I think 2 of my ducks are trying to mate

[anonymous99]

2 of my pekin ducks tried to mate today, or at least I think they tried to. The female laid flat on the ground and the drake was starting to get on top of her, but I stopped them before it could escalate. They’re only 15 weeks old, so I don’t know when pekin ducks start mating. The hen sometimes will do this thing where she bows her head low and makes some sort of quacking noise like she’s trying to get a drake’s attention or something when she’s walking next to them. I don’t know exactly what her behavior is. Is this normal? Are they trying to mate?

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Yes it's normal and yes they would be practicing mating behavior. Why did you stop them? This is their natural instinct.
I would caution against stopping them like you did as you could stress them out and they might become wary of you. If you don't want them to mate you need to keep them in separate areas at all times.

 

[anonymous99]

Yes it's normal and yes they would be practicing mating behavior. Why did you stop them? This is their natural instinct.
I would caution against stopping them like you did as you could stress them out and they might become wary of you. If you don't want them to mate you need to keep them in separate areas at all times.

I stopped them bc i was afraid that the drake would hurt the hen

 

[Crazy Maizie]

I stopped them bc i was afraid that the drake would hurt the hen

He won't hurt her unless he's older and the "hen" is a duckling.

 

[ruthhope]

Your female Pekin knows the moves!! Head bobbing infront of a drake, chattering away and touching his feet are all ducky seduction games! If she knows the moves, she is old enough to dance!! Our Pekins started mating at around 14 weeks and the two females started giving us a daily egg from 15 and 16 weeks respectively. The quieter female [we have a very noisy little female crested pekin] became more outgoing; she would come up to us and quack for food; and she became a little more independent of the other two ducks. They still do everything in threes, but the quieter female started being the first in line in stead of just following along.