male or female ducks

[blanca]

Not sure whether to get male or female ducks -has to be one or the other-, list of pros and Con's for each if u could please. Thanks

 

[fall knight]

both if your breeding them,ducks unlike chickens pair up for life,chickens and cockrels dont mind who thay mate with
.

 

[BackYard Sheena]

ducks of the same gender will bond together....

if you want eggs, girls

if you want pets and don't care if you get eggs, boys. There are a lot of boys who need good homes because mixed gender flocks have to have a 1 boy for every 3-4 girl ratio and boys need rehomed!!!

 

[farm316]

If you want to eat the eggs they produce then get hen's (female), If you want Ducklings to hatch buy a male here are some pros and cons:

Male-: Males need about 3-4 female's to be comfortable with their partners, they also need to be the only male around or the two male's may get into a fight possibly to the death for breeding rights, they also like too be in charge of his hen's and may need close watch during full fledge mating season, Sometimes you may get lucky with a calm mannered male or you may get a temperamental which might not go so well if you have calm mannered females…. If you just want ducks to look at and not even care if they produce or not then get a couple males 2 to 3 just don't be putting any females in there,

Females- Females are normally more likely to be calm mannered ducks, then need a mate possibly another female, They will never mate if there are no males. If you get *lightweight ducks such as, the mallard,pekin, you might need to clip wings if you are going to be free- ranging them, if in a cage then they should be fine* If you want a lot of eggs then think about getting 4-5 females because unless you get mallards they won't lay many eggs in a year, Mallards generally lay around 200-250 a year and rouens around 25-125,

given the possibility you should be able to see the pros and cons yourself if not then text back and I can tell you pros or cons in a list,

The Stars * mean that they apply in both female and Male,

I hop this helps!
Farm316

 

[blanca]

Is there any breed of duck that can't fly or can only fly a bit? And which tends to be bigger drakes or hens? Thanks

 

[BackYard Sheena]

Out of the domestic ones, the mallards are really the only ones that can fly. Everything else might catch a lil air a few inches off ground but they can't really fly. Drakes tend to be larger. If you look at the average weight range of a breed the smaller weight tends to be the girl and larger tends to be boys. Mallards range around 3 pounds, pekins around 9-11 and there are breeds for everything in between.

 

[BackYard Sheena]

I just remembered reading the other day that some khaki cambells fly I am sure it depends on how much they end up weighing.

 

[farm316]

Rounes are way too heavy to get off the ground.

 

[Going Quackers]

Pekin are not a lightweight duck and they most definitely DO NOT fly. I own Muscovy, pekin, buff and call.. the calls and Muscovy fly(though normally past a certain age, only the females, males become to heavy)

I have drakes of almost every breed i own except buff.. this truly depends on your goals, and yes you can run flocks with more than one drake it's just complicated and has to be the right balance. I also free range the Muscovy mamas with their broods so while drakes are known baby killers it is possible to have young incorporated with drakes in a flock, this is all falls down to knowing your birds and the dynamics of the flock itself.

Ducks don't need drakes to lay nor to free range(heck chickens don't either, as i have done that too) drakes do provide the opportunity for self re-populate. As well if you free range drakes wander about with the females providing i won't say a 'guard' because that is generally not the case but a distraction if predators come around.

It really is about your goals, for most they don't need the drakes they can be territorial, aggressive and overbearing that said they can also be friendly and kind with the females.. the interaction can be sweet to watch, dual grooming, i have had drakes go with mama's and babies ...

I do not believe their is a right nor wrong answer it's all about what you want from your flock.