I have 2 pekins and 2 Blue Swedish that are about 4.5 months old. All were purchased as chicks and were told that they were females. (We want duck eggs. YUM) However, one Pekin has a raspy voice, they ALL have tail curls, and three are attacking and shunning the Pekin that doesn't have the raspy voice. Can anyone make sense of this for me? I've been all over Google, trying to research this, but am hitting brick walls. Can females have tail curls? Is the one Pekin the only female and they are trying to mate with her? Is her tail curl an anomaly? Or are they all males, and if so, why are they all picking on the one. Is that one safe? Thanks! Alison
If they are indeed tail curls, all are drakes. The one being attacked is probably the least dominant and the others are very likely trying to breed him. Testosterone driven drakes are nuts. Sometimes they get along and sometimes they pick a 'target' and torment and even kill him.
Thank you very much for that information! I have now separated the 3 from the 1 and now to figure out what to do with them....
Yep, it's a bunch of drakes figuring out their pecking order. I"m sorry you ended up with all drakes, especially if you wanted eggs. I got 5 straight run ducks this spring. All 5 turned out to be drakes. I decided to find a home for 3 of the drakes and have added 6 female ducks to my flock over the last few months. It has worked out really well!
You could advertise on Craigslist pick the drake or drakes you want to keep then start looking for females each drake should have at least 3 females each to keep the girls from being over bred.
