and somewhere ready to put him if you do. Good luck!

Bob is a magnificent beast and when he finishes doing the deed on the pond with Wendi he jumps out and runs a victory lap around the yard flapping his wings, usually with his yellow weeny still hanging down.

 

[Crazy4Fowl]

Thank you. I feel I need a disclaimer since half the time I have to edit my post 50 thousand times

usually I'm on my phone. I hardly every use my computer.

Oh ok

 

[buff goose guy]

the best advice i can tell you is that ducks learn from experience while younger males are more rough and seem really desperate to breed there work is sloppy and can cause pain to females (but like what has been said they are designed to handle it) while and older male, lets say one that is about 6 years old can be a lot more gentle knowing that the female will concede to him if he plays his cards right also he know that this way since there is no struggle that more of his sperm will enter the vigina to fertilize eggs.

 

[Conan]

I'm brand new to this forum and I'm a bit late in giving information, but I have a group of Cayuga ducks (two hens, one drake plus one Indian runner hen). We recently acquired three magpie ducklings, one hen, two drakes. They are about three months old now. They've been in their own large outdoor pen where the adult ducks can see/meet them for over a month. We decided to integrate them and things did not go well. Mulder, the Cayuga drake, relentlessly raped Lenore, the magpie hen, at every opportunity. Her brothers tried to intervene, but really they're no match for him. I had hoped that he'd mellow out after a couple days, but he's just gotten worse. He really tore her up so we removed the ducklings from the adult pen and put them back in their own pen. He has three hens who bob their heads at him, but he ignored them and focused all his rapey energy on poor Lenore. I've had it with him and even though he's stunning, he might end up dinner.
I've only experienced the one Cayuga drake, but I'm not impressed with his personality at all.