Does 'pairing' ducks work?

[Jessica89]

Hey guys,
I have a breeding pair of Cayuga ducks which I bought when they were only a few days old... they have grown up together and never part!

I decided to add another breeding pair of Saxony ducks to the flock. They were six months old when I bought them and also have grown up together ( all from different parents),
Anyway, I put the the pairs to bed in seperate coops at night... I have found the two Cayuga ducks stay together and the other two do their own thing together.
I walked up to check on them the other day and the two Saxony ducks were mating and the other Cayuga drake didn't bat an eyelid and stayed with his 'mrs'.
I have heard drakes can fight over the females but will this happen if they have paired up together and are separated at night?
Did he not bother because it's not mating season or was it because he has bonded with Sybil (the female Cayuga)?
Anyone had any success with pairs without drakes fighting?
Thanks
Jessica

 

[needlessjunk]

Hopefully someone with more knowledge will chime in. I'm going to say proceed with caution. Ducks will mate with any and all other ducks so them staying in "breeding pairs" is not the norm. If you keep each pair separate then you will have your pairs, but even then you are going to more than likely need more females. 1:1 is normally not a good ratio and 2:2 is even worse. It may be different since they grew up together but I doubt it once spring rolls around and hormones get going. I would hate for both of your drake to gang up on one of your females.

 

[Jessica89]

Thank you for the reply! Maybe it's just because it's not mating season then.
I would hate for that to happen! I am going to get another female or even another 2 and seperate them in the spring!
I would be devastated if one of my girls got injured or killed!

 

[Kleonaptra]

Thank you for the reply! Maybe it's just because it's not mating season then.
I would hate for that to happen! I am going to get another female or even another 2 and seperate them in the spring!
I would be devastated if one of my girls got injured or killed!

Its unlikely they would kill each other, but they can do some damage. Even though its not the 'norm' pair bonding happens. In my avatar you'll see Wist, my eldest drake (hes the tiny one) and Varia, his favourite female. He simply adores her and doesnt even look at the 6 other girls I have. Varia gets bred by the other 2 drakes (both calls) but Ive noticed Wist actually stading up for his lady and chasing them off her.

The 2 call drakes breed everything that moves. Its their first season and they have hit the pekin girl pretty hard, she looks downright haggard. Lately though, Ive noticed Trafalgar pairing off with Ephinny more and more, and Thorne pairing off with Syanne the pekin. They dont even bother mating with their sister or mother which is great news to me.

My drakes never fight. Occasionally theres a bit of a tiff in the pond, or a chase off from a certain female, but Ive never seen an actual fight. A lot comes down to the personality of the individual birds, at the worst you may have to get another girl or two.