Mating and younger ducks

[CaliFarmsAR]

She flattens out before everyone, the other hens, the drake - seems to be a submissive move on her part, so yes, if we didn't intervene I do think she would allow it. Our drake is switching between trying to mount her and just pecking at her to chase her away a bit (nothing too aggressive on that count, but keeps her on her toes). they still haven't spent more than 5 to 20 minutes in the same space because we are only having supervised visits and it's COLD outside

Oh ok, so if she’s flatting, then she’s probably allowing him to mate I’d think!

 

[loofa]

Oh ok, so if she’s flatting, then she’s probably allowing him to mate I’d think!

I feel like such a novice here trying to suss this situation out - do you think that her flattening indicates that she's ready? 3.5 months seems on the young side.

 

[Quatie]

Personally, I would wait at least another couple weeks. While they grow slower, they still grow a lot during their last few weeks. I would feel fairly comfortable at 16-17 weeks, since some will start laying as early as 18. At this point the main two worries are possible leg injury, or drowning in water from the mating drake. To be fair both can happen with mature females, but mostly with smaller females or poor drake to female ratio.

But I think you will just need to go with what you feel comfortable with. You may have no issues what so ever. If you feel nervous about it and have the ability to wait it out, I would. If you feel like she will be ok, go ahead and see how things play out.

 

[loofa]

Update - We ended up keeping her separated from our drake until about a week ago. She is SO happy to be with the whole flock now, and he does not appear to be overly mating or bullying her. Every now and then he gently reminds her that she is the bottom of the pecking order, but I don't think that will last long. She is a good natured and sassy thing with more of a mind of her own than most ducks. Already I've observed an hilarious moment when my drake chased her away only to end up forgetting that he had done that and everyone following her - in trying to chase her away he accidentally made her the leader.

 

[Quatie]

Update - We ended up keeping her separated from our drake until about a week ago. She is SO happy to be with the whole flock now, and he does not appear to be overly mating or bullying her. Every now and then he gently reminds her that she is the bottom of the pecking order, but I don't think that will last long. She is a good natured and sassy thing with more of a mind of her own than most ducks. Already I've observed an hilarious moment when my drake chased her away only to end up forgetting that he had done that and everyone following her - in trying to chase her away he accidentally made her the leader.

So glad to hear everything is working out well. It sounds like she is a great addition to the flock! That is great how she accidentally became the leader .

 

[telandra2]

Huzzah!

My young drake and his dad, happily with their own harems, would abandon their girls charge across the yard to get at one young chocolate hen. I don't know if she was super-sexy or just had to be picked on. I ended up rehoming her.