Do females fare better with a flock or two or three?

[jennytg3]

We have three runner ducks, a brother and sister fawn and a female blue. The female fawn has hurt her leg, and her brother will not stop mounting and mating, just making the leg issue worse we fear. Besides he's an a-hole. So we are thinking of donating him to a good home where his excessive mating might come in handy. But if we trade, we are wondering if introducing a new hen at 18 months will be a good or a bad idea?? Do hens seem less stressed with three, are they more social with three or are they far enough along that we should just keep the two without adding a new female? More eggs would be good, but more concerned about their long term welfare.

Thanks for your thoughts...Cheers

 

[newbyduckmom]

I got 4 straight run ducklings in March. Three of which turned out to be drakes. In June we got an additional two hens. At first the magpie hen (who was about 4 months old when we introduced the two new hens which were one month to her) was very stressed and wanted back in with 'her' flock, but we gradually allowed more time together and finally ended up having two duck houses due to drake problems. The hens have now been together for 2 months, and the are now a flock in their own right.