Do DRAKE ROUENS take part in setting on nests ?

[ladychicken&Ducklover]

This is my first year having ducks.

I have 2 Rouens , ( that turned out NOT to be FULL rouens afterall ), an 1 Pekin.

They were born May 2011.

We watched them grow, we studied all we could about ducks , what they SHOULD look like, and , of course, how to tell Drakes from Ducks.

As they matured, NONE of the ducks ever grew " Drake Feathers ", and all 3 ducks sounded the same, i.e. none of them seemed to quack like a Drake should.

1 of the Rouens has a solid white collar and TOTALLY brown, with just a little turquoise

The other Rouen is exactly the same as the other, Except she doesnt have the white collar.

Hmmm?

I thought Rouens, especially the drakes, should have Green heads and look quite a bit like Mallards.

Ok, fast forward to when the started laying.

We are getting 3 eggs daily..

The Pekin is definitely a female.

Now, heres my question..

I have a " Chicken Cam " set up in their house, and hooked up so I can check in on them either through my computer, or the TV.

Last night I observed something interesting and was up most of the night watching .


While my Pekin was sitting on the nest laying her egg, the Rouen, who I suspected is a Drake, was Laying ACROSS the Pekin , kind of like holding her down

As I watched, the rouen then would occasionally " push her " off the nest , then he appeared to do what the other 2 do sometimes, he would stretch his neck out and around himself , picking up wood chips and straw, and Strategically place them around the nest and under himself , while still sitting for about 2 more hours.

Im never able to actually watch him/her lay an egg.

So, either my 2 rouens are female, and along with the Pekin, explains why I get 3 eggs a day, or my 1 "known" rouen is laying 2 eggs daily.

Is that possible ???

And, do Drakes " assist " in " Setting on eggs ?

Im looking forward to your thoughts !

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

If you are getting 3 eggs a day, you have three girls. Yes the drakes will have a green head and drake curl and whasp not quack.

 

[sourland]

You have three hens.

 

[ladychicken&Ducklover]

Ok..thank you.

So, 1 rouen WILL NOT lay 2 eggs a night , is what I should understand??

And even tho the 1 "rouen " is identical to the Known rouen female, except for the " White Collar" , its STILL a female??

Thank you..

 

[duckdad]

Simple answer....you dont have ANY drakes.....

There is no mix-matching as far as the basic traits of Rouen and anything else...

Drakes having been bred of Mallard decent, will have green heads and various shades of grey/brown/blue/white/black and some have a neck ring while some do not. A lot depends on the genetic purity...if another breed was introduced at some point along the line. That can cause some color variations. But the basic traits are still present.

hens will always be more a shade of brown or some variations of brown thatch. Like shingles. Hens are more plain for lack of a better word. The hens have wonderful detail in their simple set of brown colors.
The drakes is always more colorful. Drakes do NOT quack. Ever. They can chatter, bark or make a low whaaaack whaaack sound... if it quacks like a duck, its a DUCK, not a drake.

Basics: all males are drakes. All females are DUCKS.

Most people , even lifelong duck ranchers will call their flocks "ducks" to generalize. They know that they have Drakes in the flock but its just a general term that everyone understands when you say "duck"...

its like the beef rancher says he has 100 head of cattle....he has 100 cows. 15 of those are bulls and the rest are cows. Make sense?

Me either...but thats how it works.

Its happened before, but its rare that a duck lays 2 eggs. Usually a clutch of eggs in a nest of 15 eggs takes 15 days to lay. Even as production layers, one a day. Thats why you don;t see huge duck farms and why chickens rule the egg business...they DO lay multiples and are 1000 times more productive than ducks.
Rule of thumb...one eggs per duck. You do NOT need a drake to have hens lay eggs. They don;t even need to know what a drake looks like. ALl they got to be is happy and the hens will lay as they can.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Sounds like (without photos) you could have one with mixed breeding. However that isn't the question at hand. A Rouen drake WILL have a green head, be a grey toned body not brown. So yes three girls even though they don't look identical. We have 5 Rouen hens, and only two have identical coloring, some are more gold, some are darker. The Rouen drake is very obvious looking in their flock.

 

[sourland]

Some female crossbred ducks will have a neck ring. The lack of drake curl feathers, no raspy voice, three eggs a day indicate 'hen'. Although upon occassion a duck or chicken might lay 2 eggs in a 24 hour period, it is the exception rather than the norm. It usually takes 24 hours for an egg to form and travel down the reproductive assembly line.

 

[ladychicken&Ducklover]

Thank you all, again, for your knowledge.

It all makes sense now, I didnt think that 1 duck would Consistantly lay 2 eggs a night...that has always been the rule.

The one with the white collar always seems to be the " Protector" of the other 2 ducks as well as the chickens.

I got the 3 ducks from Tractor Supply and I learned that THEIR chickens and ducks come from Town Line Hatchery.

I looked up their web site and wanted to see pictures of THEIR version of Rouens, and of course, NO pictures were available.

Anyway, all 3 lay beautiful and tasty eggs.

As a matter of fact, a local restaurant buys ALL my duck eggs weekly because they love the way they make cakes so light and ALOT of scrambled eggs..LOL

The ducks are just hilarious and loved dearly.

Thank you all, again,