Crossbreeding danger?

[bettynoodlees]

We have 8 mallard ducks, and 6 of them quack...
and 4 pekins...only one quacks...

I am hoping that because teh girls outtnumber the boys we will be ok

They all travel in a pack so far, and seem to get along fine and I was wondering if the male Pekins would mate (or even try) with the female mallards...

and if they did, would there be a danger to the female mallards from 'oversized' eggs? or simply being hurt by the (much!) bigger birds advances?

 

[duckyfromoz]

A duck wont lay a bigger egg because of the drake she has mated with- Although in mammals- a large baby may be born because the father is much larger - in ducklings- because they have not started developing in the egg- the egg will not be bigger. The ducklings hatched from the regular sized egg may be bigger though when they do actually emerge from the egg. A ratio of 5 males to 7 females may leave you with some drakes showing aggressive behavior as they fight for dominance. If your pekins are anything like mine- they will try and chase down anything that looks like a duck - so your mallards will most likely receive attention from the drakes- and yes if they are rough- the smaller mallards may at time get hurt if the drakes are being too rough.

 

[sourland]

Multiple drakes "gang breeding" hens can seriously injure or even drown them. 2 drakes with that many hens would be more than enough.

 

[bettynoodlees]

Thanks- I really appreciate it, I will keep an eye out for those issues! We are not clipping the mallards wings because we feed them pretty good, so hopefully the girls will be able to get away from the pekins.. Im thinking we might have to put a couple in the freezer:/

 

[jason_mazzy]

I have seen the drowning issue first hand. Also if u have chickens the drakes on the lower end will become aggressive towards theM