Rouen Question

[poncho]

Hi! I'm new here. I have 9 RIR hens, 5 leghorn hens, and 3 Rouen hens (I think)...

I have a question regarding the Rouen ducks. They hatched 04-09. I had 4 at the time, and one had definite male markings (white ring around his neck). The other three all looked the same, and I assumed they were all females. We lost the male, but now what I thought were all females are now actively mating. Only one of the three is laying, I don't know which one. Could you please tell me if I do in fact have females, and if so, why are they mating? Do they need a drake?

 

[Wifezilla]

Female ducks will mount each other to show dominance. Doesn't matter if you have a boy or not. At the stage your ducks are at, the easiest way to tell who is a boy is by voice. Loud quacke, or quacks, grunts, etc... = girls. Raspy peep = boy.

 

[newchickmom09]

Quote:
Agree with Wifezilla.
Here is a link that is in the "sticky" threads of ducks. It explains different ways to tell male from female and also have a link were you can hear the difference.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=181147

 

[veronicasmom]

Just wondering, mostly for my own education, why no one mentioned the fact that none have what looks like a drake feather? I would have thought that ducks that are almost a year old would have one. Is that not correct?
Personally, I liked it better when I had all hens and no drake. I love my runner drake, but it was just nice when I had all girls. Since I wasn't interested in hatching any, it didn't matter. And yes, my females all mounted each other.
So, any just wondered what the answer to the tail feather question would be.
Thanks.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
They tend to lose them when they molt to elispe (SP?) feathers they should reappear when they go back to their fancy courting dress.

 

[poncho]

Thanks! None of these ever had the curly tail feather, the drake that passed definitely did. These all have the loud girl quack. I guess they are all girls as I had originally thought! My chickens show dominance through pecking and grabbing, but never saw this behavior (actual mounting and... umm...excretions...). Wish they would all start laying now! Thanks again!