Concerns with mating behavior

[PBGGG]

Hi everybody. My flock of Indian Runner/Black Swedish is about 17 or 18 weeks old now. I have noticed in about the last week that one of the males has been head bobbing and trying to mount the female. She just swims away and after a few minutes he gives up. The problem is that I have 3m and only 1f and have been reading horror stories about males fighting to the death or even drowning the female and raping her. I have seen nothing in their behavior that scares me, so far, but I am afraid of what could happen. I saw a thread somewhere on here that suggested that it depends on the ducks themselves. Is this something that I just need to keep an eye on? I do spend a fair bit of time just sitting on the porch watching the flock because they are so entertaining. Thanks for any advice.

I should add that they are free all day.They are penned at night for 8 or 9 hours while we are asleep.

 

[petjem]

They will overbreed her and she might get seriously injured. They are still too young to display such behaviour but you should look out for it.

 

[PBGGG]

So, this is just early stages of mating then? I could try to get more females I suppose. I think separating them at night would be very difficult since they always stay very close together.

 

[petjem]

Separating them at night won't solve the problem. Separating them at day time would be a solution. I think that you should get more females definitely if you want to keep all 3 males.

 

[PBGGG]

I mentioned separating them at night because that is when they are penned. I just read something on a thread on this site that said ducks are nocturnal, which is why I thought a second pen for my poor girl might help. Thanks for your replies. Does anyone else have any experience with this sort of thing?

 

[SouthernPride]

I'm having the same issue. Mine are also 18 weeks and the largest Rouen I have is showing that mating behavior but it's more like bullying. My ratio is off, I had 4 and 4 but a predator got one of the females. You would think the males would fight but it's one female that seems to be getting the worst treatment. She is what I would consider to be the alpha female if there is such a thing, she is a small Black Swedish and she just can't fight off this big guy. She has a Cayuga Drake that tries to help her out but I've decided he is a big wuss. I'm thinking about taking my 3 females and separating them day and night. I also have a Muscovy and Mallard Ducklings that are buddies and would need to intergrate them anyhow, starting with the females may be the way to go. I think I may need to rehome a couple of drakes, would rather get more ducks but there isn't anyone around that is selling.

 

[PBGGG]

Thanks for the response. I only see the bobbing when they are in their big pool. I have a smaller one that I keep in the pen for night swimming. So far only the 1 male has tried mounting her, and I have seen him bob and nip at only 1 of the other males. I guess little Gunter is my top duck and he wants to make sure everyone else knows. I also spoke with someone who runs a farm/rescue operation and he said even if I got more females, the lead duck would just more to choose from. He said in his experience he has never seen male ducks overbreed a female.

In the meantime I have just been trying to find some info on a new bizarre trait 2 of the males have begun displaying. When they are in the pool, they stetch their bodies up really tall and sort of look at their bellies while making a whistling sound. Oh man, I know this sounds nutty, but it's the best way I can describe it. I guess ducks are just a little weird. Other than that, they swim, groom, play, forage, etc. I love them!

 

[SouthernPride]

Mallards in the wild do that as well. Maybe we can call that the drake mating dance.

 

[Speceider]

Thanks for the response. I only see the bobbing  when they are in their big pool. I have a smaller one that I keep in the pen for night swimming. So far only the 1 male has tried mounting her, and I have seen him bob and nip at only 1 of the other males. I guess little Gunter is my top duck and he wants to make sure everyone else knows. I also spoke with someone who runs a farm/rescue operation and he said even if I got more females, the lead duck would just more to choose from. He said in his experience he has never seen  male ducks overbreed a female.

In the meantime I have just been trying to find some info on a new bizarre trait 2 of the males have begun displaying. When they are in the pool, they stetch their bodies up really tall and sort of look at their bellies while making a whistling sound. Oh man, I know this sounds nutty, but it's the best way I can describe it. I guess ducks are just a little weird. Other than that, they swim, groom, play, forage, etc. I love them!

The display is called a grunt-whistle a common display in Anas genus ducks.

Clint

 

[PBGGG]

Hello everyone, thanks for the responses!

We did end up getting more females, we actually have 10 ducks in all now, 7 females and 3 males. They are all doing great, except one of them kept getting picked on, so we brought her inside and she is now a house duck (she freaks out when we leave the room). All is well now, thanks again guys!