Ducks and their sexual aggression.

[Halkybod]

Hi,

I am aware that ducks are very sexually aggressive. I have one male duck and two females.

The male duck has started to mate with the two females and while one of the females is completely submissive, the other one is definitely not interested. The male duck is not put off by this and chases her down until he gets to have his way with her. Sometimes this involves him running around holding her very firmly by the neck as she squirms and quacks trying to get free.

I have read that this is normal duck behaviour but I have a few questions. Is it okay to intervene and pull the male off if I think he is being too rough? I do not want the female getting hurt.
And
How long does his penis last for and does he go back to being more placid once it falls off?
Also,
Are there any measures I can take to help avoid this, and is there any point in trying to do so?

Just looking for some advice and some experience from you folks as it is my first year owning waterfowl and I have never dealt with this before.

Thanks in advance guys

 

[farm316]

Hi,

I am aware that ducks are very sexually aggressive. I have one male duck and two females.

The male duck has started to mate with the two females and while one of the females is completely submissive, the other one is definitely not interested. The male duck is not put off by this and chases her down until he gets to have his way with her. Sometimes this involves him running around holding her very firmly by the neck as she squirms and quacks trying to get free.

I have read that this is normal duck behaviour but I have a few questions. Is it okay to intervene and pull the male off if I think he is being too rough? I do not want the female getting hurt.
And
How long does his penis last for and does he go back to being more placid once it falls off?
Also,
Are there any measures I can take to help avoid this, and is there any point in trying to do so?

Just looking for some advice and some experience from you folks as it is my first year owning waterfowl and I have never dealt with this before.

Thanks in advance guys

Welcome to BYC!

I would put the two in a cage together and see if he is still aggressive with the female that does not want to mate... Its natural for the male to not be able to mate with all of his ladies, but being too aggressive can really hurt your female, I would continue watching them... and then do the cage, your female may be frightened and I think the male would need to calm down and then see if she will allow it.

 

[Amiga]

I would interfere. For some reason, sometimes drakes will decide to mate with a female that does not want the attention - this can lead to ovemating and sometimes worse.

She depends on you for her safety. Separate the drake out - just have some fence between him and the girls, for at least part of the day. You will need to watch and see how it goes.

 

[SouthernPride]

This is the first I've heard about penis' falling off. Really! Why would it fall off and does it grow back?

 

[Halkybod]

I was amazed when I read about it the first time but yeah, according to many sources it withers and falls off. Other sources say that it disappears only to reappear the following year. This video contained a lot of information and some video footage of duck penises that I found compelling and disturbing in equal measure.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/22/true-facts-about-the-duck_n_3133072.html

Thanks for the advice guys. We have been interfering because it looked like he was hurting her. Its on and off. They will be fine one minute, next minute he is chasing her down. Our young geese have tried to get involved but the male duck is too aggressive and they always run away.

 

[sunnyfishy]

Thanks for the advice guys. We have been interfering because it looked like he was hurting her. Its on and off. They will be fine one minute, next minute he is chasing her down. Our young geese have tried to get involved but the male duck is too aggressive and they always run away.

This is the same sort of dance we have to deal with with our male Pekin, although now that we have a couple new males that are his offspring, he has super calmed down with the aggression we've noticed. My little mallard mix had a crown of feathers at one point, and it drove him wild I guess--he kept grabbing her there and pulling feathers and finally stopped, but oh loooordy, it was awful for a little while! We did separate him several times prior and it seemed fine, and then he'd do it after a few days of supervision or when we weren't watching.

 

[SouthernPride]

I just watched that video. I don't think mating season will ever be the same for me.

 

[SouthernPride]

Second mating season? Please tell me isn't so. I'm watching my 4 mo old ducklings acting like mommy and daddy. Could they really be sexually mature at this age?

 

[lina500]

Please tell me when mating season is going to be over, I don't think I can stand it! Our male duck is ripping the feathers out of our two female ducks' necks. Should we just separate him? He's been unbearable for a month now.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Please tell me when mating season is going to be over, I don't think I can stand it! Our male duck is ripping the feathers out of our two female ducks' necks. Should we just separate him? He's been unbearable for a month now.

Oh those hormones, if you'd feel better separating him then by all means do. Drakes are so aggressive when mating some worse than others. and seems first 1-3 yrs they are at their worst. Here mating season is over in the fall. How about your geese do they try and intervene? my geese will pile around the offensive drake and can sometimes run him off, they don't like any hanky panky going on in their yard. If he is injuring them then he dif needs to have some time out.