Welsh Harlequin drake behavior and possible future hatches.

[BZJW]

Hello,

My broody Welsh Harlequin duck is hatching her clutch currently. Both drake and duck are both WH. I have separated the drake and duck because I am afraid he will hurt/kill ducklings. The ducks used to be in the run with all other chickens breeds. WH drake has a very strong libido and would hunt and rape hens with one Silver Wyandotte being the particular favorite. I ended up separating the chickens from the two ducks as well. I only noticed mating behavior between the two ducks when they were swimming. I realize I probably should have more female ducks for this particular WH drake. Is this normal behavior for this breed of duck to hunt down hens if there is a female duck present? I had thought that maybe it was seasonal/hormonal and would pass. He has been doing this since January and would continue doing it if I were to let all poultry out to free range for the day. Would more female ducks help this situation? Do I need to get a different drake? If this is breed related would anyone have a suggestion as to another breed to mate with the WH female duck? I would like mid/high egg production with broody tendencies for future ducklings.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

It's drake related. Some drakes just rape everything. Yours appears to be one. It will not get better. More duck hens could help. But a rapey drake is a rapey drake. You need drake jail.

 

[BZJW]

Interesting. Thank you for the reply. I had hens who would avoid even coming down from the roost because of that rascal. Are rapey drakes common? I am familiar with rooster behavior and how they act but this drake is over the top. Are there more docile drake breeds? I am fond of the female WH ducks if the one I have is a good representation.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Your drake is either rapey or isnt, not breed related but just the individual. I had a drake that was gentle with his female companion but if I let him near any other fowl, Katie bar the door. He raped the 15 pound gander. Sorry, I laughed. But not his hen. My current drake is good. But a rapey drake is going to be that, it is really individual based in my experience.

 

[BZJW]

Haha! thank you for the humor. On a side note, I'm only seeing pure black bills on the freshly hatched WH ducklings so far. Males, right? These two parent ducks were from Hoover's.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Ah sorry, I don't have Welshies just one welshie cross hen. Can't help with that

 

[ibarbidahl]

Likely drakelets. But, with Hoover it's hard to say. Depends on the quality of the breeding stock. The whole sexing by bill color is really difficult because it's silvers only and still only 70% accurate even with experience. So hang on there and wait about 6 weeks. Then you'll have an answer. They normally have bill color change (green for boys) starting around 4 weeks and by 6 the voices have settled. You will need to keep them separated from the drake. Good luck! (Post some pics!)

 

[BZJW]

Here is a pic so far. Mom duck isn’t a big fan of me getting so close.