Ducky Love - Tevye & Rhiannon

[Tevyes Dad]

Tevye is our non-dominant drake. Since this spring, his life hasn't been great because our dominant drake Kaine is a jerk about it. Tevye doesn't challenge him and he tries to keep a low profile but Kaine is a jerk. We are hoping that once Kaine's hormones settle they can get back to being friends like they used to be, then we will see how things go. Kaine and Tevye matured early last fall, but didn't get hit by the hormone swing. This Spring was the first time the hormone swing hit and it has been awful (Kaine spends a lot of time in solitary confinement). I understand the the hormone swing is there every spring, but lessens over the years, so we are going to try to make it work. If Kaine is this bad next year we will probably have to rehome him.

I brought this up because Tevye is currently semi-shunned by the rest of the flock. Pocahontas and Greta (who didn't used to like Tevye) have been treated aggressively by Kaine so have started hanging with Tevye. Roxette is fairly chummy with Tevye and always has been. But the one duck who has always LOVED Tevye is Rhiannon. She used to hang with him in the brooder and she still does. Most nights, they are cuddled up together in the duck house:



Rhiannon even is patient with his clumsy mating attempts - Roxette will tolerate him, but Rhiannon is the only one who invites him. (They do the head bob thing in the pool, Rhiannon lays flat, Tevye tries to get on but lets go of Rhiannon's neck to do a couple more head bobs and falls off

- he's really not very good at being a drake.) But Rhiannon flaps her wings and shows appreciation anyway. (She is such a sweety).

They are constantly doing nice things back and forth and spending time together. You can see there is a true affection between them.

 

[Amykins]

D'awwww. Hehe Tevye is such an adorable buffoon. I'm happy that he has at least one friend. I wonder why the rest of the flock antagonized him so much at first though? Do you think it's because he's crested? I have a derptastic cat named Stupicabra that my other cats HATED when I first brought him home. I think they realized deep down there was something wrong with him. Maybe ducks just don't take kindly to poofs.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

The rest of the flock hasn't been bad to him. Kaine just doesn't let him near the flock most of the time so unless the flock is spread out he doesn't see much of the rest. (Kaine's Attack radius is 15 - 30 ft depending on mood.) Tevye used to have some problems with Greta and Pocahontas and still has problems (he is the jerk in this case) with Tella and Ettie. But as a whole he is as well liked by individual ducks as anyone in the flock. Just none of the girls have any patience with his clumsy mating attempts (he doesn't really push the issue). Most of the flock will hang with him one on one as long as Kaine is nowhere near. Every duck in my flock has problems with someducky. Just picture a small jr. high school with 10 girls and 2 boys, 1 jock/rock star/horndog and 1 nerd/poet. Most of the girls like to hang with the nerdy boy but they want to BE with the jock (except when he's a jerk). Now you know exactly how the daily lives of the ducks go...

 

[Tevyes Dad]

D'awwww. Hehe Tevye is such an adorable buffoon. I'm happy that he has at least one friend. I wonder why the rest of the flock antagonized him so much at first though? Do you think it's because he's crested? I have a derptastic cat named Stupicabra that my other cats HATED when I first brought him home. I think they realized deep down there was something wrong with him. Maybe ducks just don't take kindly to poofs.

Maybe the other cats just don't like its name

 

[Amiga]

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Here is another picture I took today - in the pool, hanging out under the ramp.

 

[Julie Birb]

Here is another picture I took today - in the pool, hanging out under the ramp.

in love, on my over to where you live to kiss those 2 and squeeze them. Why are their faces so cute?

 

[Julie Birb]

The rest of the flock hasn't been bad to him.  Kaine just doesn't let him near the flock most of the time so unless the flock is spread out he doesn't see much of the rest.  (Kaine's Attack radius is 15 - 30 ft depending on mood.)  Tevye used to have some problems with Greta and Pocahontas and still has problems (he is the jerk in this case) with Tella and Ettie.  But as a whole he is as well liked by individual ducks as anyone in the flock.  Just none of the girls have any patience with his clumsy mating attempts (he doesn't really push the issue).  Most of the flock will hang with him one on one as long as Kaine is nowhere near.  Every duck in my flock has problems with someducky.  Just picture a small jr. high school with 10 girls and 2 boys, 1 jock/rock star/horndog and 1 nerd/poet.  Most of the girls like to hang with the nerdy boy but they want to BE with the jock (except when he's a jerk). Now you know exactly how the daily lives of the ducks go...

Fascinating.

 

[Amiga]

in love, on my over to where you live to kiss those 2 and squeeze them. Why are their faces so cute?

Those are two of the most precious faces ever.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Those are two of the most precious faces ever.

Yup! Their relationship is very un-duck - almost monogamous (Rhiannon does let Kaine mate with her and Tevye and Roxette mate sometimes, but that is it and that is pretty monogamous for ducks) - and they pal around most of the time. We just went out to put them all in 5 minutes ago and Tevye and Rhiannon were off from the rest of the flock (not far) foraging together in the grass. I can only guess how this dynamic formed, but it is very obvious they are the tightest friendship in the flock. Tella and Ettie (older sisters) are probably next followed by Mystique and Noir (younger sisters). The rest of the flock has ducks that get along and don't get along, but nothing even close to these three pairs and Tevye/Rhiannon is the only pair that formed on its own.