Drake/hen mating season prep - gulp

[Andrea PNW]

Hey there fellow duck parents - well, considering the bright iridescent green feathers that are finally making an appearance - Barbe and Ed are most likely drakes. Which is fine except I ended up rescuing a much older female rouen (long story). Right now she's definitely the boss of both of them - she's much bigger and doesn't take any of their 3mo old sh*t.

I've always known if they turned out to be drakes I'd need to get at least 3 more hens if I wanted to grow my flock - but I was just thoroughly traumatized reading about what's in store when mating season arrives come February.

So here is my question(s): new female ducklings won't make their way to me until March at the earliest - and even then it's going to be months before I can introduce them to Barbe and Ed.

1. Do I separate my female Rouen (Ruthie) from the boys in February to spare her the gang rape even tho it might make her unhappy to be away from them and she sorta smacks them around and shows them who's boss now? She's like a Sr citizen - I think that's why she was dumped. I doubt she lays anymore but who knows.

2. When I do get my lady ducklings in the spring, I imagine there is a whole process for introducing in a bunch of younger hens? There is probably a post about that here somewhere.

Mind you - they are my pets, I'm not creating a business nor do I want a giant flock of ducks. I wanted just a few - but now that I've got two drakes.... man that sorta throws a wrench in all of that.

Do I have to get rid of one of my drakes to make things more manageable? Ugh - that makes my heart hurt if that's what y'all recommend.

 

[HappyDuckie]

If it will be a while before getting more female ducks, separating her will be best. Getting rid of one drake is the easiest option, since you want to start a business

 

[LT71689]

check around craigslist, FB groups, the rehoming forum a bit further down the forums page from this one, put the word out at your local feed/farm store, etc to see if you can find some adult females before spring. Even if/when you get the ducklings in the spring...they're babies... they'll take several MORE months to catch up with the size of the adults and be able to hold their own against the adult drakes. Add that to the newbies being the "outsiders" and potentially having difficulties being introduced and integrating in with the original 3 no matter their age or size, I'd really strive to get some big adult females over ducklings. Especially if you plan to keep both drakes. Common recommendation is 4+ hens PER drake, so you wouldnt need just 3 more, you'd want 7 or more (maybe more to keep barbe and ed from fighting too much)

In the meantime I'd keep a really close eye on the three of them. Mating behaviour can reduce over the winter, but the second you see them on her it'll be time to separate them, and she'll need to be fully separated or the boys will fight each other. They cant continue to mingle with her or be somewhere they can see her.

 

[Andrea PNW]

check around craigslist, FB groups, the rehoming forum a bit further down the forums page from this one, put the word out at your local feed/farm store, etc to see if you can find some adult females before spring. Even if/when you get the ducklings in the spring...they're babies... they'll take several MORE months to catch up with the size of the adults and be able to hold their own against the adult drakes. Add that to the newbies being the "outsiders" and potentially having difficulties being introduced and integrating in with the original 3 no matter their age or size, I'd really strive to get some big adult females over ducklings. Especially if you plan to keep both drakes. Common recommendation is 4+ hens PER drake, so you wouldnt need just 3 more, you'd want 7 or more (maybe more to keep barbe and ed from fighting too much)

In the meantime I'd keep a really close eye on the three of them. Mating behaviour can reduce over the winter, but the second you see them on her it'll be time to separate them, and she'll need to be fully separated or the boys will fight each other. They cant continue to mingle with her or be somewhere they can see her.

Oh gawd. Ok.

 

[LT71689]

Oh gawd. Ok.

some people can manage to get away with lower numbers, but its really dependent on the individual ducks and its not something I'd personally bet on myself. You can try going lower and seeing how they do, but you might wind up having to deal with injuries, and if its difficult to find more in a hurry that might put you in a bit of a jam. Just up to you how you want to handle that.

I'd still aim for adults though, however many you get. Integrating ducklings can be tricky regardless, and your drakes first mating season is probably gonna be a bit extra hellish than usual, adults, especially ones of a bigger breed than the drakes could fend them off better.

 

[Andrea PNW]

some people can manage to get away with lower numbers, but its really dependent on the individual ducks and its not something I'd personally bet on myself. You can try going lower and seeing how they do, but you might wind up having to deal with injuries, and if its difficult to find more in a hurry that might put you in a bit of a jam. Just up to you how you want to handle that.

I'd still aim for adults though, however many you get. Integrating ducklings can be tricky regardless, and your drakes first mating season is probably gonna be a bit extra hellish than usual, adults, especially ones of a bigger breed than the drakes could fend them off better.

Double oh gawd. Ok - then I need to re-home one of my drakes. Thank you so much, it's going to be a rough next couple of months while I figure out next steps.

 

[Andrea PNW]

Double oh gawd. Ok - then I need to re-home one of my drakes. Thank you so much, it's going to be a rough next couple of months while I figure out next steps.

They are just about 12wks now and I'm not 100% sure Barbe is a drake yet so my next step will be to get them officially sexed by a vet and if they are both drakes then I'll re-home Barbe and get two adult females for Ed. I knew tangentially the sex formula was important but today I really started reading about how violent mating is. What a rookie mistake.

Neither of them have the butt curl feathers and it wasn't until this week that I noticed Ed's head was getting mighty green for a cayuga duck/hen. If I hadn't rescued Ruthie I would just have stuck with drakes but now given what she's lived thru she's the family favorite so rehoming her isn't an option.

Ed is my favorite of the two -but I still can't imagine separating him from Barbe. But I should of thought of that before I took on two unsexed cayuga ducklings. Sigh - you live and you learn.

 

[ibarbidahl]

Post pics, and video. We can sex them for you!
So you have a few options....

Separate the female from males...consider getting another female for companionship... let free range with drake occasionally for fertility reasons if warranted. (keep 2 smaller, separate flocks)

Remove 1 drake now...and let the hen and him bond prior to mating season. See how it goes, and keep an eye on them. Consider getting a second or even third hen to remove breeding pressure - but the drake will have a preferred hen. Count on that.

Your issue is that 1 drake can service 5 hens easily - if not more. SO..... you could get another 6 or 7 hens....but is that really what you want? You'd need to buy from a breeder -for sexed day old poultry that can get really expensive in smaller quantities.


FYI - even experienced bird owners end up with this problem. Currently I have 2 drakes and only need 1. My kids are involved in FFA so after fair in February (Mating ramps up in March here) I'll keep whichever drake places best in the show and sell the other. I am also in need of a drake for one of my hens to produce show quality ducklings for next year...but I don't want to keep the drake so I'll raise the drake and a few extra hens and sell them as a set after setting the eggs I need. You have to figure out if you want pets or a business. You CAN have both as long as you don't get attached to the drakes. LOL. which brings us back to your predicament....

 

[Floof]

They are just about 12wks now and I'm not 100% sure Barbe is a drake yet so my next step will be to get them officially sexed by a vet and if they are both drakes then I'll re-home Barbe and get two adult females for Ed. I knew tangentially the sex formula was important but today I really started reading about how violent mating is. What a rookie mistake.

Neither of them have the butt curl feathers and it wasn't until this week that I noticed Ed's head was getting mighty green for a cayuga duck/hen. If I hadn't rescued Ruthie I would just have stuck with drakes but now given what she's lived thru she's the family favorite so rehoming her isn't an option.

Ed is my favorite of the two -but I still can't imagine separating him from Barbe. But I should of thought of that before I took on two unsexed cayuga ducklings. Sigh - you live and you learn.

I wouldn't rehome either male UNTIL it becomes a problem. It may never be a problem. Some males are aggressive maters and some are not. Just have a dog crate ready in the spring in case you may need it. I think if you add 4 females to your flock, they may very well work it out and you will be fine.

 

[AngelaY]

I think you *MIGHT* be ok for the winter but f you keep a VERY close eye on them, and have a plan B if the boys start to get rowdy. I also think that you'll be ok with just getting 3 more females in the spring