Launchpad
Songster
Hello all
This will be a lengthy one,
So we began with 2 Pekin, one male (Niles) and one female (Daphne, who laid her first egg this morning!).
Knowing that more females were necessary, we ordered 3 ducklings from @Metzer Farms . 2 Cayuga and 1 Silver Appleyard
They were born about June 20th so they are about 14 ish weeks old.
Roz, the SilverAppleyard, is most definitely a female and can be louder than Daphne and has straight tail feathers.
Maris, the smaller of the two Cayuga, is most likely a female. She is not very vocal most of the time, other than standard duck clucking sounds, so I separated them and brought her inside for a while and eventually got the very loud quacking I was hoping for. Her tail feathers are also straight.
That leaves (Frasier?), who is the largest of the 3, has the curly tail feather, and makes the raspy half quacks of a male. I have attached a video of of (him) making his sounds.
Assuming that he is a he, this greatly throws off my ratio.
2 MALE - 1 Pekin + 1 Cayuga
3 FEMALE - 1 Pekin + 1 Cayuga + 1 SilverAppleyard
Of course the easiest thing to do would be to rehome or eliminate the male Cayuga. However, after all the work that has gone in, the dynamics within the group becoming more optimal by the day, and the fact that he's a good personable duck I would like to avoid that solution.
Acquiring a few more ducks had been discussed before this so that is the desired solution. However, their are logistical issues that I would like to run by everyone to see what they think.
Firstly, is 3 FEMALE : 1 MALE a doable acceptable ratio or is that pushing it? That would mean i would only need 3 more females to make is 2 MALE : 6 FEMALE.....I know optimal is 4 or 5 FEMALE : 1 MALE
Space is the real reason I am asking. Right now, the 3 younger ducks are living temporarily in the run of the chicken coop until the dynamics enable them to be integrated in the duck pen where the 2 Pekins live. The duck coop is inside their enclosure (pictured). The coop is 7 feet across, 4 feet deep, and 4 feet tall.
So Floor area = 28 feet and Area = 112 feet.
I believe that is enough space for 5 ducks but not 8 -10...is that correct?
I have no problem building/buying another little coop for extra ducks if their enclosure is large enough for that many. It is a fully fenced circle with a diameter of 19 feet giving it an area of about 283 feet. If this is enough space for extra ducks, with an extra coop, then that would be the optimal solution.
Also, I am not sure getting more sexed ducklings would be the way to go. I know its not a 100% thing when you do it and 2 out of 3 isn't bad but if this is the route the 3 guaranteed females would be necessary so I assume I would just need to pick breed(s) and get the youngest ones I can that are 100% female.
Again, thank you all for all the help and assistance that have gotten us this far and for any further help/thoughts/etc.
In the first video we don't get much sound but you can see the tail feathers.
In the second video we get a good couple of his raspy quacks followed by the obvious female Roz in the background.
In the third video I just took we hear Niles the pekin male doing his raspy quacking followed by the Cayuga doing his raspy quacks.
The fourth video I just included because Roz recently caught a duck and was very proud of herself
This will be a lengthy one,
So we began with 2 Pekin, one male (Niles) and one female (Daphne, who laid her first egg this morning!).
Knowing that more females were necessary, we ordered 3 ducklings from @Metzer Farms . 2 Cayuga and 1 Silver Appleyard
They were born about June 20th so they are about 14 ish weeks old.
Roz, the SilverAppleyard, is most definitely a female and can be louder than Daphne and has straight tail feathers.
Maris, the smaller of the two Cayuga, is most likely a female. She is not very vocal most of the time, other than standard duck clucking sounds, so I separated them and brought her inside for a while and eventually got the very loud quacking I was hoping for. Her tail feathers are also straight.
That leaves (Frasier?), who is the largest of the 3, has the curly tail feather, and makes the raspy half quacks of a male. I have attached a video of of (him) making his sounds.
Assuming that he is a he, this greatly throws off my ratio.
2 MALE - 1 Pekin + 1 Cayuga
3 FEMALE - 1 Pekin + 1 Cayuga + 1 SilverAppleyard
Of course the easiest thing to do would be to rehome or eliminate the male Cayuga. However, after all the work that has gone in, the dynamics within the group becoming more optimal by the day, and the fact that he's a good personable duck I would like to avoid that solution.
Acquiring a few more ducks had been discussed before this so that is the desired solution. However, their are logistical issues that I would like to run by everyone to see what they think.
Firstly, is 3 FEMALE : 1 MALE a doable acceptable ratio or is that pushing it? That would mean i would only need 3 more females to make is 2 MALE : 6 FEMALE.....I know optimal is 4 or 5 FEMALE : 1 MALE
Space is the real reason I am asking. Right now, the 3 younger ducks are living temporarily in the run of the chicken coop until the dynamics enable them to be integrated in the duck pen where the 2 Pekins live. The duck coop is inside their enclosure (pictured). The coop is 7 feet across, 4 feet deep, and 4 feet tall.
So Floor area = 28 feet and Area = 112 feet.
I believe that is enough space for 5 ducks but not 8 -10...is that correct?
I have no problem building/buying another little coop for extra ducks if their enclosure is large enough for that many. It is a fully fenced circle with a diameter of 19 feet giving it an area of about 283 feet. If this is enough space for extra ducks, with an extra coop, then that would be the optimal solution.
Also, I am not sure getting more sexed ducklings would be the way to go. I know its not a 100% thing when you do it and 2 out of 3 isn't bad but if this is the route the 3 guaranteed females would be necessary so I assume I would just need to pick breed(s) and get the youngest ones I can that are 100% female.
Again, thank you all for all the help and assistance that have gotten us this far and for any further help/thoughts/etc.
In the first video we don't get much sound but you can see the tail feathers.
In the second video we get a good couple of his raspy quacks followed by the obvious female Roz in the background.
In the third video I just took we hear Niles the pekin male doing his raspy quacking followed by the Cayuga doing his raspy quacks.
The fourth video I just included because Roz recently caught a duck and was very proud of herself
