Ancona Ducks

[Seth140]

Hello Everyone,
So I have a group of 3 drakes and 1 female in my first round of eggs last year, my second incubation yielded 8, 5 females 3 drakes. I have been trying to put all the drakes together and keep the females together because of the Havok that the females necks go through but its getting harder with more ducks on the way, will there be a time when I can allow all of them to be together without a war, because when I introduced the newer males to the older ones there was a little dominance fighting but didn't last too long. Some of the females are only 3 months old and I'm not sure if they are too young to have males with them. Any advice would help...

 

[BelovedBirds]

Hello Everyone,
So I have a group of 3 drakes and 1 female in my first round of eggs last year, my second incubation yielded 8, 5 females 3 drakes. I have been trying to put all the drakes together and keep the females together because of the Havok that the females necks go through but its getting harder with more ducks on the way, will there be a time when I can allow all of them to be together without a war, because when I introduced the newer males to the older ones there was a little dominance fighting but didn't last too long. Some of the females are only 3 months old and I'm not sure if they are too young to have males with them. Any advice would help...

Its very out of ratio, so having a group with a large number of drakes and hens in isnt a good idea- the hens will be overbred, you could end up with multiple drakes trying to breed the same hen and killing her- It will likely be stressful for everyone concerned. It isnt a good idea-
keeping them as two groups, one for the boys and one for the girls is safest. The drakes are likely to battle it out with new drakes, this is normal as they will reestablish the heirachy and dominance. But as long as they have a good sized area, prefferably with multiple kiddie pools and multiple feeding stations- it may work out okay.
Just be sure to introduce new ducks gradually, let them see eachother but not be able to get to each other for a few weeks before letting them together.
With bachelor flocks, it also greatly depends on their temperaments- some boys will be more aggressive and some may get singled out. You may find yourself temporarily separating any who are being picked on too much.

My advice, which are really just my thoughts, Im not all that experienced- is just see how they work as a dynamic and play around with the set up- but dont mix the girls and boys as one group.

 

[Seth140]

Ty for ur advice

 

[Quatie]

Every drake is different. Sometimes people can get them to get along great and no issues. Other times you can get a worst case scenario where a drake kills another drake. It doesn't sound like yours are at that worst case scenario. But drakes personalities do change when the hormones kick in. I would always have a backup for if everything goes wrong.

For me if I can't separate them permanently and be happy, I am always prepared to call them and potentially put them on the dinner table. I try to make things work and rehome if possible. But some drakes you can't rehome or at least not in good conscience.

I do hope it a works out and they get along great. You just never know till you try.