Duck issues and need some help!

[nmorris]

I haven't read all the replies, but you might want to call a hunting place, the kind that raise ducks/pheasants/quail for hunting purposes but Id guess they could sell you adult ducks... Sans shooting... Not sure if they would stay amongst the chaos....

 

[13thmaiden]

Huh....you know I didn't think of that. I may check into a hunting area, if anything they might be able to take some drakes if anything.

I was also wondering if maybe I should give them layers feed, the stress may stop them from laying eggs but with some good extra feed they might produce eggs.

I do have another question, while researching more on duck breeds I noticed something. Our mallards have never really 'taken off'. They can jump fly like the Pekins but have never been wing clipped or anything so they should have flight capabilities right? How far can mallards fly? And if these aren't mallards what are they???

Here's some pictures I got of them yesterday:

The crosses, they look khakis don't they?

Everyone comes running to me thinking I'm here to feed, silly ducks you were fed this morning!

You can see how torn up this drake is.

That's one of our ahengas in front sunning

That's Gimpy, yes she's one of the few hens. Which means more stress on her (I accidentally called her a he in my first post xD;; )

Here's some of the drakes, I couldn't get them all in one picture. They kept chasing each other off, and I couldn't get a decent shot of that.

 

[lomine]

In picture 2, the front two look like like Mallards. However, if they are close in size to the Pekin then they aren't Mallards, they are Rouen. Mallards fly very well as they are a migratory bird. Rouen don't fly much.

I have no idea what type of duck is in picture 4. She must be a wild breed, I'm not familiar with them. She is pretty though.

Not sure how helpful layer feed would be in helping the hens lay. It certainly wouldn't hurt them but it's not the best thing for the drakes. Too much calcium for them but way better than bread. Part of the reason you don't have more ducks is probably due to the breeds. Pekin aren't really know for going broody and hatching their own eggs.

 

[13thmaiden]

The fourth is actually called an Anhinga, they are kinda like a loon. They are a wild bird that dive for fish. The one here is the female, we have a male and 2 females (parents and one of their daughters).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhinga if you wanna read some more on them. They're very interesting birds.

See the pekins I know are jumbo (I know much more about them because I was a teen when my next door neighbor got them for his kids for Easter. And despite how much we told him he couldn't have 'livestock' in city limits and he argued ducks weren't livestock he got cited so he threw them out in the pond to keep out of trouble. I also know how to raise ducklings alittle so I was always upset with how they "cared" for them) and the mallards just a little smaller than the pekins, and all of them fly short distances but I've never have seen the mallards fly higher than maybe a foot and go about maybe 3 to 4 feet in distance, about the same as the pekins.

 

[nmorris]

if you can get close enough to the mallards and see if they are missing one of their back toes then they are not wild ducks. Mallards are like 2.5 lbs where most other domestic ducks are like 7lbs or more. So if the mallards are similar in size they are Rouen, you can also have your mallards pinioned (i think that's what its called) where, when they hatch they take the tips of the wing off, they look normal, but can never fly. Good luck, we are having the holy wars of Canadian Geese over here, quite dramatic to watch! But I won't let them stay on my pond (RC boat does the trick if i can't head them off on land )

 

[13thmaiden]

Getting them that close is hard xD I'll try to see if I can coax them closer for pictures for better identification.

 

[13thmaiden]

I am happy to report that the situation has settled down, it seems that we had two mallard hens who had been hiding out in the tall trees where we couldn't find them. The girls are a little feather bare on the back of their heads but no full on totally plucked and scabbed. We think the two hiders had already starting up a nest and getting broody, hence the extra fighting between the males and extra harassment as of late. Do ducks have pecking orders like chickens? I wondered if that female's death set off a turf war which is why it seemed so much more chaotic than usual.

I pulled out their favorite treat, mealworms and cracked corn (I feed them that after a tip from a couple of friends that raise chickens. I know alot of chicken farmers but not one duck keeper xD) and got them all up, finally making the count at 21 ducks (it helps when you have more eyes to get a proper count while the pekins are trying to get the bag out of your hand). I'm gonna try to sneak some more treats to Gimpy and the brooding hens since they really didn't get any.

I got proper identification on the mallards, they are pure wild stock, all toe nails intact and great flight ability when you pull out the treat bag to get across the pond fast.

I feel better now knowing the right count and hen/Drake ratio. There's still more boys than girls but it's not as bad as I thought. Thanks guys!

 

[lomine]

That's good to hear. Glad they are working it out.

To answer your question. Yes, duck flocks do have a peeking order. However they are generally not as aggressive about it as chickens. Though having multiple drakes can get complicated. In my flock of three ducks I have a very clear leader (all hens). She will "herd" the others a little. I originally had four. When I lost one it threw off the flock dynamic for a while. She wasn't the leader but sort of an enforcer. After her death one of the others began to act like the leader and was a bit pushy toward the other two. After a while the original leader reestablished herself and harmony was restored. I believe the original leader and the one that died were very close so she was depressed for a while.

 

[chickmomma03]

Wild ducks shouldn't be messed with, and your neighborhood messing with them is just creating problems. I wouldn't try to bring new ducks in, I wouldn't even try to raise ducklings and then release them (IMO once they're domesticated they're domesticated).