When to get females to fix Male : Female ratio/behavioral between flocks

[Launchpad]

This will be a somewhat lengthy post with 2 major points:
When to get the rest of the females/what age/breed
Where/how to house them since each of my two duck factions has a male and they are in the only 2 enclosures I currently have
Quick recap:
Got a pekin male (Niles) and female (Daphne) and they are now 6 months old (Daphne just started laying eggs)
4 months ago ordered 3 female chicks from Metzer, 2 Cayuga and 1 Silver Appleyard
1 of the Cayuga has turned out to be a male......

The 2 pekin currently stay in the pen intended for ducks and next to the pond seen here:

I have removed the pool temporarily as I try and get a handle on bumblefoot in the other ducks (my plan is to find a material to put over the dirt to cushion their feet and be easily washable/changeable if anyone has any ideas) and I am going to dig an in ground pool using a molasses bin that will drain directly into the pond once I get the logistics correct. The house is 4ft x 4ft x 7 1/2 ft and the enclosure is 19 ft in diameter (about 280 sq ft ).
During the day the Pekin roam their area of the yard freely and this includes the pond. They spend their time either in the pond or at the fence line that currently separates them from the 3 younger ducks:

Before the 2 Cayuga developed what is likely the beginning of bumblefoot
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/5-ducks-10-feet-some-likely-bumble-foot.1551832/
I would let them spend a few hours a day in the same yard to try and integrate the 2 factions.
Some of the time all 5 ducks would be cordial and hunt bugs together and not bother one another.

The rest of the time they spend chasing and battling each other. The males from each group are constantly are either fighting or chasing the females from the other side. I do my best to be the mediator but so far have not been successful enough.
Its funny because in the morning the 3 younger ducks try their best to see and interact with the 2 Pekin and vice versa. Niles always chases the Roz the little silver appleyard. And if they are separated they spend most of their time next to each other with the fence in between them.
*They are currently separated for the next 2 weeks while the Cauyga deal with possible bumblefoot so they don't run as much*
Although i have recently found the two males fighting each other through the fence sigh.
And today i caught the male Cayuga mating with the silver appleyard in the little pool so there's that
So I will continue to do my best to get the 2 groups to be cordial but I am not sure I can ever get the two males to not fight.
This will cause issues down the road when I try to get everyone sleeping in the duck pen...I have considered maybe separating a portion and with some type of barrier and adding another little duck house. But not there yet....

Which leads me to the second problem: ratio
Right now its 2 males : 3 females.
Earlier we have come to the conclusion we need more females.
I think 3 is about the max, making 8 total, for the current duck enclosure.
I know during spring is when things really get interesting....so should I go ahead and get the 3 females so they have time to acclimate?
The other problem is sleeping space since the Pekin have the duck pen and and 3 younger are sleeping in the chicken coop.

I recently removed their pool for sanitation reasons while the Cayuga deal with likely bumblefoot.
I have also opened the door so they can go in where's its warmer during the chilly nights but the floor is wood so I will need to lay something over it to protect their feet.
I could order 3 sexed ducklings again (but that runs the risk of getting another male) or get 3 young but guaranteed females from a farm nearby.
If I get the ducklings I would care for them in a separate spot but once they grow up i have to find a place for them.
If i get the 3 young ducks I would have to find a place for them immediately....

I guess those are the two big issues if anyone has thoughts:
When should I get the necessary rest of the females(now or soon or spring)/what age
What housing will be necessary and who goes where

As always any and all help is appreciated

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I am going to add my two cents, take it for what it is worth. I had a similar group. Original male and female, got three more ended up being two girls and one boy. My boys fought. I loved them both and hoped it would work out, it really didn’t. I tried for several years and tried adding more females. In the end, although my drakes learned to get along, it was a disaster. I did not have enough space for them all, even though they were in a very large garden pen. During the winter, all was well, and everyone got along. But, come spring, the boys would either fight or rape the other drakes females. In the end, they each caused the death or injury of the other drakes hens. One hen injured her hip running from being raped and later became egg bound and died. Another hen was picked on so badly that the scar tissue that formed on the back of her neck pulled her face skin so tight she cannot see out of one eye. I eventually had to get rid of both drakes. I tried only one drake for over a year and a half but he never would forgive the hens that had been with the other drake. I say all this to give you fair warning. They may never get along in the way you want. Knowing what I know now, if I were you, I would rehome one of my drakes right away. Just my experience and opinion.

 

[Miss Lydia]

If you can get females this time of year close in age to the ones you have now it may work out better than in spring when everyone's hormones are really in high drive.
If you can add a large dog crate to your sleeping arrangements someone could sleep in there at night so everyone can be together but no one can pick on another. @ruthhope uses dog crates to keep the peace in the coop at night and so do I.
You might look into horse floor mats for the coop floor or what we used over our wood floors was sheet vinyl and then a heavy layer of pine shavings.

 

[ruthhope]

Horse mats is a good idea; on a similar theme i was considering getting cheap yoga mats and laying those down since they'd be both cheaper and much easier to remove/clean...
For the young females I need to get there are a few places nearby with pekin or silver appleyard. I will chose either of those or cayuga since both males are large and SA is about as small as I should go....
My first hope is I am going to look around and see if anyone needs to rehome or find some rescue females as this would be a perfect opportunity to save some female cayuga/pekin/SA if I can find any...
And the large dog crate is a good idea; also considering just getting some fencing and separate the outside portion of the chicken coop so then everyone gets a little more room. Though if it gets chill enough I can always put the male cayuga in a kennel inside the house portion of the coop in cold weather, assuming the new females and the existing females get along and dont fight

I agree with getting females now and I love that you will make inquiries about some that need rescuing/rehoming.

I have had up to 3 dogcrates in my coop -- which is very congested with that number -- and 4 drakes confined to the three crates. I currently have 1 dogcrate that houses the most pugnacious of my muscovies; a bossy pekin sleeps on a tray above the dogcrate, to keep him out of trouble; two newly pugnacious pekins are running round in the coop and tormenting my second, peace loving, muscovy that is currently molting and vulnerable. I'm going to get some pinestraw bales tomorrow as I will need them in the winter, and use them to give the tormented muscovy some peace and quiet elevated above the meanie pekins!! All things change -- the two pekins and the harassed muscovy were best of friends only 1 month ago and will likely be again once the muscovy has his flight and tail feathers and can stand up to the pekins!!

 

[Launchpad]

If you can get females this time of year close in age to the ones you have now it may work out better than in spring when everyone's hormones are really in high drive.
If you can add a large dog crate to your sleeping arrangements someone could sleep in there at night so everyone can be together but no one can pick on another. @ruthhope uses dog crates to keep the peace in the coop at night and so do I.
You might look into horse floor mats for the coop floor or what we used over our wood floors was sheet vinyl and then a heavy layer of pine shavings.

Horse mats is a good idea; on a similar theme i was considering getting cheap yoga mats and laying those down since they'd be both cheaper and much easier to remove/clean...
For the young females I need to get there are a few places nearby with pekin or silver appleyard. I will chose either of those or cayuga since both males are large and SA is about as small as I should go....
My first hope is I am going to look around and see if anyone needs to rehome or find some rescue females as this would be a perfect opportunity to save some female cayuga/pekin/SA if I can find any...
And the large dog crate is a good idea; also considering just getting some fencing and separate the outside portion of the chicken coop so then everyone gets a little more room. Though if it gets chill enough I can always put the male cayuga in a kennel inside the house portion of the coop in cold weather, assuming the new females and the existing females get along and dont fight

 

[Miss Lydia]

All good ideas the plastic poultry fencing works really well with the fence stakes that have the sharp point and can just be pushed into the ground. Any time we bring in newbies there can be some scruffs but they usually don't last long. I hope you can find some rescues that would be awesome. Keep us updated. Yoga mats would be a good idea as long as no one chews on them.

 

[Launchpad]

All good ideas the plastic poultry fencing works really well with the fence stakes that have the sharp point and can just be pushed into the ground. Any time we bring in newbies there can be some scruffs but they usually don't last long. I hope you can find some rescues that would be awesome. Keep us updated. Yoga mats would be a good idea as long as no one chews on them.

Didnt even know plastic poultry fencing existed thanks

 

[Launchpad]

I am going to add my two cents, take it for what it is worth. I had a similar group. Original male and female, got three more ended up being two girls and one boy. My boys fought. I loved them both and hoped it would work out, it really didn’t. I tried for several years and tried adding more females. In the end, although my drakes learned to get along, it was a disaster. I did not have enough space for them all, even though they were in a very large garden pen. During the winter, all was well, and everyone got along. But, come spring, the boys would either fight or rape the other drakes females. In the end, they each caused the death or injury of the other drakes hens. One hen injured her hip running from being raped and later became egg bound and died. Another hen was picked on so badly that the scar tissue that formed on the back of her neck pulled her face skin so tight she cannot see out of one eye. I eventually had to get rid of both drakes. I tried only one drake for over a year and a half but he never would forgive the hens that had been with the other drake. I say all this to give you fair warning. They may never get along in the way you want. Knowing what I know now, if I were you, I would rehome one of my drakes right away. Just my experience and opinion.

Its definitely good to know. Everything is helpful especially very similar circumstances.
I still have to give it a shot but will keep this in mind in case things continue to go poorly/ get worse
The one thing I have going is that I can separate the ducks into multiple different yards/ animal pens/etc and have the extra chicken coop I've temporarily converted into a duck pen.
But I will remember this if the situation does not improve/deteriorates (the situation is not terrible at the moment either but it seems neither was yours in the beginning)

 

[Launchpad]

I agree with getting females now and I love that you will make inquiries about some that need rescuing/rehoming.

I have had up to 3 dogcrates in my coop -- which is very congested with that number -- and 4 drakes confined to the three crates. I currently have 1 dogcrate that houses the most pugncious of my muscovies; a bossy pekin sleeps on a tray above the dogcrate, to keep him out of trouble; two newly pugnacious pekins are running round in the coop and tormenting my second, peace loving, muscovy that is currently molting and vulnerable. I'm going to get some pinestraw bales tomorrow as I will need them in the winter, and use them to give the tormented muscovy some peace and quiet elevated above the meanie pekins!! All things change -- the two pekins and the harassed muscovy were best of friends only 1 month ago and will likely be again once the muscovy has his flight and tail feathers and can stand up to the pekins!!

Gotcha. I'll just test different sleeping arrangements until I get out figured out. Will probably separate the males into their own spots by the end
Ya no problem trying to get some rescue or needing rehomed ducks but should be a difficult search finding 3-4 pekin/cayuga/SA or a mix
But I'll start looking

 

[Luv Ducks]

If you ever need to separate ducks and can't find poultry fence because of the season it may be, I have used snow fence. It works well also and I have even used it to keep sparrows out of my pens putting it against the chain link dog pens that contain my ducks.