The good, the bad & the ugly..This topic has been rated: R. :o)

[casslarrabee225]

I have 4 ducks, 2 males and two females. Two younger ones are Khaki's, the older two are mixed. Older male is mixed Cayuga and older female is probably mixed but looks a lot like my khaki's.
One male and female is about a week older then the other two. The oldest female has been "asking for attention" from the males for about 2-3 weeks now. (Getting in the pool and sprawling her neck way out and making noises to get the boys attention.) My younger male has climbed on top of her and been up there for about 10-20 seconds then falls off or finishes..not sure which. Do you know how long it takes them to "finish up"? My older male seems uninterested in the females at this time. He has a "liking" for the the younger one when she wants "attention" but just aggressively attacks her head and never attempts to do anything with her. Is that normal?
The older female tends to pick on the younger female. When she gets in the pool for "attention" and the older female is in there too she pecks at her head like the males do..she is for sure a female...no mistake there. Is this ok?
Also how long after they start mating do they start laying eggs? Is there any connection between them being active and egg production?
They are about 16 & 17 weeks right now.

From left to right: Lucky - Older male. Moo-Shu - Younger male. Yenko - Older female. Ming-Ming - Younger female. )

Moo-Shu & Ming-Ming (My two young Khaki's that I incubated and hatched this spring.)

 

[sourland]

Everything that you have described is normal duck behavior-- nothing to be worried about. As for completing the 'act'-- it does not take long. Your hens may or may not lay this fall. Next spring for sure they will lay.

 

[lovin my birds]

Okay I will try and answer this as best as I can. I think mating may be a sign that the females are getting old enough to start laying. But it is not a guarentee, mine started mating, but the females didnt lay until a few months later. When they are mating it all depends on how long the males wants to stay on. Sometimes mine will only take 10 seconds and there was one time one of my males stayed on for a little over a minute. Lol! Poor girl!

Sometimes males dont get it right when they first try and mate. My rouen male did that (attacked the females head) at first but as he got a little older he got better. It might also be that your younger female really isnt ready and she trys to pull back and he doesnt like it. The reason the female is attacking the younger one is so that the younger female doesnt try to get the males to mate with her anymore. Its their natural instinct, at least I would think it is. As long as she chases off other females then she will be the one getting mated and not the others, meaning her eggs are more likely to be fertile.

Beautiful ducks by the way.

 

[casslarrabee225]

Thanks guys! I keep checking every morning for eggs. But it sounds like a need some patience. lol!
My ducks have been in a coop since they were about 4 weeks old. What will happen if I let them out to roam while I go check the mail or something? I would keep my eye on the and not let them out for long. But I'm not sure how to go about that. Should I try one out at a time or turn them all loose?

 

[EmAbTo48]

My birds free range all day and go in to there coop at night. I think letting them out shouldn't be a problem. You may have to herd them back in (mine I did this only twice and they now just go back to the coop without me herding them, they love just going and relaxing in the day time also) I would just try all and see how it goes!