do i have too many male ducks?

[chickenlady2004]

hey guys so recently i went to a farm and they had two male ducks there. they had angel wing and they decided to give them away because it is a petting farm. i took them home out of shear love for all types of poultry birds and am now realizing i didn’t think about the male to female ratio; i now have 6 females and 5 males. i’ve read that every male should have 2-3 females and now im not sure what do to. i’m assuming that’s too many males??

 

[Jenbirdee]

the ratio is 1 drake = 4 or 5 hens.
Hopefully youhave enough space and can make a separate area for all but one or maybe possibly 2 of your drakes.
Or just go get 20 more girls!! lol

 

[Miss Lydia]

I actually had to do this but not 20 I did get 6 more to add to what I had for 2 Runner drakes.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@chickenlady2004 bless you for caring enough to take these drakes.

 

[ruthhope]

I am so glad you helped the two boys!! Drakes do OK in a flock together without females, as long as there aren't females in site. Perhaps you have enough room for a separate drake flock? Were your 6 females and 3 males doing OK together before? Although we often advise 1 drake to 4 or 5 females, I have found that 1 drake to 2 females works if they were brooded together. Did your 1:2 ratio work for you? You might consider having an all male flock and rotating 1 drake in at a time with your 6 females. Maybe 1 month each.

I had an issue with a drake bullying his drake clutch mate that I was unable to resolve, and so I swapped the bully with my son's drake. My son had 1 drake and 2 females at that time. It worked well, and after about 3 months we swapped the drakes back and the bullying didn't reoccur. Swapping the drakes around didn't make any obvious problems for the females or the two drakes that were swapped.

 

[chickenlady2004]

I am so glad you helped the two boys!! Drakes do OK in a flock together without females, as long as there aren't females in site. Perhaps you have enough room for a separate drake flock? Were your 6 females and 3 males doing OK together before? Although we often advise 1 drake to 4 or 5 females, I have found that 1 drake to 2 females works if they were brooded together. Did your 1:2 ratio work for you? You might consider having an all male flock and rotating 1 drake in at a time with your 6 females. Maybe 1 month each.

I had an issue with a drake bullying his drake clutch mate that I was unable to resolve, and so I swapped the bully with my son's drake. My son had 1 drake and 2 females at that time. It worked well, and after about 3 months we swapped the drakes back and the bullying didn't reoccur. Swapping the drakes around didn't make any obvious problems for the females or the two drakes that were swapped.

they were doing great just the 3 males and 6 females! no problems at all. i’ve been keeping them away from eachother during the day, i have two fences so i have an enclosure for the girls and on male in the day and the boys on the other side. it’s working well, but i only have one duck house. and can’t leave the boys outside at night, so have been putting them in there for now. i’m looking to get or build another house for them but for now im not sure what i can do !

 

[Miss Lydia]

Dog Xpens work great for separating and can be configured a lot of different ways and can be attached to walls with large cup hooks.

 

[ruthhope]

I agree with Mis Lydia. I used dog crates in my duck house -- up to 3 depending which drakes I needed to protect from which drakes !! then Miss Lydia recommended partitioning with temporary dog pens. That is so much more flexible than dog crates!! So now I have one dog crate in my duck house but if I have need for further partitioning -- for example if I get more drakes -- I will bring in a temporary dog pen and fold it appropriately. I use carabiner clips to secure one end to the duck house wall and fold the dog pen as required, securing the other end with carabiner clips, too. I sometimes have to put a sheet of plywood across the top as I have one agile muscovy drake that can get over the top of a dog pen into the compartment with a drake I am trying to keep separately.

Dog pens from Tractor Supply if none available from your local thrift store.
Carabiner clips also best from TSC as much cheaper than Home Depot and much better quality than Harbor Freight

 

[lomine]

In my experience, it depends greatly on the drakes themselves, and not so much the ratios. I've had two drakes with 10 hens, and they were rough with, fought over, and injured the females. I currently have two different drakes with 13 hens and, so far, no issues. Even if you did get a bunch more hens, I'd say there would be a very high likelihood of the 5 drakes ganging up on individual hens if they were all kept in one area.

I like the other's suggestions of picking one drake to be with the hens and separating out the rest of the drakes to make their own flock.

 

[chickenlady2004]

In my experience, it depends greatly on the drakes themselves, and not so much the ratios. I've had two drakes with 10 hens, and they were rough with, fought over, and injured the females. I currently have two different drakes with 13 hens and, so far, no issues. Even if you did get a bunch more hens, I'd say there would be a very high likelihood of the 5 drakes ganging up on individual hens if they were all kept in one area.

I like the other's suggestions of picking one drake to be with the hens and separating out the rest of the drakes to make their own flock.

yes i agree!! i would love to make a whole new enclosure for the drakes, just having trouble finding something but that is definitely my top priority