Hi All,
I've had my Appleyard drake and a hen for over a year now and decided to get a call duck in November. A call duck drake is all they had so i got him. I slowly introduced the call duck to the other two and at first they pecked at him (because he's small) and chased him around but then they got used to him and lived happily together. I keep my call duck in the garage at night as its cold and the other 2 live outside, so the Appleyards only see the call duck during the days.
It finally is the mating season and a few days ago my hen started laying eggs (which she doesn't sit on). The call duck never made moves on the hen and he's not interested in her AT ALL, however the Appleyard drake started chasing him around more and more each day but was never able to fully catch him as the call duck is fast. The other day he did catch him and held him in his beak while jostling him around, I ran to separate the two so nobody was hurt. I put the call duck back into his pen in the garage and haven't combined all three ducks since.
My question is- is my appleyard drake acting like this because he's trying to protect his hen (even though the call duck has no interest in her) OR did the call duck upset the drake somehow (and this should settle in a few days)?? I do want them to coexist together.
Let me know your thoughts,
I've had my Appleyard drake and a hen for over a year now and decided to get a call duck in November. A call duck drake is all they had so i got him. I slowly introduced the call duck to the other two and at first they pecked at him (because he's small) and chased him around but then they got used to him and lived happily together. I keep my call duck in the garage at night as its cold and the other 2 live outside, so the Appleyards only see the call duck during the days.
It finally is the mating season and a few days ago my hen started laying eggs (which she doesn't sit on). The call duck never made moves on the hen and he's not interested in her AT ALL, however the Appleyard drake started chasing him around more and more each day but was never able to fully catch him as the call duck is fast. The other day he did catch him and held him in his beak while jostling him around, I ran to separate the two so nobody was hurt. I put the call duck back into his pen in the garage and haven't combined all three ducks since.
My question is- is my appleyard drake acting like this because he's trying to protect his hen (even though the call duck has no interest in her) OR did the call duck upset the drake somehow (and this should settle in a few days)?? I do want them to coexist together.
Let me know your thoughts,
