Infertile drake?

[cflory]

Hi! Going to bug the duck section again. I have a khaki Campbell drake with 4 Swedish hens, and although my hens are great layers, I have yet to discover any fertile eggs. They do most of their bathing in black rubber bowls, so they don’t fully float when they get in the water, and I’m thinking maybe that could affect their ability to mate. I recently filled up a kiddie pool to see if that helps. I have seen him mount them frequently on land, and it’s appears he gets the job done, but the eggs are not fertile. Also, sometimes his cork screw hangs out after he mates… not sure if that’s normal or not. He’s around 3 years old and slightly smaller than the hens, so idk if that affects anything? Wondering if anyone has ideas to help him or clues as to what could be the issue. He’s a great guy to have around because he’s peaceful, so I’d love for him to be the sire of future hatches.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Do you have pictures of the bowls and your pool?
The corkscrew hangs out for a minute or so that’s normal
How do you know the eggs are not fertile? Have you tried incubating any?

 

[cflory]

Do you have pictures of the bowls and your pool?
The corkscrew hangs out for a minute or so that’s normal
How do you know the eggs are not fertile? Have you tried incubating any?

I tried incubating them, but I need to get a better thermometer. I’m going based off the germinal disc in the yolk. Here’s some pictures

 

[Jenbirdee]

Oh, they are lovely Ducks and that’s a nice big pool. I have the same pool and I also have the same water bowl. Plus all sorts of buckets and things but anyway., I would get your thermometer and try incubating some and by the sixth day, You should be able to tell if there’s veins in there if you candle them,I don’t really go by the germicidal disc because mine never looked like they say they’re supposed to and yet they were fertile and they hatched.

Or if you have a Broody hen you can put a few under her. One of my chickens hatched a couple of ducklings for me.

 

[cflory]

Oh, they are lovely Ducks and that’s a nice big pool. I have the same pool and I also have the same water bowl. Plus all sorts of buckets and things but anyway., I would get your thermometer and try incubating some and by the sixth day, You should be able to tell if there’s veins in there if you candle them,I don’t really go by the germicidal disc because mine never looked like they say they’re supposed to and yet they were fertile and they hatched.

Or if you have a Broody hen you can put a few under her. One of my chickens hatched a couple of ducklings for me.

Thank you! Ok that’s good to know! I will try incubating or wait for my muscovys to go broody. I just got new Muscovy hens and hear they make great mothers. So I’m waiting for them to get comfortable enough to do their thing this spring. I’m glad the disc thing isn’t an absolute

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I agree with you, those eggs are not fertile. My drakes often take a while to get going in the spring. Although I am getting eggs right now, mine are not fertile either. Last year, it took until May before my eggs were fertile. So, your drake could just be slow.

Or, I had one drake become infertile after the very end of his penis fell off after a slight prolapse. You also could have an infertile drake.

 

[Finchbreeder]

Sometimes lightly clipping the ladies feathers arround the area, if they are heavily feathered, helps him manage the job.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Idk why but I have never seen a dot on any of my eggs that has a circle around it as visible as the pictures of what it’s “supposed” to look like, and yet I have hatched ducklings from the same batch of eggs. So imo it’s worth a try.
This video shows how mine looked -like the 3rd one she opened- barely a shadow of a donut ring around the spot.

 

[cflory]

Well I guess I’ll find out this spring if any duck eggs hatch!