Ducks mating question

[KittyKat10]

Hi all! I’m new here. We have 9 ducks that we hatched. They’re approximately a year and a half old. We have 6 males and 3 females. I understand that there should be much more females than males, but this is the way they are, and we can’t get anymore ducks. They are our pets and we love them to pieces. We had them all together, but the males were mating them to the point that they had sores on their necks and missing feathers on their neck and broken feathers/ sores on their body. We decided to keep the females separate. We also have one male that was getting beat up very badly by our resident bully, so we put him with the girls…once the girls healed fully, we decided to reintroduce them back to the flock. so now we have the 3 females and 3 of the males together, because all the males would do is sit there and stare through the fence at the girls. They seemed miserable. We are checking the girls daily for signs of over breeding but so far, they are fine. However, We have 3 Swedish black males who are the most aggressive. They would all 3 climb on top of one girl at once and were very rough. Much rougher than our 1 male Pekin and 2 male rouens. But now I’m feeling bad for them. The three of them are always watching the rest of the flock and seem miserable in their separate area (which is pretty large and they have their own pool). I just feel so bad. I don’t want our girls to get hurt again, but also hate keeping them isolated. So does anyone have any advice ??? Also does anyone know if their sex drives diminish at all as they get older ? Any advice/ suggestions are very welcome. Thank you so much in advance!

 

[Jenbirdee]

I would rehome all but one drake.
Otherwise you will come out one day and find a dead female. then another, until all you have is drakes. so sorry to say it but that is what happens.
Drakes are the number one most sexually aggressive animal in the entire animal kingdom.
The other option is to rehome all the girls, and just keep an all drake flock.

when i first got a straight run of 10 khakis, I eneded up with 7 drakes. and I ended up rehoming ALL of them, and just getting more girls. I have had an all girl flock ever since. well except for when I rescued a drake but again after a few months realized I had to rehome him too.

 

[KittyKat10]

I would rehome all but one drake.
Otherwise you will come out one day and find a dead female. then another, until all you have is drakes. so sorry to say it but that is what happens.
Drakes are the number one most sexually aggressive animal in the entire animal kingdom.
The other option is to rehome all the girls, and just keep an all drake flock.

when i first got a straight run of 10 khakis, I eneded up with 7 drakes. and I ended up rehoming ALL of them, and just getting more girls. I have had an all girl flock ever since. well except for when I rescued a drake but again after a few months realized I had to rehome him too.

Thanks. We did look into the possibility of rehoming some of the boys, the black Swedish as they are the most aggressive. But nobody, and I mean nobody would take them. Not even duck sanctuaries around here. I even looked into some sanctuaries in other states and miles away. I know some people just go and drop them in a pond and leave them, but no way in hell would we ever do that. They are seriously like our kids. We love them all so much. I guess we will continue to keep them separate. It seems to be our only option at this point.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks. We did look into the possibility of rehoming some of the boys, the black Swedish as they are the most aggressive. But nobody, and I mean nobody would take them. Not even duck sanctuaries around here. I even looked into some sanctuaries in other states and miles away. I know some people just go and drop them in a pond and leave them, but no way in hell would we ever do that. They are seriously like our kids. We love them all so much. I guess we will continue to keep them separate. It seems to be our only option at this point.

What state are you in? as far as I know Carolina Waterfowl rescue is still taking animals including ducks.

 

[KittyKat10]

What state are you in? as far as I know Carolina Waterfowl rescue is still taking animals including ducks.

Thanks. We are in Connecticut. We are really hoping to find a solution where we can keep them all. We’re so attached to them. It’s working the way we have it now, so it’s not the worst thing. I just wish they could all be together like they used to be. I know the boys can’t help it. It’s just the way they’re wired and we know that. But thanks for the tip about the Carolina sanctuary. Should we need to, at least we have a lead now. Thanks again!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have 3 Runner drakes and 2 hatched this past summer so I may be doing exactly what you are doing having boys separate from the girls.

 

[RisingPhoenixFarms]

Hormones are probably settling for the year as mating season winds down. You'll likely have the same issue with over-mating next season. If your not wanting to rehome any then it would probably be best just to have 2 separate flocks. An all male one and either an all girl one or one that includes only 1 male. More than 1 male is just too much for only 3 hens.

 

[KittyKat10]

I have 3 Runner drakes and 2 hatched this past summer so I may be doing exactly what you are doing having boys separate from the girls.

I don’t like it that way, but it does keep them from hurting each other.

 

[KittyKat10]

Hormones are probably settling for the year as mating season winds down. You'll likely have the same issue with over-mating next season. If your not wanting to rehome any then it would probably be best just to have 2 separate flocks. An all male one and either an all girl one or one that includes only 1 male. More than 1 male is just too much for only 3 hens.

Thanks! Do you know if their sex drive diminishes at all as they age ? They seem to want to mate all the time.

 

[RisingPhoenixFarms]

Thanks! Do you know if their sex drive diminishes at all as they age ? They seem to want to mate all the time.

Not really. In my experience they get a little less aggressive about it but they always seem to want to mate. It is their life purpose to mate as often as possible. They will need to be separated their entire lives unless you can bring your ratios up to 4:1 (5:1 is better) or remove most of the drakes.

I have a 7:2 ratio (it's slightly off) and i have to separate my boys out at times to give the girls a break.