Interbreeding ducks???

[Taebaebae2014]

I have 5 ducklings of 5 different breeds. Pekin, mallard, cayuga, welsh harlequin & khali campbell. My harlequin is a female but I'm not sure about the others. Assuming I have a mix of males & females, I'm curious to know if I should expect eggs? And if so, do mixed breed ducklings do ok? I didn't purchase them with the intent to breed them, but if they do, I don't mind!

 

[Jpat]

Sounds like a fun mix!

Soo, male ducks can be very sexualy driven to the point its abuse, so the responsible thing to do is have 1 male in the group only. Or none

Ducks lay eggs regardless of mating. its driven by seasonal light cycles

Ducks will mix with any other breed

Good luck! Post lots of pictures

 

[Orca5094]

Yes, all breeds (except Muscovy) can interbreed and have healthy ducklings, no problem.

Muscovies are unrelated to other duck breeds and while they CAN interbreed and have ducklings with others, those ducklings will be sterile and cannot produce young. I know you don't have any Muscovies, but just wanted to clarify the difference.

 

[Taebaebae2014]

Yes, they are already very fun! I'm pretty excited they will breed! I wasn't planning on a bunch of duck babies but I'm looking forward to it! Do I just let the ducks do their thing or do I need to take the eggs & put them in a warmer? I'm assuming the ducks will care for them since they were originally a wild species??
Husband said I better not bring home any more ducks so this is a perfect way around it!

 

[Going Quackers]

They can most definitely intermingle. I have buff/Muscovy x here.. totally unintended but it worked, they ended up with 10 babies.. now only 2 remain but they are definitely a unique mix.

Some breeds are more broody than others, My Muscovy were insane lol. My calls are actually pretty broody too. I have allowed them to keep eggs and raise clutches. Also when i had my buff ducks they raised the 10 x's.

My pekin, typically they don't go broody but i have had it happen, unfortunately i found mine at least not the best mothers... and we lost the ducklings.

Look into each breeds general capabilities of raising young and then decide from there. IMO it's easier to let the ducks do it, but i know some love incubation.. the thought stresses me out, i find it hard enough to monitor ducks with their young let alone hatching eggs myself. GL!

 

[Taebaebae2014]

Follow up question... "honking" means lady duck, right? I was pretty convinced my pekin was a girl this morning when she woke up honking. But after reading some threads, I'm not so sure. Some are saying boys honk, girls quack. I though girls were loud & boys had a softer, raspier sound? Based on beak coloring pattern, my Harlequin is a girl. I was waiting on the others to mature more so I could hear them before trying to determine gender, but the threads have me confused now lol

 

[Going Quackers]

Follow up question... "honking" means lady duck, right? I was pretty convinced my pekin was a girl this morning when she woke up honking. But after reading some threads, I'm not so sure. Some are saying boys honk, girls quack. I though girls were loud & boys had a softer, raspier sound? Based on beak coloring pattern, my Harlequin is a girl. I was waiting on the others to mature more so I could hear them before trying to determine gender, but the threads have me confused now lol

NONE of my mallard derived drakes honk, they have a rasp, low level noise. My Pekin female is VERY loud mind you nothing beats my call duck females lol.

I may in my history have a video up of my calls making noises... let me check.

 

[Taebaebae2014]

If you have any videos, please share! They are starting to sound more duck & less duckling so I'm interested!

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Going Quackers