Neutering a Rouen drake

[dao1947]

My wife and I bought two ducklings late in May. They both were supposed to be Mallard hen ducklings. Now that they are about three months old it has become clear to us that one of them is a drake. Possibly a Rouen. He is a large duck with similar markings of a Mallard, just getting his green head feathers, and grey body. Anyway I digress. We want to know is it possible for him to be neutered. I called the vet I go to with my chickens and the assisstant said no. Has anyone had their drakes or roosters neutered?

 

[70%cocoa]

In a lot of places it is illegal to neuter male poultry (it is in my state in Australia for example) unless it is for health reasons (health of the bird that is!!) and it has to be done by a vet. I would guess that it is physically possible for a vet to do it, but that it is not a straightfoward operation. I would be very surprised if you found a vet who would be willing to neuter a perfectly healthy drake.

To my mind, though, the question is - why do you want to neuter your drake? He can't get your duck 'pregnant' and you will only end up with ducklings if you let the duck sit on eggs or you choose to incubate them. He is not going to run around the neighborhood chasing other people's ducks (if you are worried about him flying then you can just clip a wing). As he is a Mallard drake and he has been raised with another duck you are extremely unlikely to be faced with any aggression issues (sometimes a reason to neuter dogs). Neutering is pretty unlikely to affect his sexual behaviour either, if you are concerned about him mounting your duck and he has already learned to do that.

I am really genuinely interested in knowing your reason for wanting to do this You must be facing some difficult issue that you are hoping to resolve. What is the issue - perhaps we may be able to help with it

 

[Goose and Fig]

That is a strange request. If he's harassing her too much, I would say add another female to take some of the stress off.