How do you seperate your males?

[bayyjayy]

I have an acre lot.....we have a back yard with grass, then we have a fence to seperate the "pasture" from the yard and to keep the dogs away from the ducks. So, my ducks just have free roam of the pasture. If I need to separate....HOW? We have a pond for all of them.....do I just put up a fence and tell the boys, "Too bad, the pond is for the girls for now?" Is that what you guys do....just put up a temporary fence, or do you have a permanant spot that you put the ones you are separating??

 

[pekinsRus]

Why do you want to separate them? How many ducks do you have? & what kind?

 

[jdywntr]

You could have seperate housing and runs and let them take turns free ranging and using the pond. Or just one run and have one group in there and the other free ranging.

 

[bayyjayy]

I want to seperate in the spring so that my Anconas have pure Ancona babies.....so I can maybe sell some and hatch some. I have Cayugas, call and mallard mixes, a buff and a khaki. Not sure what kind of babies I will get if my buff and khaki get to hatch any out....have male mallards and male Cayugas, and dont' know how many male Anconas.

Pekinsrus....good advice. I may try that.

 

[GrannyCarol]

I have separate pens for night time and rotate them during the day. I also have a couple of larger yards to use. My breeding ducks spend more time penned than my larger group, but I give them a wading pool and the pen is roomy. It's a bit of trouble keeping ducks separate for breeding, but worth it if you want to have pure babies or hatching eggs to sell.

 

[bayyjayy]

I can see how it would be a pain....and kind of sad for the ducks that aren't allowed in the pond! Poor kids.

BUT....like you said, worth it if you want pure ducks....which I would like to have, but I wish I had more colors than just the black Anconas.....I have one chocolate, though not good quality color, I think.

Did you check out Worth It Farms? Here is the link to their Anconas on their website: http://worthitfarms.jigsy.com/waterfowl

Would love a couple Blues and Silvers and Lavenders. I am running out of space for ducks! WHY is this such an addicting habit?? And WHY is it SOOOO enjoyable?

 

[newbyduckmom]

I have two separate pens (one for drakes and one for ducks). And two foraging pens - one has a kiddie pond, the other does not. I rotate the flocks between the two outdoor pens every other day so they get every other day with the pond.

 

[FarmrGirl]

I was noodling the same thing recently when it occured to me to divide the pond up with floating nets. I remembered when I was a kid in the early 70's, there was this lake where we would swim that the park service had set up a designated swim area with these nets that were attached to poles with floating bottoms. I did a quick google search and couldn't find the specific thing I wanted but came across this DIY for a floating volleyball net: http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Floating-Pool-Volleyball-Net/

Would be easy enough to modify the idea for duck dividers. Perhaps have a long "skirt" on the net with some fishing weights to hold it under water a foot or two. Most ducks won't dive too far down...

hmmmm... here's kind of a permanent solution:

 

[bayyjayy]

Nice, Dana. I actually wondered in my head how to seperate a pond into two sections. Very cool!

I appreciate the comments and ideas.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Sorry bayyjayy if im highjacking your post but,
I plan on makeing a BIG ol' pen, with one large pen for the ladies, one smaller one for the males and then a dog kennal for a breeding pen, but insted of puting a kiddie pool in each pen. I plan on letting them free range so Can I put the pool on the outside of the fence for when they free range? Or just but two? Sorry again bayyjayy.