" Mating Ritual ?" Female Rouen "bobbing" And "nipping" Drake Rouen

[ladychicken&Ducklover]

Hello again friends,

Ok, here's my " DUCKY" issue.

Im new at raising them, but they are 5 months old at the moment.

I have 1 female Pekin (5) months old and 1 Drake Rouen and 1 Female Rouen.

At least I " THINK " I have a Drake and a Duck.

1 has dark , incandescent blue/green on a small portion of the wings, mostly brown body, BUT, a BIG white " COLLAR" about 3 inches in diameter. He kind of looks like a " MINISTER"..LOL

The other ALSO has similar coloring on the same area of the wings, but a Lighter color.

FIRST, what do my " fellow duck lovers " think about the sexes of Rouens ?

NOW, heres my BIG question about an Odd behavior I observed today.

Both were standing by their swimming pool , when, the " female" turned toward the " Drake ?", and started " BOBBING " her head at him , Very aggressively, and " Lowering" her body as if to say " C'mon, lets fight !".

He did the same thing, at the same time, but just for maybe 3 seconds.

He then turned away and was nibbling the surface of the pool, while the female starting " NIPPING " the back of his neck.

He then attempted to jump into the pool, but the female , by this time, had a " Strong Nip " on the nape of his neck, Holding him back from jumping in.

He actually Pulled her into the pool with him !!

She then let him go, and they both just went about swimming.

Could someone tell me if that behavior is some type of " MATING RITUAL " ??

Could the Female be the " Aggressor "?

Are they Old enough yet, to mate?

I look forward to reading answers.

Thanks,

DD

 

[70%cocoa]

Not sure about the sex of your ducks without a photo but the behaviour definitely sounds like duck flirting/an invitation to mate. If they are both keen on the idea then both will bob their heads up and down. This is often initiated by the female. If the invitation gets serious head bobbing in return then the female will then flatten out her body and stretch out her neck to provide a 'platform' for the male.

Two females can do the same to eachother too though so who mates with who isn't a reliable indicator of sex.

 

[MysticalMom]

Oh yes.... sounds like Love is in the air.

 

[LemonDoodles]

I have two young boys that do that too.

 

[gryeyes]

Head bobbing is usually initiated by the "ready" female, as already mentioned. It's flirting. Sometimes they'll do it towards their people, too. Perfectly normal behavior. She's probably the senior hen (or fancies herself as such) and thus needed to let him know she was affronted by his refusal of her advances.

 

[LLCoyote]

My ducks all do that to each other. It's kind of trippy to see them all three bobbing their heads up and down over and over again. They aren't biting yet though XD I say as long as they aren't hurting each other it's not a big deal

 

[klemele]

I have 2 rouens 1 female, 1 male. They have today done all of that (the bobbing of the head, "Platform" thing and they have tried mating at 3 months old