Helping a friend with ducks

[Xtina]

A friend of mine bought two ducklings last year for eggs, but they both turned out to be males! So now she's not getting any eggs, and isn't sure what the next course of action is. It sounds like no one in the house is in favor of eating the ducks. She's asked me all kinds of questions because I have chickens, but honestly, I'm new at this poultry thing too, and don't know what to say, so I thought I'd consult the ever-wise chicken forum people. So what would you guys do? Get female ducks? Get chickens and keep them with the ducks? Sell the boys and start over? Let me know if there's anything we should know about keeping chickens with ducks or keeping a flock of ducks with two males.

 

[crazy cat lady]

I think you friend should try to get her male ducks some girlfriends. I've got both chickens and ducks together in the same coop and they get along great. So go for it get some female ducks for the boys.

 

[Dances with Ducks]

Another option is to advertise them on Craig's List as garden helpers. Ducks are great at cleaning out slugs and other bugs from the garden. The males have the advantage of never quacking, they are pretty quiet.

 

[Xtina]

Awesome! How many females per male? Do ducks fight over females? Will they be aggressive to the females like roosters will be?

 

[crazy cat lady]

Right now I have 2 female pekins and a male. I also have a male cayuga. I am so hoping to get him some girlfriends this year. If I can get 2 hens fokr him I will be happy. I've heard 3 hens to 1 drake. So hopefully your friend had room.

 

[Xtina]

They have a huge backyard and recently penned the ducks (drakes, you say?) in on one side of the yard. How much space per duck should she plot?

 

[crazy cat lady]

Before the raccoon invasion last spring, we had 7 pekin ducks in a 25' x 50' poultry yard. I am by no means an expert on this subject. This year we are planning making a lrger pen for the ducks, chickens and hopefully geese if I can get the ones I want.

This yard also had a 8' x 20' coop in it for housing. They got locked up every night. Ever play ring around the kiddie pool with 7 ducks? We lost the ducks during dayllight hours and Spring flooding.

 

[Xtina]

Sorry you lost your ducks! Thanks for the advice though, that's helpful.
So how hard is it to select the proper gender ducks? My friend supposedly bought females but as they grew up it turned out they were males. Now the friend is wary of buying more ducks for fear that they'll end up with a bunch more males. What about introducing new ducks to the boys? Should they be babies or should they NOT be babies? If they should be adults, is there a concern about diseases?

 

[crazy cat lady]

The ducks I have now, which are in the new chicken coop we built in our barn I ordered thru chick days at our farm store. I ordered hatchery choice usually you get half and half. But I know there are some hatcheries that sell both genders separately. or if there is an animal swap (pet & game) in their area they can check those out too.

 

[crazy cat lady]

The last 2 years our area fair grounds have been involved in pet and game swaps during the spring and summer months. They have everything from puppies , chickens, ducks, llamas, sheep and goats. and once a month they a small animal swap just before the goat and sheep auctions. These are some ideas for your friend to get more ducks.