Mating vs Drowning

[duckluck]

Yep, DestinDuck is right. And ducks can hold their breath for quite a long time...as long as too many males aren't going at it and holding them under too long.

 

[callduck2010]

AdamD77 mentioned "his girls" mounted another on top..

My girls are doing this also, the male just watches..one female has the same motion as what a male would on top..it's crazy. Why would to females mount each other? Doesn't look natural..unless? I won't go there. lol

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:

Callduck, either it is a male mounting her (if you didnt know the color of the male) or some disturbed female who is wanting to claim dominance over her.

 

[rainplace]

My runner ducks love one of my ganders. They follow him around all the time trying to get him to mate with them. Last spring I was worried that he was going to drown the poor things in the pond, but he didn't.

 

[dumb_cluck]

First time I saw this was last year with my mallards. I was walking by their pool and I heard what seemed to be choking.

So I took a look at the pool and the drake was "smiling" and then a hen popped up from under the water and she was smiling (and gagging-choking) from being held under. She got used to it and she would stretch her neck parallel to the water line and himself would jump on her.

Not to worry....HOWEVER.......I would not let a Rouen on a mallard or any other smaller duck, they are just too big and heavy. They could unintentionally drown or kill her with "enthusiasm". Nuf said.

The "girl" may be just a "boy" that has not changed plumage. hopefully

 

[callduck2010]

EweSheep..Yes I have a very disturbed female who "thinks" she's a male!

 

[Lund Poultry]

all of our females do this, I think sometimes it is there way of showing dominance or keeping the pecking order in check.

 

[72elizabeth]

Yes, they do that all the time, it's natural. If the head stays down to long they can drown. I have 9 female ducks, NO MALES, and they mount each other. It's just natural. I break it up when I see them holding the head down to long. Hope this helped

 

[MysticalMom]

I've seen my big pekin drake and my rouen drake mate my little runner cross.(she is quite the hussy and practically badgers them to death until they do)

At first I was worried about her, but it didn't take long to realize she wasn't dumb and would lift her head up long enough to take a breath if she needed to. Ducks are pretty quick at their "business" anyway. And a duck can hold their breath for quite sometime.

I guess I should edit and add that it is INDEED possible for them to drown, so keep an eye out. But it has been my experience that usually they are just fine.

 

[AdamD77]

Well my mind has been put at rest, I'll only worry if its more than one on top of another and if they're underwater for aaages

And it definitely is my girls mounting other girls! I think quite a few animals will mount same sex just because of dominance. The boys haven't really had a proper go at trying to mate with the girls at all yet, and they're a year older than them! Hopefully they'll get the hang of it at some point...