Duck troubles:(

[Jo-Anne White]

Hi guys, firstly I have a pair of white Peken ducks & a pair of Mallards which are mating amongst each other is this normal? shouldn't the be sticking to their own breeds?

Anyway this is the 1st time my peken is laying she has laid four eggs in the same nest & then started sitting for almost a week then she just left it & wont go back I took the eggs the next day & put them in my home made incubator will they still hatch, or am I wasting my time?

Also do you think they are fertile being her first time & all? When mating with her partner she kinda does a little dance & he responds with a little dance of his own she then lays down & he gets on with it, but with the mallard she puts up a fuss its more like a rape, I have heard that the duck can "abort" kind of if she didn't want the mate in the first place is this true?

Thanks Jo

 

[sourland]

Pekins are notoriously poor setters and drakes are notoriously sexually aggressive - interbreed mating is not uncommon at all. The pekin is a 'mallard derived' breed. The eggs are most likely fertile and may or may not hatch depending upon a variety of factors - your incubator, how badly chilled, etc.

 

[Going Quackers]

Pekins are notoriously poor setters and drakes are notoriously sexually aggressive - interbreed mating is not uncommon at all. The pekin is a 'mallard derived' breed. The eggs are most likely fertile and may or may not hatch depending upon a variety of factors - your incubator, how badly chilled, etc.

I agree and have heard this as well, mind you no personal experience with Pekin. As for sticking with their own kind, unlikely i have two buff ducks here and my scovies have no issue mating with them, they are not even mallard derived (scovies) so their offspring would be mules.