Duck hens mating???

[Sunny Side Up]

Have you ever seen this happen?

I have 5 Khaki Campbell ducks now 14 weeks old, sexed at the hatchery, supposed to be 4 hens and 1 drake. I've kept zip-ties on their legs to ID them. It's easy to see a difference between Webster, the drake, and the other 4 ducks. He's chunkier and a different color. And I've witnessed him mating in the pool with the others.

But today I saw one hen crouched in the grass and another hen sliding off from on top of her. I didn't catch everything they were doing together, but it sure looked like they were trying to mate.

Could another one of my ducks be a drake? Or are they just confused? Or inventive? Unconventional or liberated?

 

[chickmamawannabe]

I used to have 2 ducks that did that all the time. They were the only 2 I had, so maybe they were just lonely.

In fact, I've seen alot of female ducks "mating". I don't know, maybe it's just a duck thing.

 

[picklespickles]

not sure it's just a duck thing.

 

[chickmamawannabe]

True. I worked at a zoo for 8 years, and you have no idea how many gay animals there were!

Especially birds for some reason.

 

[DuckLady]

It has nothing do do with sexuality.

It is a dominance behavior.

 

[cjeanean]

It's the same with dogs....our female would try to do the deed with our male (roles reversed) even though she didn't have the equipment. Ever heard of what happens when two male dogs get together? It's the same thing, pecking order stuff....I wouldn't worry...

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I wasn't worried, just curious. I've never seen the chicken hens doing this, and these are my first ducks. My main concern was that I might have gotten an extra drake when I wanted only one.

 

[Heather J]

I'd say dominance too, though my drakes and gander will mount anything with feathers (OK, so they stick to the other water birds and leave the chickens alone, but seriously, it doesn't matter the gender or the species, they just have fun with everyone.) I haven't noticed it with the females, but I have so few...

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Today I had a duck sandwich in the pool! One hen mounted another hen in the water, then the drake swam over and mounted the second hen. Triple-decker ducks!

 

[chickmamawannabe]

Quote:
I'm sure that's true in a lot of cases, including this one, but I'm talking about penguins, parrots, and other birds that would actually "pair up" during the mating season and sit on the nest together. In fact, it wasn't just two females that were doing this, there were male "pairs" too!