Ducks and geese together?

[CountryFried]

So! All my birds seem to be a bit precocious! And now I have pen problems, I wasn't expecting to have right now, ugh. I thought my ducks wouldn't be interested in mating until Spring, same for the geese, BUT. The first duck egg I got was fertilized. I thought I was looking at it wrong, but nope, they are definitely mating. And Papa Goose is trying to mate with my ducks, too. I've only seen him try to mate female ducks, so here are my questions.

The geese are being moved TONIGHT to a pen inside my duck yard. That will leave me 7 female and 7 male ducks. I really want to keep 4 of my male ducks, but I know I can't have 4 males and 7 females in the same yard, so...could I put my excess males in the goose pen? (It's 32' by 16', made of cattle panels covered in chicken wire, the duck yard is about 6,000 sq ft.) Will the gander try to mate the drakes? Will the drakes kill each other if they can't get to the females on the other side of the wire?

Thanks for any advice, I know it's a terrible problem to have, but I have guineas laying before they were 4 months and my ducks and geese are mating way before I thought I read they would!

 

[sylviethecochin]

Will the gander try to mate the drakes?

Unlikely, but not completely out of the realm of possibility. I think the bigger issue would be the gander deciding he doesn't like having unmatable birds locked in with him and his girls. My little embdens are only ten weeks old, and if they don't like a duck, they have no qualms about letting that duck know.

Will the drakes kill each other if they can't get to the females on the other side of the wire?

It happens, and there are stories on here about it. Frustrated drakes will often fight, but it doesn't usually escalate beyond feather-pulling, especially if they are of similar size. Drakes that are locked in together sometimes try to mate each other.

 

[CountryFried]

Unlikely, but not completely out of the realm of possibility. I think the bigger issue would be the gander deciding he doesn't like having unmatable birds locked in with him and his girls. My little embdens are only ten weeks old, and if they don't like a duck, they have no qualms about letting that duck know.

It happens, and there are stories on here about it. Frustrated drakes will often fight, but it doesn't usually escalate beyond feather-pulling, especially if they are of similar size. Drakes that are locked in together sometimes try to mate each other.

OK, guess I'll try it and see how it goes LOL. They've all been together since they were a few days old, but the geese definitely rule the yard! Always planned freezer camp for extra drakes but we kinda love them