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[Okidokie]

We purchased six silkie bantams and two runner ducks from Tractor Supply.
No one there could give us any clues on sex of any of the birds.

Turns out we have FIVE roosters and we still are not sure what the two ducks lean toward.

All we know is today we found our first chicken egg which is smaller and light brown.

Problem we have is that our dog, cat, chickens, and ducks all get along and free range.

Except that one or two of the roosters hump everything in sight especially BOTH ducks.

Then I witnessed one duck on top of the other a few days later.

The chickens pin the ducks head down and go to it many times a day. We have had to separate them during the day but at night they all go to roost and no problems. How can we sex the chickens and ducks POSITIVELY and how might we keep the roosters away from the ducks without making chicken salad?

 

[Miss Lydia]

We purchased six silkie bantams and two runner ducks from Tractor Supply.
No one there could give us any clues on sex of any of the birds.

Turns out we have FIVE roosters and we still are not sure what the two ducks lean toward.

All we know is today we found our first chicken egg which is smaller and light brown.

Problem we have is that our dog, cat, chickens, and ducks all get along and free range.

Except that one or two of the roosters hump everything in sight especially BOTH ducks.

Then I witnessed one duck on top of the other a few days later.

The chickens pin the ducks head down and go to it many times a day. We have had to separate them during the day but at night they all go to roost and no problems. How can we sex the chickens and ducks POSITIVELY and how might we keep the roosters away from the ducks without making chicken salad?

Way too many roos so either chicken salad or new homes would be best, I've never had any of my roos try to mate with my ducks, maybe it's the drakes presence that keeps them from it, usually it's the opposite with folks coming here the drakes trying to mate with chickens, and that's a death sentence for a chicken since they are not made for that kind of mating. The roos cannot mate with your ducks but can pull out feathers and make them miserable by trying, keeping them separate is your only choice unless rehoming or eating. ducks can be sexed by vent sexing which is pretty difficult unless one to 2 days old or you can go by quack, loud duck, hoarse and raspy drake and also the drake will get a curly tail feather at the base of his back. And of course eggs.

now ducks will even go through the mating ritual so that cannot be a determining factor as far as sexing, unless you saw the cork screw penis of the drake afterward.

 

[Okidokie]

Another story.
I went into the large garden area pen with the 6 chickens. 5 Roosters and one hen. As I finished picking up the chicken egg that was laid in the grass one morning, the one rooster attacked my leg and made it bleed.

That afternoon I went back into the yard to add saw dust to the waste tray and no sooner did I close the gate behind me and that same rooster stared me down and froze in place. He put his head down and charged me like a bull. He kept flying up at my legs, waste and even chest area.

I heard that seeing red or blood makes roosters go insane. Why does that happen? Instinct to kill the weak? How do I prevent it put rose-colored glasses on the roosters?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Another story.
I went into the large garden area pen with the 6 chickens. 5 Roosters and one hen. As I finished picking up the chicken egg that was laid in the grass one morning, the one rooster attacked my leg and made it bleed.

That afternoon I went back into the yard to add saw dust to the waste tray and no sooner did I close the gate behind me and that same rooster stared me down and froze in place. He put his head down and charged me like a bull. He kept flying up at my legs, waste and even chest area.

I heard that seeing red or blood makes roosters go insane. Why does that happen? Instinct to kill the weak? How do I prevent it put rose-colored glasses on the roosters?

When we have a rooster that does what you have described, he goes to freezer camp, there are way too many nice roos out there than to have to put up with one like that. Some tame them down by picking them up and carrying them around daily, good luck with that one.