My Louie-duck flew away! :(

[dukzzz]

hens start nesting usually between march-may but can vary depending on where in the country you live. the drakes leave the hens when they start to nest. if he does come back you might want to get him a lady or two(two would be better). i have my little mallard with two pekins and that keeps him happy

 

[Miss Lydia]

Just hoping you may have seen Louie today

 

[cymbaline]

hens start nesting usually between march-may but can vary depending on where in the country you live. the drakes leave the hens when they start to nest. if he does come back you might want to get him a lady or two(two would be better). i have my little mallard with two pekins and that keeps him happy

I'm in WV; so maybe he'd come back sometime in April then? You think once he's done with the ladies he really will come back home? That's my only hope right now, 'cause I don't think I'm ever just going to find him.
I am definitely getting him friends if he does come back...I'll be moving soon to a place where I can build them a great place to live outdoors. That's been the only thing keeping me from getting more so far - I couldn't handle another duck's worth of poop in my house, lol.
Wow, Pekins seem so much bigger than Mallards, I bet that's fun to watch. I was thinking maybe some cayugas or Welsh Harlequins or maybe blue Swedish. I just wish there was a way to make sure that I get more girls than boys...I'd hate to go buy a few more ducklings and end up with, say, 3 boys and a girl. :\

 

[cymbaline]

Just hoping you may have seen Louie today

Thanks for checking. My sister called me with a potential spotting a little bit ago, but it wasn't him. They were very pretty ducks though; two of them were mixed Mallards, not sure what they were mixed with. One was Mallard-y but with shades of brown instead of the usual colors. One had a darker body and the green head, but instead of a white ring he had kind of a white "bib" in front, and he was SO tiny. I mean, I guess to have that coloring he was full-grown, but he was noticeably smaller than even the female Mallard that was there, and I thought mallards were the smallest breed there is, so I don't know what he could've been mixed with to make him so tiny.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks for checking. My sister called me with a potential spotting a little bit ago, but it wasn't him. They were very pretty ducks though; two of them were mixed Mallards, not sure what they were mixed with. One was Mallard-y but with shades of brown instead of the usual colors. One had a darker body and the green head, but instead of a white ring he had kind of a white "bib" in front, and he was SO tiny. I mean, I guess to have that coloring he was full-grown, but he was noticeably smaller than even the female Mallard that was there, and I thought mallards were the smallest breed there is, so I don't know what he could've been mixed with to make him so tiny.

Hard to say so many domestic ducks end up out in the wild and mate with mallards and other wild birds, please keep us informed about Louie, he may just show up one of these days after hes had his fling..

 

[cymbaline]

In case anyone is interested, this is my Louie's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Louie-the-duck/298998193443546 - be sure to check out his videos! He is so funny...I <3 my Louie-duck.

 

[cymbaline]

No one really seemed to be able to tell me when the females start nesting in this area, so I've been watching periodically and when I checked today I didn't see any females out anywhere. I guess this means it's about time for the boys to fly off, right? Or will they wait until after the eggs hatch, which I guess could be a few more weeks? I still miss my Louie SO much. I want him home.

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

Cymba- I'm so sorry. But I have heard of mallards flying off and re-appearing after mating season. And those stories were from people that didn't have a "personal relationship" with their ducks. The were pond ducks. Does that make sense? I sure hope he comes home. Please keep us posted one way or another.

 

[cymbaline]

Cymba- I'm so sorry. But I have heard of mallards flying off and re-appearing after mating season. And those stories were from people that didn't have a "personal relationship" with their ducks. The were pond ducks. Does that make sense? I sure hope he comes home. Please keep us posted one way or another.

That's one reason I've been able to hold onto some hope all this time, because I really believe he loves his momma & misses me and just had to take care of his "urges" for a little while. I'm just trying to determine when he might come back, assuming he does. I'm moving in the next couple of weeks, which should be so very exciting for me because this has been my dream for so long, but it bums me out so much when I think about leaving without him. If he comes back home, I won't even be here waiting for him.

I've tried to research mallard behavior and their mating season timeframe online, but it seems like some places say they leave as soon as the hens start nesting, some say they'll help guard the nest when the female goes out to get food, and I think one place even said they hung around until a few days after the eggs hatched. And nothing I read really said when all of this happens exactly. I guess what I'm getting at is when do I give up hope? At what point do I say to myself "if he hasn't come back by now, he's just not going to." Now? A couple weeks from now? Mid-May? Never? I just hate not knowing... :'(

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

I thought about the moving thing too. Is there someone there who can watch for him? A roommate or whatever? I just have this feeling he'll come back after while. (It's just a feeling.. lol.)


As far as a time frame... I don't think there is one.