Combining pairs

[Tfoley]

I have a pair of back east indies, can I put them in the run with my other pair of larger ducks? I have a Rouen drake and female Ancona, so they are significantly larger than the east indies

 

[Jenbirdee]

I think you can put them together if you first let them get used to each other on opposite sides of a fence, for at least 2 weeks. If they lay down near each other at the fence line, thats a good sign they will do fine together. You might have trouble if the drake is bigger than the ducks and mates with them though, so I dont really know! But I do know that there are people who have chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, and guineas all together and they seem to have no problems. I however, keep my ducks and geese separate. I think now that they've seen each other through the fence for a couple of years, Im pretty sure they would do fine together, however, the grass that the geese have on their side of the fence would be no more if I let the ducks on it. And geese love to eat grass. And I am also concerned that my gander might try to mate with some of the ducks and they are a lot smaller than him, soooo...I keep them separate for me it works

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I would not recommend putting them together. I had a pair of Khakis and then six months later added a group of three Khakis (one drake and two hens). At first, the boys fought for dominance. After they got over that, they became friends but they would rape and injure the other drakes females whenever they got a chance. It got so bad that I was forced to re-home the original drake. Later, I got two more females hoping that would help. Now, three years later, my drake still has to be in drake jail every spring and summer because he still hurts my original hen and one of the new ones. All that to say, I think it would be a major mistake to put them together, especially if there is a size difference.

 

[Quatie]

I agree with @cheezenkwackers . I won't say it won't work out, but it could possibly go horribly wrong. Larger drakes can drown females in the water when mating. Since they have such a large size difference, drowning would be my largest concern. I have a pretty chill Saxony drake, and I sometimes worry about him with my runners. If both drakes had more females it could be possible that they would do fine together, then again maybe not. It really depends on the drakes. Even just a pair of ducks doesn't always work, and the Drake will over mates the female. But sometimes it works just fine. You would have to decide if you would want to take the risk. Personally I wouldn't in this situation.