drake to duck ratio?

[Duck mommy 2019]

i have a pekin drake, khaki drake, khaki hen, and i’m pretty sure my rouen is a hen.

i’m not too sure about it, but i was wondering if by any chance this ratio could work?

right now we just have the khaki drake (6 weeks), rouen hen (6 weeks), and khaki hen (15 weeks) because my older drake is being petsit until we move.

any tips for introducing him to the other ducks when we go to get them back? will this ratio have any chance of working?

 

[21hens-incharge]

As many times as it is asked the answer will be the same.

No.

Two drakes and two hens is not good for the hens. The drakes will battle over them and repeatedly mate them causing stress, injury, and death.

I have owned a pekin drake. He was the absolute worst about it. I cannot say yours will be but I have read enough to know many are.

I personally would never subject smaller ducks to the attentions of a pekin drake.

They are your birds. Do as you wish but know it is ill advised to keep that ratio.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

As many times as it is asked the answer will be the same.

No.

Two drakes and two hens is not good for the hens. The drakes will battle over them and repeatedly mate them causing stress, injury, and death.

I have owned a pekin drake. He was the absolute worst about it. I cannot say yours will be but I have read enough to know many are.

I personally would never subject smaller ducks to the attentions of a pekin drake.

They are your birds. Do as you wish but know it is ill advised to keep that ratio.

that’s what i thought, so i was going to seperate the khaki drake and get him another drake friend. they won’t be near the girls so no fighting. then my pekin drake will have the khaki and rouen hens. so he has two girls not just one?

 

[3bird]

We had marginal success with two drakes and five hens. These days we have one drake and five hens, and it can still be a challenge from April to August. Once we suss out which hens he is picking on in April or May, we can then manage it pretty effectively, but it does take management in our experience. We have silver Appleyards (large breed).

 

[21hens-incharge]

That would still be putting a giant drake with small hens. Not good on those poor girls. Not great for your other boys either.

Hormones are awful. Your males will mate each other with no hens of their own.

Is there a reason you keep wanting to put that giant drake with the hens?
Is there a reason you are unwilling to keep just one drake instead of rehoming the extras and getting more appropriate sized hens?
Did you know duck hens if small or weak can be drowned by a drake during mating?
Is there any reason why you won't get more females????

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

That would still be putting a giant drake with small hens. Not good on those poor girls. Not great for your other boys either.

Hormones are awful. Your males will mate each other with no hens of their own.

Is there a reason you keep wanting to put that giant drake with the hens?
Is there a reason you are unwilling to keep just one drake instead of rehoming the extras and getting more appropriate sized hens?
Did you know duck hens if small or weak can be drowned by a drake during mating?
Is there any reason why you won't get more females????

i want to put him in with the hens because he doesn’t get along with other drakes, while the khaki drake does (so he can be in with another drake)

they are my pets, i have raised them from babies, and they are imprinted on me. so i’m not rehoming.

i cannot get more hens this year because i am moving soon. maybe i can get 1-2 female ducklings next spring but i don’t know.

 

[DucksOhio]

Since your ducks are relatively young, you probably won’t see an issue until next spring. But I’d recommend getting a lot more females then.

i have 2 drakes to 11 girls. It’s a reasonable mix.

 

[Duckmom27]

In my opinion it really doesn't make sense to separate the khaki drake from the two females to put the pekin with them instead. The khaki has grown up with them and is surely bonded to them and also is going to be closer to their size which will be a lot easier on them for mating. I would find another solution for the pekin. Either find a way for him to have a drake friend he gets along with or get him his own females closer to his size.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

In my opinion it really doesn't make sense to separate the khaki drake from the two females to put the pekin with them instead. The khaki has grown up with them and is surely bonded to them and also is going to be closer to their size which will be a lot easier on them for mating. I would find another solution for the pekin. Either find a way for him to have a drake friend he gets along with or get him his own females closer to his size.

the pekin doesn’t get along with other drakes and i can’t get enough females for him. so if i did that, i would have to rehome him. which i’m not going to do (he’s a year older than the other ducks also, and a lot calmer than the khaki drake)

 

[rp riley]

i want to put him in with the hens because he doesn’t get along with other drakes, while the khaki drake does (so he can be in with another drake)

they are my pets, i have raised them from babies, and they are imprinted on me. so i’m not rehoming.

i cannot get more hens this year because i am moving soon. maybe i can get 1-2 female ducklings next spring but i don’t know.

You might just have to sell a drake. I know how you feel I recently had to rehome 3 drakes that I liked. But remember these are supposed to be farm animals, God put these animals on earth for us to have food. It is just part of raising animals