Can you have just two ducks?

[firsthouse_mp]

I really really cannot have more than two ducks because I already have 9 chickens (2 may be re-homed as they are no longer laying much and are more than 3 yrs old), and I live in an urban area with only a 10,000 sq ft lot. We are allowed 25 chickens, but that seems crazy given my lot size IMO.

Do you think this is irresponsible to have only two? Do ducks love being in a "pack"? After lurking here for a while and reading a few books about ducks, I am now thinking I would love a few....but I would want them to be happy. We love our hens and they are wonderful, but cooking with duck eggs sounds heavenly! Our hens are let loose in the backyard every day so the ducks would need to live peaceably free ranging with them--but I would have a separate pen and nest/coop.

All of your duck pics are making me jealous! Thanks for your honest advice! Lastly, where could I get only two Anconas?

 

[duckyfromoz]

Its fine to have just two ducks. The question is once you have those two.... can you stop yourself from getting more???

One on its own would be lonely- so two is good. You mentioned you wanted them for eggs. Were you thinking of getting two females ?

There are a few people on here that have Anconas - not sure how close they may be to you though.

 

[thechickenchick]

I ended up with just one duck. It wasn't on purpose. My neighbor had bought one and raised it for a few months with her chickens. When she offered to give me her flock of 12 she told me if I wanted the duck I could have her, if not they would eat her. SOOOOO I took her and she seems to love her chicken friends

She has a BFF that is a barred rock hen. The hen roosts on the lower edge of the nesting box and the duck makes a nest right under her on the floor. The rest of the hens roost in the rafters!

 

[sourland]

Two would be fine, but understand that they are like potato chips.

 

[thechickenchick]

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[newchickmom09]

I started out with just two ducklings.

Ducks are happy with only one other to keep them company more then that is just added company. Just like everyone else has said the problem is are you going to be able to stop yourself at just two. The two I got at first ended up being male and female. They are inseperable and there is no way I would ever take them apart form each other. Of course last summer I let her sit on her eggs and hatch out 17 ducklings. I really wanted to keep them all but thank goodness my hubby has more common sense then me and told me that probably wouldn't be the best idea.

So I only kept one of the females. If you have one female two one male then that male can really make the female look ragged from over breeding her. I think it is better to have a 2:1 ration with two females and one male. That way the male has two girls. After all of this I went to a ladies house and she had muscovies (I had been really looking into getting some at the time) I just had to take home three. So now we have six ducks running around the yard. Remember I only wanted two.

Your ducks will love being able to run around the yard and they will get along just fine with the chickens after they decide who is who.

 

[HamandLily]

I only have two ducks and they're very happy together!

They must beof the same sex though to prevent fights!

On a side note, keeping one duck is not very good for their well being - they need to interact with at least one other duck and display duck behvaiours towards each other!

Enjoy your duckies!

 

[DuckLover179]

I am getting 2 Female Pekin ducks on Valentines day. They can be happy with just two of them!

 

[gryeyes]

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I have a pair of Cayugas, Thelma and Louie. They love each other. Louie is very protective of Thelma.

Then, because they ARE like potato chips, I bought call duck eggs and hatched four call ducklings. Hey, they're small, they only make up TWO "new" ducks, in size! Anyway, there's one male and 3 female and Louie loves them too, showing them how to do ducky things. Unless Thelma is around, then he ignores the little ducks.

No fights here.

 

[secretquail]

I have Lucky(girl) and Spike(boy). They are platonic as of yet, and best friends. Lucky still thinks she is a person though