Duck to Drake Ratio

[FishinDucko]

Ive read numerous posts and have seen ratios suggested drake: duck being 1:3 or 1:4.

Due to some mishaps I'm going to be at 2:3 which I know isn't ideal and I was wondering if anyone had an off ratio and it worked out? I fear I will have to rehome a drake if they start fighting and I would hate to do that. The drakes are not mature and I don't think either are mating yet - so no issues so far. Getting more females is not an option, 3-4 ducks is all I should have with my limited urban space and as previously mentioned I'm already at 5.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Fighting has never been a real problem with my ducks, or with my chickens. (Except with cockerels, but they're hormonal idiots, and there were no serious injuries) The problem was that the boys would gang up together and assault the girls.

I have never had an off-ratio work with ducks.

 

[FishinDucko]

Well. The khaki Male, although he's younger, is very accommodating. He doesn't react to the mallards signs of dominance, no offenses granted. The khaki Male who seems very even tempered has never even snipped at the mallard. Neither does the khaki female. On a plus side the mallard drake is going to be by far the smallest in the flock. Khakis will be 1-2lbs larger and I'm certainly not going to worry about the buff duck female and cayuga female ringing in almost twice the weight of the mallard Male. But the potential fighting and unfairness/joy of the females is something I'm concerned about. I guess I'm wondering if anyone else has attempted an off ratio like I'm going to attempt to deal with. It's not ideal.

 

[Miss Lydia]

There is always time out if you want to keep two drake just give the girls time out if the boys get to randy with them. Some even have two separate areas for their drake or drakes from their females. @onaharley is one .

 

[MillersFarm]

No, I have not had an off- ratio that has worked out, I usually have no less than 4 hens for a drakes, And when i'm keeping multiple drakes in one group i like to have 6 hens per drakes, Right now I have 2 standard size drakes and 15 standard hens all in one group, I've got some other hens too that aren't quite old enough to be out with the drakes just yet..

 

[FishinDucko]

There is always time out if you want to keep two drake just give the girls time out if the boys get to randy with them. Some even have two separate areas for their drake or drakes from their females. @onaharley is one .

This is certainly an option. I have a coop, which is attached to a 10x6run, which is separated by a door to a 10x6 pool area. Timeout in the pool area would be fine. Surely the mallard won't hate being in the water area. Oddly enough the khakis don't prefer the water nearly as much as the mallard.

 

[Table4Six]

My first duck experience with ducks was not good. I was inexperienced and had little knowledge about their mating behavior. I got 8 straight run ducklings and ended up with three bantam hens, one bantam drake, and four standard size drakes. You can probably guess how that ended.

I've learned from my mistakes, and have never taken that risk again as one of the bantam hens had gotten severe conjunctivitis from gang mating. Gang mating is extremely dangerous for hens, it occurs when they drakes are fighting over who gets to breed one hen and their saliva gets in her eye, it can cause sever infection. Luckily, she recovered well. My current ratio is: 2 bantam drakes, 20 standard size hens, and 6 bantam hens all together in one big flock. Good luck with your birds, I hope everything works out for you.

 

[onaharley]

This is certainly an option. I have a coop, which is attached to a 10x6run, which is separated by a door to a 10x6 pool area. Timeout in the pool area would be fine. Surely the mallard won't hate being in the water area. Oddly enough the khakis don't prefer the water nearly as much as the mallard.

Sounds like you have a great way of separating everyone. I ended up separating my entire back yard and their sleeping quarters.

 

[FishinDucko]

My first duck experience with ducks was not good. I was inexperienced and had little knowledge about their mating behavior. I got 8 straight run ducklings and ended up with three bantam hens, one bantam drake, and four standard size drakes. You can probably guess how that ended.

I've learned from my mistakes, and have never taken that risk again as one of the bantam hens had gotten severe conjunctivitis from gang mating. Gang mating is extremely dangerous for hens, it occurs when they drakes are fighting over who gets to breed one hen and their saliva gets in her eye, it can cause sever infection. Luckily, she recovered well. My current ratio is: 2 bantam drakes, 20 standard size hens, and 6 bantam hens all together in one big flock. Good luck with your birds, I hope everything works out for you.

If you have 2 drakes to 26 hens that makes me think I should rehome a drake and be 1:3 and see how that works out. I require a happy flock or I won't enjoy the hobby.

 

[Table4Six]

I am actually looking to get some call duck drakes, I have enough hens, and one of my existing drakes is a wood duck and they do not demonstrate as aggressive mating behavior as mallard derived breeds. I don't think it would hurt to try your preexisting ratio and see how it goes, as long as you keep up with monitoring the drakes behavior and separate them if it gets out of hand. Who knows, it might work. Would it be possible to get a few more hens?