Much needed duck and drake advice please

[Anna Ranieri]

My Runners were sexually mature at 4 months of age and the girls let the boys know they were ready so hopefully your boys will not get sexual with these young females until they give the okay but your right to watch just in case. Mine hatched end of April and were mating first part of Sept same year. I'd love to see some pics of them all.

I have tried on several occasions to post photos but for some reason at about 70% load an error occurs and they fail to load - we've tried shrinking them, tried posting them to Facebook first, still no joy - recently a BYC member suggested a program which might help, I'm just waiting for my daughter to find the time to work on it for me (i'm useless at technology)

 

[Anna Ranieri]

As others have said, it's really a wait and watch and see what happens situation. I think the size of the hens vs. drakes makes a difference. The closer they are in size, or if the hens are larger, the less likely the males can seriously hurt them.

Drakes are Runners and hens are Khaki crossed with Runner, boys are bigger and taller but girls aren't far behind them, the girls are way faster than the boys, they are nimble and quick, where as my boys a rather clumsy. Put it this way the boys wouldn't let the girls use the pool much, now the girls have the pool most and the boys have to wait their turn! - from what I've seen these girls can handle them - hopefully that won't change.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I can't thank you enough for all your much needed, great and valuable help and advise @Cayuga momma @chickens really @WVduckchick @Miss Lydia @PirateGirl I feel a lot more confident at handling this situation now. I have taken on board all the advice each of you have given me and I will put all into practice as and when needed - I have been so worried about this I have barely slept for the best part of a week, now you all have equipped me with clear guidelines easy and simple to follow but so vital in keeping my flock safe. Gonna get to bed and catch up on some of that sleep I've been missing - Thank you all again, hope you all have a great evening

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sleep well

 

[llombardo]

My ducks must be weird. The boy tries and the girls will humor him for a minute sometimes, other times they move away. I have never saw them iniate anything. He keeps trying, but he is not a bossy boy..lol

 

[WVduckchick]

My ducks must be weird. The boy tries and the girls will humor him for a minute sometimes, other times they move away. I have never saw them iniate anything. He keeps trying, but he is not a bossy boy..lol

How old are they? Some ducks are swayed by the season, temperatures, etc. Lots of things affect their mating drive. My oldest drake is just coming out of eclipse and is starting to get...um... “attentive” again. . But while he was in eclipse, and the girls were raising babies, he was a perfect gentleman.

 

[llombardo]

How old are they? Some ducks are swayed by the season, temperatures, etc. Lots of things affect their mating drive. My oldest drake is just coming out of eclipse and is starting to get...um... “attentive” again. . But while he was in eclipse, and the girls were raising babies, he was a perfect gentleman.

They are only about 6 months. I'm sure I will see something completely different next spring.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

How old are they? Some ducks are swayed by the season, temperatures, etc. Lots of things affect their mating drive. My oldest drake is just coming out of eclipse and is starting to get...um... “attentive” again. . But while he was in eclipse, and the girls were raising babies, he was a perfect gentleman.

Sorry, could you explain what you mean by "eclipse" please

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Sleep well

Thank you, I did - best sleep I've had in ages thanks to you guys

 

[chickens really]

Eclipse is when a Drake loses his colours and begins to look like a Hen. He loses his Drake feathers in his tail. His interest in the Hens is gone. That lasts a few months and then he begins to get his fancy Drake colours back and his hormones too..That's called Nuptial plumage..He will look like that all during breeding season..