do drakes have a favorite hen?

[Duck mommy 2019]

my drake follows around one of my girls all day, and not the other one? he doesn’t attack her. he is still nice to her and mates with her, just wondering if this is normal?

 

[Joyful_shay]

Probably they were siblings

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

Probably they were siblings

they were raised together but didn’t know each other until we got them. they were in seperate brooders.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

She is probably a favorite which means he'll probably overbreed her in spring

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

She is probably a favorite which means he'll probably overbreed her in spring

he hardly even mates with her. usually they’ll mate when the water is changed every morning, and a couple times throughout the day. but every time he has (with either girl) they initiate it so i don’t think that’s an issue.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Just wait until spring happens. Pretty sure thathardly will turn into always

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

Just wait until spring happens. Pretty sure thathardly will turn into always

i’ve had drakes before. last spring my drakes actually protected the girls and never mated with them (the girls were like 8 weeks and the boys didn’t like when wild ducks came near them)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Is this drake in question that same exact drake? Even then there shouldnt be mating at 8 weeks. Thats way too young for the hens.

Ducks vary on how much they'll mate. I had some males I thought never mated until I started using duck eggs for my baking and then i had a male that i had to put away whenever I moved under the coop to get eggs because he would try to mount me. Believe it or not, that drake feathered the polite drakes and didn't last long after the others matured

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

Is this drake in question that same exact drake? Even then there shouldnt be mating at 8 weeks. Thats way too young for the hens.

Ducks vary on how much they'll mate. I had some males I thought never mated until I started using duck eggs for my baking and then i had a male that i had to put away whenever I moved under the coop to get eggs because he would try to mount me. Believe it or not, that drake feathered the polite drakes and didn't last long after the others matured

they didn’t mate the girls (the boys were a year and the girls were 8 weeks) and the girls actually seemed to think the boys were their mom at one point lol

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I know. I'm saying that you can't really judge them not breeding last year because the hens were too young to be bred with