duck ratio

aaronmg

Chirping
Jul 25, 2021
63
33
56
so I have 4 ducks, two cayugas and two white campbells. from the off i had believed that i had 3 females and 1 male (i foresaw gender ratio issues), using the vent sexing method I saw 1 male and 2 females, and my final duck was a lot smaller than her cayuga brother from as young as 3 days old so I believed she was female. however she isn't quacking and neither is one of my campbells, but as luck would have it the larger cayuga who i thought was a male has been quacking from 4 weeks old and same story with my other cayuga. it could be the other ducks are later bloomers or my two quackers are early risers. point is i believe i have 2 male and 2 female ducks, this isn't the ratio I wanted but I don't want to rehouse anyone as they've become loving pets. is my ratio okay? or do I need to find another female duck?
 
What is your space like? Are they shut in at night? Drakes can be hard on the hens, so many try to keep four duck hens for every drake. I do allow my numbers to get to 1:1 and have not had a problem with it, but they are completely free range. ( This of course has other risks that many duck owners avoid) If you plan to shut them in even for nights you should probably increase your hen to drake ratio.
 
:welcome 2 drakes and 2 hens or even 3 hens raises the potential for problems. Drakes sometimes start competitively/gang breeding hens. If that happens have a 'Plan B' in mind. This could be as simple as a separate run for the drakes. Good luck.
 
What is your space like? Are they shut in at night? Drakes can be hard on the hens, so many try to keep four duck hens for every drake. I do allow my numbers to get to 1:1 and have not had a problem with it, but they are completely free range. ( This of course has other risks that many duck owners avoid) If you plan to shut them in even for nights you should probably increase your hen to drake ratio.
they're still very young (5 & 7 weeks) and are currently sleeping in an old dog crate right now before moving into their pen temporarily and then duck house. the house will be 4x5 feet and the pen approximately 8x5 feet, but a lot of the time they free range the garden because im currently at home a lot. i have a white campbell who is 5 weeks on wednesday whos voice has taken a croaky turn, but my cayuga who I always thought was a drake because of his larger size compared to my other cayuga seems to be quacking, and idk if young drakes start out with a quack and develop the croaky rasping later on? I have a clip of the noise he's making but unfortunately I can't attach it to this response. my small cayuga is also just kind of softly clucking, no quack no whistling noises so I have no idea what to make of it
 
:welcome 2 drakes and 2 hens or even 3 hens raises the potential for problems. Drakes sometimes start competitively/gang breeding hens. If that happens have a 'Plan B' in mind. This could be as simple as a separate run for the drakes. Good luck.
oh no, i thought by adding an extra duck it would help with the ratio. its still really early days, but one of my white campbells voices has taken a croaky turn which i think indicates a drake. my two cayuga ducks are older and neither are making those croaky broken pips, I have a fair amount of knowledge about ducks but no experience whatsoever, so I have no idea what to be looking for in these earlier stages to determine gender. i dont know if young quacking will develop into a rasp, i dont know when the earliest and when the latest a duck will start quacking (my earliest started quacking at 4 weeks which I had never heard of before), I don't know if ducks can be late bloomers regarding on when they start quacking, so Its been really worry some because im at a loss
 
Quacks will not turn to rasps, but drakes will generally peep longer than hens.
my little cayuga is 7 weeks old this wednesday and the younger ducks have either quacked, honked, or started their croaking, and her voice is still very soft (i say she because I have always thought she was a she). plus she's noticeably a lot smaller than the duck that is quacking (apparently she came from a small egg but i thought she would still grow) im at a complete loss with it because so much of the methods of determining gender are conflicting
 
Late quackers do happen. My cayuga was a late quacker, she didn't start until about 4+ months. I wish I remembered her exact age. I think it is possible, but not typical.

I think @Andrea PNW has experience with a late quacker, too.

If you put a video on YouTube you can paste the link here and people can help voice sex.
 
Late quackers do happen. My cayuga was a late quacker, she didn't start until about 4+ months. I wish I remembered her exact age. I think it is possible, but not typical.

I think @Andrea PNW has experience with a late quacker, too.

If you put a video on YouTube you can paste the link here and people can help voice sex.
wow that late?? i was thinking it be around 9-10 weeks the latest. this duck is so small, like i thought my other cayuga was a male because this duck was so small in comparison, but then she started unmistakably quacking! she doesn't make a lot of noise, her voice is very fair and soft, nothing like the drake whos voice started croaking and cracking. it makes the happy laughing sounding clucking noise like the other female ducks do. i would post a video of her, but theres not really much noise to record
 

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