Newbie needing help

I want to firstly make the point that I do NOT condone animals as presents. And that I also have many pets from dogs and cats to mice.

That said...I have my birthday coming up and having just watched a video on Facebook of the sweetest duckling...when my Dad asked what I wanted I said that. I knew he wouldn't buy an animal.

However...he did!!!!!!!! I now have two of the most gorgeous little ducklings and I have to say, as overwhelming as it is...I am sooooooo happy.

Although this is the first pet I am not prepared for...we have a big garden and my OH is going to build an enclosure for when they are a little older. I have found feed online, I know I can get all the equipment etc.

However there has been a massive spanner thrown n the works. My Dad says the guy who sold them said they are male and female. So doing my research tonight has thrown up the fact that two girls are fine, two boys are fine but there has to be one drake to at least three ducks!!

So question...can a drake be neutered? Or maybe one extra duck? We just don't have the room for four really!

My OH has suggested swapping one...but it won't be with the litter mates as we live on the other side of the country. Plus I am finding the thought of losing one really hard.

I hope someone can help me

It *may* work out with one of each but you need to be very prepared to either add more females or get rid of the male and add another female or vice versa. Usually you need a min of 3 females but you might be able to get away with less but it really depends on the drake and I wouldn't count on it. You can wait it out and see how it goes but I would make back up plans. It shouldn't be a problem till a few months from now. Are you 100% sure that they were sexed correctly? Maybe it won't be an issue if they weren't sexed correctly.

Happy Birthday! I'm hoping my husband and kids get me 2 chickens for mine. It's in the next few weeks

first of all happy b-day

now for the series stuff
i have seen and heard of lots of people having a male and one female and i don't think it will be all that big of a deal unless there is aggression involved later on. what breed of ducks are they?

Just echoing some of what has already been offered.

Glad you have the ducklings, and

folks misidentify ducklings regularly - you may have two of a kind
some duck pairs do just fine, some don't, you will need to wait and see
or, adding just one female to a male-female pair may do the trick - we have a trio of Buffs and they are fine

And happy birthday!

DuckLover1029 said:

first of all happy b-day

now for the series stuff
i have seen and heard of lots of people having a male and one female and i don't think it will be all that big of a deal unless there is aggression involved later on. what breed of ducks are they?

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Amiga said:

Just echoing some of what has already been offered.

Glad you have the ducklings, and

folks misidentify ducklings regularly - you may have two of a kind
some duck pairs do just fine, some don't, you will need to wait and see
or, adding just one female to a male-female pair may do the trick - we have a trio of Buffs and they are fine

And happy birthday!

Click to expand...

Thank you both for your replies They are so gorgeous! I hate not being prepared but I am enjoying learning on the job

I have a picture...but my Dad was told the smaller one is female and the larger one is male. Also the smaller one is a LOT more vocal...its just chirping at the moment but the little one is very vocal...whilst the bigger one makes littler noises. I have read about Vent Sexing...but I am scared to.

I am not even sure what breed of ducklings these are!! I am hoping the picture might shed light on this for others to help me?

Wow, those are beautiful ducklings! I have no idea what breed they are, though. Hope someone else can help with that.

Females generally are more talkative, but only time will tell if you do in fact have a male and female. I wish you luck that it works out with just these two, sometimes a pair is just fine together. Oh, and Happy Birthday!

I wanted to chime in that I have a single pair. They are attached at the hip and there isn't any aggression. The hen is alpha and gets on the drake when the drake is acting up. They are of different clutches, but grew up together since day 1.

simplyjessi said:

I wanted to chime in that I have a single pair. They are attached at the hip and there isn't any aggression. The hen is alpha and gets on the drake when the drake is acting up. They are of different clutches, but grew up together since day 1.

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This is a big relief! Thank you so much! I think I will wait it out and hope for the best. I can't imagine swapping either of them! They are so lovely!

Still would appreciate help with breed?

The link wasn't working for me.

Happy Birthday! What a lovely birthday present!
I have a female and a drake together..they have grown up together and they are absolutely fine..
I also have another pair.. they all get a long well now but in the spring I will have to make them separate enclosures.
I think having a pair is OK.. its when their are a few drakes fighting for the female, the female can get hurt, drown or die.