General (male Pekin) mating too much -- when will it stop??

[Rlstewardson]

So glad to have somewhere to ask questions like this. ;o)

Fluffy (Pekin female) is a loving duck we got from the Royal Melbourne Show (Australia) last year in August at 2 weeks old. At the same time we got a Khaki Campbell female who was sadly taken by a fox around March this year -- yes, in inner city Melbourne!!. Fluffy was very lonely and very quacky (problematic as we live in an inner suburb of Melbourne) and a mirror didn't solve her lonliness problem (although she does like to sit with her pretend friend!). In May this year we got two more 1 day old ducklings, Zhu Zhu (female Khaki Campbell) and General for company and possible breeding. Once they were big enough we put them all together and, as expected, Zhu Zhu and General tend to stick together with Fluffy on the outer of their social group.

When mating seaston started around a month ago General started doing his thing, which Zhu Zhu just puts up with. Fluffy, on the other hand, tends to try to get away and as a result General has ripped out a long line of the feathers on the back of her head and down her neck to the point at which she had a red raw area there. At that stage we separated the girls and the boy and only had them together under supervision. Any sign of interest and General gets chased away from Fufly.

We can manage this for a short while (can cope with a season) but our relatively small set up is not equipt to manage this forever -- he is penned up for much longer than I like, and besides, he misses his Zhu Zhu. Is this an activity that is usually limited to 'mating season' or, now that he's an adult (?), is this going to go on idefinitely?

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

Robyn

 

[Amiga]

Robyn, welcome to the Duck Forum!

It is up to General, actually. Some drakes are only major pains (actually, they can be deadly) during mating season, some, all year 'round. I can appreciate having limited space, as we need to keep Bean, Carmella and Hazel separate from the Runners and Romy most of the time. Bean has this fixation for Romy and it upsets everyone for him to try to mate with her. sigh. We have a rhythm, now, so I just manage the two flocks separately most of the time.

Back to General.

You seem to understand that your girl ducks' lives depend on you and that is great. Perhaps this thread will bring forth some creative ideas.

 

[Duckee]

It must be a pekin thing! I"m new to having ducks. I got a male jumbo pekin and female rouen this past middle of may. At 5 months old they were breeding constantly! The male pekin is after the female all day & night! Luckily she is all for it, so she submits and has no battle wounds. She started laying eggs immediately, and has not stopped! Even though the temps are getting below freezing now, she has laid a new egg almost daily. She started laying them all over the yard, but now, finally, she is laying them in a nest. She has not attempted to incubate any so far. I assume she may wait until spring when her ducklings will have a better chance.

I'm thinking I can stud this drake out and make lots of $$$$$ LOL

 

[Ica94]

I'm having the same issue with my drake. I live in a small area and keeping them separated is hard. I ended giving my male away to someone who had more female ducks. Hope that helps

 

[DucksnDaffodils]

As far as I have experienced, it is seasonal. I had a Pekin, and yes he did mate year round.. but not crazy every minute like for a few months in the spring. SOooo.. I'd say that he SHOULD slow down and behave himself after the mating season is over....

 

[Anne 671]

I'm having the same issue with my drake. I live in a small area and keeping them separated is hard. I ended giving my male away to someone who had more female ducks. Hope that helps

My problem is that my female turned out to be a male and constantly goes after his brother who hates his attention.