HELP!!! ... My Duck is trying to mate with my Hens!

[happyhippywales]

Hiya .. i'm in need of some advice on this matter.
I have 2 Aylesburie ducks that are 7 months old, recently i realised one was male as he was eager to climb on top of the other duck and mate. My two hens and both ducks all live in the garden shed and have always been fine together, but since eggs have started arriving the male, ( pato ), has been trying to mate with my hens! When i lock them in at night the hens make a dash for higher ground as he chases them ... but today i had to seperate him from the flock as he chased both hens around the garden, got them on the back of the neck and climbed on!
My hens have started laying very large eggs ... not sure if this has any thing to do with that or not as i am still in my first year of owning ducks and chickens and this is the first time we have had fresh eggs. But the duck and hen eggs are the same size!!
Is this behaviour something that will stop ? or will i need to seperate the ducks from chickens from now on?

Regards to all,
Lisa.

 

[Orca5094]

Male ducks (except for Muscovies) will have what's called a "drake feather" on their tail. It curls upwards. Also, males and females have completely different voices. Females tend to be rather noisy and make the iconic "quack" everyone associates with ducks. Males are quieter and have a raspy, whispery kind of voice. This is a great video showing the different voices of the sexes. It's in Swedish, but in the description they have it in English:

As for the drake feather, below is my male Cinnamon showing off his. Females won't have those curly feathers sticking up above their tail.



Oh, and yes, adding two more female ducks would be perfect.

 

[drumstick diva]

Yes, male ducks are also built differently to breed female ducks - their apparatus is not made for female chickens and can damage them severely or kill them. Please do not let the drakes near them. I am not to sure that getting more girl ducks will help. Drakes and roosters can be insatiable. You may have had a very blissful scenario in mind of everyone living together in peace but, that is not reality. If you only have female poultry they might get along fine together but, once males are added all heck breaks loose.

 

[needlessjunk]

Adding more females is a very good idea and will help with over mating. However it may not keep him from mounting your chickens. It is just going to depend on him. Here is a good site on how to tell the sex of ducks. http://www.majesticwaterfowl.org/artquacks.htm

 

[buff goose guy]

well you probably need 1-2 more ducks your drke is probably gonna continue to try and mate with your chickens unless it feels satified with its own species, and one female duck usually doesnt give males the pleasure they need .

also i do recommend separating them even if you get 2 more ducks the male always has the chance of still mateing with your chickens, but without the extra ducks it could also overmate your one female duck

 

[Orca5094]

You should separate the ducks and the chickens now to protect your chickens. Drakes (male ducks) can kill chickens if they try to mate with them since they have such huge "man parts". Roosters do not have those, so hens are not made to deal with that kind of thing. It can tear them apart on the inside. I hope that made sense, I tried not to make it too graphic.

And yes, I'd also suggest maybe getting that drake one or two more female ducks. Drakes are pretty ravenous when it comes to mating. If they only have one female to breed with the female can be injured as well from over-breeding.

 

[happyhippywales]

Oh dear, that's is a shame to know they will need to be seperated for good. They were like a little click not so long ago, all following one another. Well thank you for the advice, hope your having a good one ...

 

[happyhippywales]

Oh wow! That certainly is not good!! Bit miffed with the guy we bought them off now for not giving me this info, i know you cant sex them at chick stage, but he never once said they would need to be seperated or a pair wont be okay. But thank you for the detail as i know how urgent this matter is now.

Lisa.

 

[Orca5094]

Chickens and ducks can be kept together just fine sometimes, it's just if the drakes start going after the hens there becomes a big problem. Possibly if you get your drake more female ducks he can focus on they can all be together again.You'd just want to keep a close eye on the situation to be sure he doesn't start trying to mount your hens again. Right now he's just starved for females and all of his hormones are telling him to breed, breed, breed! That's all they can think about this time of year.

 

[happyhippywales]

Brill .. i have been waiting for the Spring to put up an enclosure for them. I had planned on all four birds sharing as it's a nice patch of ground with shelter from a tree and has a pond ... but now i may just put the Ducks there and add to it, would 2 be okay do you think? How can i be sure they are females? Not to sound niave .. can you flip them over now and check? haha .. ? I only know mine apart now from the shabby feathers on Tinies wings ( im assuming from pato - the drake ) mouting her. I did have call Ducks few months back, and i knew from the colours which was which, but these are identical.