Northern Pintails

[hawg boss]

I have 2 pair of 3 year old Northern Pintails. So far they have not nested. Does anyone have experience with these birds? Why are they not interested in nesting. Thanks.

 

[Benevolent Barn]

These are some of the easiest wild ducks to breed, they should have bread their first year or maybe second year. Are they in a well constructed aviary with little stress? If there are domestic ducks with them that would definitely stop breeding. Try to replicate their natural habitat with grass and cover. I am sorry you are having a hard time, best of luck!

 

[hawg boss]

Thanks BB. I have 4 domestic mallards but I keep them separate during the spring. I have a female Pochard, male Mandarin, and a few real mallards. I have let them free range during Spring and Summer during the day but that hasn't worked so far.

I bought the eggs from 3 different clutches. They seem to be paired up with their siblings. I did see one drake trying to mate with the other female this spring but she did not seem interested.
I have one extra drake from the first batch but I let a broody Mallard hatch and raise him and he thinks he is a Mallard now and wants nothing to do with the other Pintails.

 

[Benevolent Barn]

When I first got into this I read this entire thread. There are some very knowledgeable people on there that have been doing migratory waterfowl for over a decade. There will be some information about breeding. I would also try to contact some of the experts. Do you have some pictures of your set up? I wonder if the male mallards are keeping the male Pintails from breeding as they often hybridize.

Here is the link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/the-migratory-ornamental-waterfowl-info-thread.345303/

 

[hawg boss]

When I first got into this I read this entire thread. There are some very knowledgeable people on there that have been doing migratory waterfowl for over a decade. There will be some information about breeding. I would also try to contact some of the experts. Do you have some pictures of your set up? I wonder if the male mallards are keeping the male Pintails from breeding as they often hybridize.

Here is the link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/the-migratory-ornamental-waterfowl-info-thread.345303/

Thank you for the link. It's one year later and I did build a couple more pens to keep birds seperate. I did not ever see the Mallards going after the Pintails. The new pens have plenty of cover for the birds to hide their nests in. Yesterday one of the Pintails laid its first egg ever. I found it just laying on the ground. They have been in there since late Winter and it seems odd to get a first egg in almost July.

I had given up on ever seeing an egg from these birds so I bought a dozen Pintail eggs this year. The first 8 hatched about 3 weeks ago and the other batch are hatching today.

 

[hawg boss]

I had given up on ever seeing an egg from these birds so I bought a dozen Pintail eggs this year. The first 8 hatched about 3 weeks ago and the other batch are hatching today.

Seven of the eight survived, 6 males and one female. The other eggs turned out to be laysan teal hybrids. Now I have nine male Pintails and three females. All three females want to pair up with siblings. I am trying to seperate the older males from the females. Has anyone had any luck breaking up pairs and geting them to pair up with new males? Is having the extra males going to be a problem?
Thanks for any advise.