Does it matter what kind of drake I add to my flock?

[chicken mother]

I have 4 welsh harlequin hens and 2 silver appleyard hens. I want a drake for the purpose of fertilizing eggs. I was worried about the sizing of the ducks. Is it hazardous to my ducks if I get a heavy breed? And if I get a light breed, will it be able to fertilize the silver appleyards? Would an indian runner work? Or a cayuga? I don’t have any medium breeds available in my area, but I could maybe wait for one to be available. I’d prefer a drake thats a different color from my ducks, but at the end of the day I mostly just want the eggs fertilized.

 

[Fuchsia]

I think it’s always best to have a drake that is the same size or smaller than the ducks. A light weight duck with a heavy weight drake will probably get over mated.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

If your Welsh Harlequins are silvers (most are) and you get a brown drake like a Khaki Campbell or a chocolate or fawn/white runner, your ducklings will be sex linked. Girl ducklings will be brownish. Boy ducklings will be blackish. My current drake is 1/2 Appleyard and 1/2 Khaki, this is him.

FYI, as beautiful as a Cayuga drake is he would produce all black ducklings with those hens if you were looking for variety.

 

[chicken mother]

I think it’s always best to have a drake that is the same size or smaller than the ducks. A light weight duck with a heavy weight drake will probably get over mated.

yes, thats what i was thinking, thanks!

 

[chicken mother]

If your Welsh Harlequins are silvers (most are) and you get a brown drake like a Khaki Campbell or a chocolate or fawn/white runner, your ducklings will be sex linked. Girl ducklings will be brownish. Boy ducklings will be blackish. My current drake is 1/2 Appleyard and 1/2 Khaki, this is him.
View attachment 2750198
FYI, as beautiful as a Cayuga drake is he would produce all black ducklings with those hens if you were looking for variety.

ohh thats cool! i think i’ll wait til i find a khaki campbell, then. thank you! and you’ve got some pretty ducks

 

[Luv Ducks]

My Drake that fertilized all of my Rouen Hen's eggs was a Mallard that was a lot smaller. He managed to mate all five of the hens I had, both Rouen and Mallard with no problems at all and on dry land with no pool available to them. A smaller Drake is your best bet for your hens I feel and mine had no problem at all with any of my Hens.

 

[Parront]

If you want girls that lay well, a layer breed drake would be best. If you want meat ducks, a male Pekin would give you big boys! Those breeds are pretty large, and would be fine with a Pekin drake, I would expect.

 

[Lilbitsnpieces]

I have 4 welsh harlequin hens and 2 silver appleyard hens. I want a drake for the purpose of fertilizing eggs. I was worried about the sizing of the ducks. Is it hazardous to my ducks if I get a heavy breed? And if I get a light breed, will it be able to fertilize the silver appleyards? Would an indian runner work? Or a cayuga? I don’t have any medium breeds available in my area, but I could maybe wait for one to be available. I’d prefer a drake thats a different color from my ducks, but at the end of the day I mostly just want the eggs fertilized.

I have black swedish, cayuga mix (this i know because eggs are tan not black tint) and Buff Orpingtons ducks. My drake is a buff...you can see the mix in the photo and they too are sex-linked

 

[MamaLynn23]

If your Welsh Harlequins are silvers (most are) and you get a brown drake like a Khaki Campbell or a chocolate or fawn/white runner, your ducklings will be sex linked. Girl ducklings will be brownish. Boy ducklings will be blackish. My current drake is 1/2 Appleyard and 1/2 Khaki, this is him.
View attachment 2750198
FYI, as beautiful as a Cayuga drake is he would produce all black ducklings with those hens if you were looking for variety.

Also, in my experience, Cayugas are VERY horny. He will be really productive in the fertilizing aspect, but the problem is it may be a little TOO productive!

 

[indianaducks]

My fawn/white runner male is a nice size for my varied flock and only has issues reaching my gigantic pekin ladies. But he doesn't seem to be too big for my smaller ladies. I have 3 drakes and recently hatched 6/10 duck eggs. At least 4 of the 6 hatched are likely his offspring as they clearly have the runner stance and similar coloring so far. He certainly had no issues getting the deed done LOL.