My swedish drake is a horndog !! :(

[Mojo Chick'n]

Ok, I knew this would possibly (probaby) happen, but I lied to myself, said I could keep it ok....

I wanted swedish ducks so badly and I have a beautiful quad of them - they are 18 or 19 weeks old - almost ready to lay. My drake has discovered how much fun it is to get the girls - which is fine with his own girls - but he wants all the girls, and I have call ducks.

I also want my call ducks. It seems I can't have both in the same pen, or the same yard free ranging, either. Kronk (the swedish drake) even went after my goose tonight!! She is a buff american, maybe two months old.

so, I'm trying to figure out what to do with this mess.

I really love the swedish - they are so pretty.
I really love the call ducks, too - they are also pretty, and smaller, so I can keep more in a similar area/space. Plus, I finally got white call duck babies - I was excited about that and can't wait to see them grow up (they are still yellow fluffies right now).

It may come down to a matter of economy - if hubby has his say in it. I could probably sell Swedish Ducks faster than I could sell Call Ducks in my area. That means the swedish would pay their way - the calls would also, but maybe not as big a market for them around here. (hubby is all for my hobbies, as long as they can pay their own feed bills).

I already need two more chicken coops - hubby would kill me if I asked for another waterfowl pen on top of that.

I wonder if this is something seasonal (or do Swedish lay all year round?) I know the calls only lay a certain period of the year - it would be cool if I could keep both and just seperate them for two or three months out of the year.

I am thinking that might not work, though

I simply don't know what to do at this point - I really don't want to get rid of my swedish ducks.

meri

 

[Haley_LinckHillPoultry]

That is just the nature of the drake.
They breed, and I mean, they breed.
There is really nothing you can do about it. I highly doubt he's going to hurt the call ducks. So I see everything being fine. The drakes mate, and when they're done they go on their way until they're ready to get their "mojo" on again.
Its something you can't get rid of, as long as you have your drake.

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
That is what I am worried about, that he'll hurt the call ducks - they are so much smaller than he is - and he looks like he is going to crush them.

I have the swedish in the duck pen for today and the call ducks and geese out.

meri

 

[Duck Keeper]

I would say, from my own personal experience with a very 'active' drake, that if he's much larger than the other females (which he is, being a regular sized duck vs. a call duck) you should be worried about the female's vent area. TWO of my girls (mallard and an indian runner) have been molested to the point that their rear pops out, and I have to keep the drake separate for weeks. Naturally, since ducks are flock animals, this is distressing, and it takes FOREVER for their butt to heal up!

My ducks are all normal size, except that my silver appleyard drake is huge, so I'm assuming that's the problem; since they never had issuses with a mallard or an indian runner drake. I have since sold the mallard pair to a breeder who wanted mallards, and assured me they were in the best of hands and he could heal her up, and also sold the indian runner drake, along with two of his cayuga girls. Now I'm down to one drake, and five ducks. I may have to get more females... ;

The indian runner female is currently being switched off and on with the drake for being separated from the main flock. Putting them in their own pen makes them go insane...

I miss when Maggie would stay in my arms calmly. Now she freaks out when I go to see the ducks.



So yeah, I'd say be worried about their health. You don't want to have to go through what I did. Maybe you can let the calls out to free range, then keep the swedish in the pen? Just switch them?

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
That is what I was worried about.
He isn't super bad about it (yet) but he does go after them. When they free range,the girls can usually get away from him - but in the pen at night, I have to put him in "jail" inside the pen until morning.

Luckily I am retired and home most of the time, so when I hear one of the girls yelling, I can go and chase him off.

I'm just trying out options, for now, to see if I can keep him off the girls.

On a good note - he now knows his name (or at least the tone of my voice) because every time he goes chasing a girly duck I yell "Kronk!" and he stops and looks around to see how close I am and if I can stop him before he catches them.

meri