Duck wants nothing to do with drake. :(

[elizabethbinary]

I've got two adult ducks, one just barely. She hasn't laid yet but her carbuncles are starting to redden and she's been caught sitting in the nesting box a lot looking all sooky and hopeful. However, every time my drake so much as looks at her, she scampers away. She's cute and polite about it, but she clearly doesn't like him. If he decides to chase her stronger, she flies away (she can fly, he can't) and lands on the roof and just stares at him. She's not mean at all or bitey.. she actually looks at him in a coy Marilyn Monroe-esque kind of way (haha her name IS Nancy Sinatra...) and doesn't let him at it.

My new housemates said they notice whenever she sees him looking at her, she waddles off quickly or won't eat near him or gets on the roof or perches on the top of the frame for my halfbuilt coop.

She's meant to be breeding with him, but nobody has ever seen it happen or anywhere near happening. She hasn't laid yet so I'm not terribly upset but this is going to be a problem when she does.

We heard that sometimes ducks just don't let drakes mount them? And my flatmate said something about drake's having funny penii and ducks having funny cloaca so they can falsely mate? Anyone know of this?

Anyway, if it comes down to it, what can I do? Play some Barry White in the henhouse at night? Give them a candlelit dinner? Teach Elvis how to woo a lady?

 

[duckyfromoz]

Go with the Barry White...

I cant give you any insight into the ducks behaviour towards the drake- except to say - that with my ducks- they will actually display courting, encouraging behaviour to the drake when they are wnating his attentions. They cant fly- so they cant get away like your girl if the dakes are coming on too strong. But apart form the occasional time that a drake will run down a girl until she she is too tired to keep running and gives up- I havient had any problems with my flocks mating behaviour.

As for as the anatomy goes- the drakes male parts.. ( lol..I am on the work computer so cant write certain words or it gets blocked ) are kind of like a cork screw-
quite a few images if you google .. lol.

 

[FenDruadin]

I don't work with muscovies, but my guess is that she is just not ready yet. You said that she's just barely an adult--like humans, ducks can look fully adult but still be immature. I suspect that if you let her develop at her own pace, she will eventually realize the inherent attractiveness of the only male in her life and succumb to his advances. Very few creatures can resist the powerful hormone cocktail that courses through their bodies when nature decides it's time to mate.

So my advice is to relax and wait. If she's not mating by the end of summer, THEN worry. Meanwhile, enjoy and start looking for that first egg any day.

 

[duckking]

I agree. Just hang in there. I have one mallard hen that actually goes into the pool and flattens herself out on top of the water for my Rouen drake, who happily obliges..... The other 3, including a Rouen hen, want nothing to do with him yet. They are 24 weeks old.

 

[elizabethbinary]

Well I think she may have laid her first egg! It's a little hard to tell but it was where she's been nesting and it had that smooth odd shell duck eggs have compared to chook eggs. It was the same size as a chook egg, so I think it's her first!!!

I might crack it and see if there's a blood spot. I really hope she breeds with Elvis because even though Elvis is a very ugly duck himself he makes the most gorgeous babies and Nancy is an absolutely beautiful cute shy sweet little duck. She does the most adorable shy flirting you've ever seen where she tucks her head down but looks up at you coyly.

If she hates Elvis, one of his sons grew up to be AMAZINGLY beautiful. He's coming up blue barred! I've never seen a blue barred muscovy before. Depending on how he feathers we might keep him for Nancy.

Thanks everyone!!! Summer ends in like two weeks, hahaha!

 

[Birdcrazy]

My scovies were never interested in the drake before they had actually started laying - unless the drake managed to chase them down.
My scovie girl now is completely rejecting the drake (also running away every time he glances at her, keeps her distance, etc.), and she has had about four successful clutches of babies plus been into the drake beforehand. She isn't laying right now (unless I can't find her nest

) so I suspect thats why.
I'm pretty sure a scovie duck will reject the drakes advances if she is the only duck and is being over-mated (I think you put it) too, so that may be the case with yours, especially this time of the year - unless you have enough ducks for your drake?

Has your drake managed to mate your girl yet?

Ohh, and also - maybe not with the first couple of eggs, but usually a scovie girl's eggs will have a green tinge to them, a sort of protective coat to the egg which will make them impossible to mistake as chook eggs

 

[elizabethbinary]

Quote:
He has another duck he's had two clutches with so far - he and her are fairly sexually active. And sometimes he tries a goose.

I don't see a green tinge to my scovie eggs. They have a weird paley brown almost-tinge. The shell is smoother and feels different. But I don't know, maybe it's just my current scovie, as she's my only layer/brooder/hatcher right now. But I think I know what you mean by 'protective coat' on the eggs. It's almost like you can scratch it off with your nail?

She seems to have had her first egg - and I noted I had a second egg in my basket I hadn't noticed someone had picked up. Cracked it, no fertilization, but it had a definite duck yolk. Could've been either ducks, but I'd gather it's Nancy's egg. It was an odd shape - like a new egg. And the one I got yesterday was extra small, a little smaller than a regular leghorn egg. (lol only forum where I can use breed to refer to egg size, instead of M or L)

 

[Birdcrazy]

sounds like she's laying then

Yes, the scovie egg always feels as if you can sctratch it off - sometimes I see little scratch marks on it (to reveal milky white underneath) from where my girls must of stratched it when they got out of the nest or something - maybe the coating is a little wet when freshly laid. The smoothness you described before sounds like it too - and as for the colour, every duck is different and its only a tinge on the white egg

If she's just started laying, hopefully she'll accept your drake!!
Muscovy babies are sooo cuuuuuteeee

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

Sounds like you got a lot of good information about the breeding behavior part.

I thought I would chime in about the "false matings" you were asking about. Not sure if someone answered and I missed it but...

They do have weird parts, both curvy and twisty. The females have the ability to "re-route" sperm and store it in little side chambers, and then eject it out later, enabling them to in essence chose which drake fathers her offspring.

However, in a situation where there is only ONE male, as someone else mentioned, she will probably come around. I doubt you have too much to worry about.

 

[elizabethbinary]

Quote:
Aha! So it IS true! Thanks!!!

I'm kind of curious what babies she makes because both Elvis and Lady Duck are ugly but their babies came up absolutely stunning. I bet if I use pretty muscovies, I'll get ugly ducklings...