Young drakes attempting to mate

[BigAspirations]

Hoping for some advice please. I’ve got two 4 month old Muscovy drakes who are attempting to mate my females. I say attempting cause the catching and pinning seems to be all that happens. My set up is so the females have their own drake free space and the drakes are only allowed near the girls when I am supervising so no one gets hurt or chased into flying away! Are Muscovy drakes fertile at 4 months? My girls are much older than the boys and breeding isn’t a priority for me so should I just keep the drakes away from the females if they are too young to successfully fertilise eggs anyway? They are all free range but the drake side has better bugs than the duck side so would be nice to have more shared space (in Aus so it is summer). Thanks.

 

[Scovyfive]

My drake is about the same age. 4 1/2 months old. He is also chasing the girls around and pinning them. I think it's just part of the natural maturing and figuring things out. I don't expect him to actually mate with them until he is 6 months old.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

At this age, the juvenile drakes are practicing. I don't know about fertility, but there won't be much success until they mature and get the hang of things - which usually happens by spring. Generally, the females aren't even laying now unless it's their first yr and depending on when they hatched.

 

[Miss Lydia]

It's actually kind of funny, When my Muscovy drake was younger he would not only chase and pin but he would just get on top and stand on them. He doesn't do the standing on them any longer [maybe his age 10] but he still likes to pin.

 

[BigAspirations]

Thank you all for the responses. Very appreciated. It’s a learning exercise for both the drakes and I it seems - such an odd ritual to watch. I’ll try to stop getting involved and just let them sort it out.