Male duck mating in the female too much?

[wildpeas]

Separate them in such a way that they can still see each other. Your poor girl needs a break.

 

[PoultryGirly]

I still don't know if I can do that. They've always been together-never ever separated. Will it help if a get more female ducks? Thanks so much for everyone's help!

 

[Baylor]

I have my boys right next to the girls in a separate cage right now for 3 days now and they are fine - because they are still right next to each other. They are inseparable as well but my girls need a break! I let them out with each other for an hour or so each night but make sure they dont get too aggressive with the mating. So their conjugal visits are supervised!

 

[PoultryGirly]

Hi. Thanks for replying. I would separate them, but I only have 1 female and 1 male. They would be completely alone. Are your ducks' heads bald, too? Do you think it would be better if I got more females? I have call ducks but might get mallards.

 

[Buxton Ducks]

I made the mistake of ordering all my ducks "straight run" and ended up with an 50/50 split of drakes to hens. I had to find homes for all but two boys because all my girls were beat up badly. I kept my jumbo pekin who is a big gentleman and I also kept my male call duck. I also got a few more females and that completely solved the problem. You will either need to rehome your boy or get some more girls. My little call was as bad as the bigger boys as far as the raping goes, but with the huge selection of girls, he has completely calmed down. The others are right, you don't need to get another call duck, it can be any girl of mallard decent (meaning anything but a muscovy). Ideal will ship you some east indies which are on the smaller side.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Call ducks are the smallest ducks. I don't know if a mallard duck will be okay? They are smaller than regular ducks.

I'd try Mallards, if your wanting to keep it small, but i wouldn't wait too long to make the decision if your worried about your duck being over bred by your drake. Have you checked craigslist in your area for calls?

 

[PoultryGirly]

Can my female duck wait a little bit? I want to hatch some calls but scared it will take too long. I haven't gotten any eggs (EVER) from my call duck yet. Is that why the male is working on her so much? I haven't seen them mate, but that's what I guess.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Can my female duck wait a little bit? I want to hatch some calls but scared it will take too long. I haven't gotten any eggs (EVER) from my call duck yet. Is that why the male is working on her so much? I haven't seen them mate, but that's what I guess.

How old is she? if over 5 months she should be laying. at least by 7 months old. you haven't seen them mate? what is he doing to her then? just beating her up? They can be pretty rough on them when mating and if they are both over 6 months old I'd say they have to be mating or you have 2 of the same sex.

 

[GrannyCarol]

If her neck/head is bald, he is probably mating her. Perhaps what you think is beating her up is actually mating? The male climbs on the back of the female and hangs on to her feathers until he is done. There is a good deal of flopping around in the process and he'll fall off when he's done.

If I were you, I'd be looking for 2 - 3 adult female ducks to keep him busy and give her a break. If he's young, they are pretty energetic the first year or two and sometimes mellow out later. You will have to get adults, not ducklings, or they won't help for months until they grow up. Since you have a couple of calls, look for calls, East Indies, Miniature Appleyards, Mallards, Australian Spotteds or any other small Mallard derivative (not Mucsovies). I'm assuming they don't have a large pen, or you could get larger ducks too. My Mallard drake was ready to mate the large meat breeds, didn't bother him!

In the meantime, depending on what sort of pen you have, perhaps you could just divide it, so that they can be together through the fence and only share space for an hour or so a day. That will give her a break. It's unlikely he'll kill her, but he could make her lame from climbing on so much and scab up the back of her neck. I have quite a lot of ducks and separate out any drakes I'm not using to breed into their own pen during the spring and summer. Otherwise my girls would get sore heads and sometimes gimpy. If I get a gimpy girl, she is separated out with another girl to rest up for a few days.

 

[PoultryGirly]

I'm not sure how old my ducks are because I bought them at an auction last year. I know they have gotten bigger since they came here, though. When I got them they had all of their feathers. Maybe I will get some eggs soon!