Duck eggs/broody duck?

[Amrobblee]

Unfortunately most drakes wind up in similar situations to most roosters. Some people do keep all drake flocks or groups though.

if you would rather keep your males and don’t care too much about the eggs, rehome ALL your females and keep the boys. Or set them up with completely separate living arrangements. Boys with no girls around at all generally do fine, although you may get an individual or 2 that just isn’t a good fit for a bachelor group.

spring will be the worst time, at peak mating season. You’ll have all the boys fighting over the girls and overmating all of them. Definitely have a plan in mind to segregate the “extra” boys for the entire duration or else you -will- have problems. If you’re looking to let your girl hatch eggs there will need to be a drake in with her, but if you just leave them all together it’ll be awful for the girls.

I do have 2 separate living areas currently, although one is mostly being used to keep the male Pekin away from the rest of the group but my laying female always follows him in there and I have a hard time separating the two of them, is this okay? I have plenty of space to separate them and I alternate their “free ranging” time frequently so my other ducks can bathe in peace. My Swedish males are just so sweet I can’t imagine them getting aggressive also I find my female laying on her nest with only one egg in it but as soon as she sees me she gets up and walks away, I can just pick those eggs up and refrigerate them even if she’s had contact with a male? Sorry if that’s a silly question, I haven’t found much information on duck eggs.

 

[Amrobblee]

even in the wild the males can be mean... last year one of my boys made friends with a pair of mallards. the wild female nested in our yard, and the wild male stayed close and hung out with my boys. two other wild drakes would come like everyday and chase the female for hours

Was the wild mallard not protective of the female? My male Pekin won’t let anyone near one of my females, not even the other females

 

[Trisseh]

Some ducks do fine in a pair or trio as well, you just need to watch that your Pekin boy isn’t over mating the girly. some of those larger breeds are pretty ungainly and he may not even try to breed her outside of water. Some drakes are also clueless or just gentlemen so if he’s one of those, that’s an ok arrangement for those 2. But the other boys will have to be separate, and either just them or with enough ladies to go around.

duck eggs can be treated the same way as chicken eggs. Collect them every day, wash and refrigerate and you’re good to go.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

Was the wild mallard not protective of the female? My male Pekin won’t let anyone near one of my females, not even the other females

he made friends with my pekin drake, so they didn’t fight. he tried to keep the other boys away from the girl but drakes can be aggressive when trying to mate

 

[JacinLarkwell]

even in the wild the males can be mean... last year one of my boys made friends with a pair of mallards. the wild female nested in our yard, and the wild male stayed close and hung out with my boys. two other wild drakes would come like everyday and chase the female for hours

The difference is that if she had to in order to get away, she could leave the property. Captive ducks can't leave the property most times

 

[Amrobblee]

Some ducks do fine in a pair or trio as well, you just need to watch that your Pekin boy isn’t over mating the girly. some of those larger breeds are pretty ungainly and he may not even try to breed her outside of water. Some drakes are also clueless or just gentlemen so if he’s one of those, that’s an ok arrangement for those 2. But the other boys will have to be separate, and either just them or with enough ladies to go around.

duck eggs can be treated the same way as chicken eggs. Collect them every day, wash and refrigerate and you’re good to go.

Thank you so much for all the information! I saw my Pekin try to get on top of her once in the pond, he seemed to be gentle about it but she rolled over and he fell off and he hasn’t seemed to try it again since but we also drained our pond so we only have the swimming pools available for them right now. She won’t leave his side and doesn’t even want to be around the other female she came here with but luckily the other one fit in right away although it seems like that might not be the case next year
So if I left those same eggs in her nest would she hatch them?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Thank you so much for all the information! I saw my Pekin try to get on top of her once in the pond, he seemed to be gentle about it but she rolled over and he fell off and he hasn’t seemed to try it again since but we also drained our pond so we only have the swimming pools available for them right now. She won’t leave his side and doesn’t even want to be around the other female she came here with but luckily the other one fit in right away although it seems like that might not be the case next year
So if I left those same eggs in her nest would she hatch them?

She might, if she decided to go broody.

 

[Trisseh]

Thank you so much for all the information! I saw my Pekin try to get on top of her once in the pond, he seemed to be gentle about it but she rolled over and he fell off and he hasn’t seemed to try it again since but we also drained our pond so we only have the swimming pools available for them right now. She won’t leave his side and doesn’t even want to be around the other female she came here with but luckily the other one fit in right away although it seems like that might not be the case next year
So if I left those same eggs in her nest would she hatch them?

It depends. Not every duck will go broody, and even then they may not stay broody. Also depends on if they’re actually fertilized or not. It’s possible that your big guy did actually do the deed, the drake will often fall to the side and bring the hen with him after the fact. It doesn’t take a long time for them to mate.
But if you decide to let her sit on the eggs, you can candle them around day 7 or so when she’s up and off the nest for her daily food/water/bath. however, if her nest is in an unsafe location it may be better to not let her sit there.

 

[Amrobblee]

It depends. Not every duck will go broody, and even then they may not stay broody. Also depends on if they’re actually fertilized or not. It’s possible that your big guy did actually do the deed, the drake will often fall to the side and bring the hen with him after the fact. It doesn’t take a long time for them to mate.
But if you decide to let her sit on the eggs, you can candle them around day 7 or so when she’s up and off the nest for her daily food/water/bath. however, if her nest is in an unsafe location it may be better to not let her sit there.

She has made 2 different nests hidden under 2 different bushes in the backyard. I live in city limits with a privacy fence so I let them just roam the backyard during the day but I still choose to lock them up at night, so she doesn’t have access to her nests all the time. I figured I’d let her try next spring since it’s already the end of August and it can get pretty cold during the night here, too cold for little ducklings I think! I’m hoping she will make a new nest somewhere inside her enclosure eventually