duck breed companions

[slippednfell]

In the spring, I am planning on getting 6 or 8 Cayuga ducklings. I would also like to get a few call ducks. Would these two breeds do well together or would one breed get bullied by the other?

 

[PirateGirl]

I think if you are housing different breeds of ducks together it is best to get ducks of a similar weight.

 

[Steven Bussell]

I think if you are housing different breeds of ducks together it is best to get ducks of a similar weight.

I totally agree. I have almost 8 week old cayuga's.. They are like a Peterbilt.
But the colors are starting to pop.

 

[ANightPerson]

Generally, it depends on the ducks. They could be fine. I've houses standard-sized ducks with calls before and they were fine. They were all one flock, they all got along. The only thing that I would worry about is standard-sized drakes trying to mate with female calls. That can be dangerous & harmful.

 

[ANightPerson]

If you raise them all together, they should be completely fine as long as you make sure that they're not picking on the calls too much.

 

[Orca5094]

Calls have big attitudes for their size, they're kind of like the Chihuahuas of the duck world. I introduced two female calls to my small flock of female Cayugas and Cayuga crosses several years ago. They integrated right in with no problem. In fact, the two calls immediately asserted dominance over my 3 very large Cayuga crosses and remain above them in the flock hierarchy today. I just love those little munchkins. <3

 

[ANightPerson]

Calls have big attitudes for their size, they're kind of like the Chihuahuas of the duck world. I introduced two female calls to my small flock of female Cayugas and Cayuga crosses several years ago. They integrated right in with no problem. In fact, the two calls immediately asserted dominance over my 3 very large Cayuga crosses and remain above them in the flock hierarchy today. I just love those little munchkins. <3

Love it! I had the tiniest little Cayuga hen you've ever seen who was at the top of the pecking order in with a flock of jumbo Pekins. It's the funniest thing watching all of these huge, beefy birds all follow one tiny one in a line.

 

[HuffleClaw]

I wouldn’t put together calls and Cayugas. The call hens can be hurt physically by bigger Cayuga drakes, if one was to mate with the Call Duck.

 

[Amer]

If they are raised together they should be fine. They're still young, and Runners are lighter than Cayugas, but I think that the way Calls prove their obvious dominance over the Runners shows that Cayugas would be no different. Of course you may want more Calls than Cayugas because why not?

 

[slippednfell]

If you raise them all together, they should be completely fine as long as you make sure that they're not picking on the calls too much.

Yes, I would get them at the same time from a hatchery and raise them together.

Of course you may want more Calls than Cayugas

I was thinking of getting more Cayugas to Calls ratio, but it seems that may be a recipe for disaster, base on many answers.

Thank you all for your input. I will have to rethink this.