I have checked the threads, but am not able to find an answer to my question, so am hoping someone out there has some experience they can relate.
We have a dwarf mallard drake and two female mallards. Our Drake has bonded with one of the females, but has also mated with the other. They both ended up on a nest together, sharing eggs and duty. A little over a week ago we had 2 ducklings born (the rest of the eggs didn't make it). As far as I can tell they are imprinted on both females. We kept the drake seperate for the first few days until they gained in size (and my goodness they are growing fast!). The family were kept in a compound and the drake would guard it. He is not fierce, just quacks alot. We introduced him a couple times back to the family but he would chase the ducklings, causing the females to try and put themselves between. However, if we looked to sort it out the drake would then get all protective, protecting the duck family from us (again this means just quacking
)
Today we let the ducks & ducklings out and about for the first time as the little ones are so much larger now. We have a secure garden that the ducks (and chickens) normally roam in. Again the drake is protective of them, but occassionaly chases (though doesn't seem to ever touch them) the ducklings. From what we can tell he is trying to seperate his mate from the other female and ducklings. He acts normally when she is by his side. When he is not paying attention, e.g. he is cleaning his feathers or sleeping, she goes back to the ducklings and the other females. If he is paying attention, he definitely wants her seperated from the ducklings, and this can involve him chasing them. Luckily we do have the other female watching over them throughout.
Our questions - do we need to worry about the ducklings being with the drake, with 2 females watching out for them? They are already half his size.
Is it just a jealousy thing, that he wants his mate back, all to himself (he is a possessive little fella).
Any similar experience or insights would be helpful.
Bottom line is we don't want to endanger the ducklings.
(Note: at night we are still seperating them into different quarters.)
We have a dwarf mallard drake and two female mallards. Our Drake has bonded with one of the females, but has also mated with the other. They both ended up on a nest together, sharing eggs and duty. A little over a week ago we had 2 ducklings born (the rest of the eggs didn't make it). As far as I can tell they are imprinted on both females. We kept the drake seperate for the first few days until they gained in size (and my goodness they are growing fast!). The family were kept in a compound and the drake would guard it. He is not fierce, just quacks alot. We introduced him a couple times back to the family but he would chase the ducklings, causing the females to try and put themselves between. However, if we looked to sort it out the drake would then get all protective, protecting the duck family from us (again this means just quacking
)Today we let the ducks & ducklings out and about for the first time as the little ones are so much larger now. We have a secure garden that the ducks (and chickens) normally roam in. Again the drake is protective of them, but occassionaly chases (though doesn't seem to ever touch them) the ducklings. From what we can tell he is trying to seperate his mate from the other female and ducklings. He acts normally when she is by his side. When he is not paying attention, e.g. he is cleaning his feathers or sleeping, she goes back to the ducklings and the other females. If he is paying attention, he definitely wants her seperated from the ducklings, and this can involve him chasing them. Luckily we do have the other female watching over them throughout.
Our questions - do we need to worry about the ducklings being with the drake, with 2 females watching out for them? They are already half his size.
Is it just a jealousy thing, that he wants his mate back, all to himself (he is a possessive little fella).
Any similar experience or insights would be helpful.
Bottom line is we don't want to endanger the ducklings.
(Note: at night we are still seperating them into different quarters.)
