Introducing 2 female ducks to drakes???

[Bruv]

Hi so I have 2 drakes I believe- a pekin and a mallard. They are 4 n half months old and I wanted to get them some girls lol and finna get 2 female ducks around the age of 4-5 months. A Rouen and a Pekin and I wanted to see if I should take any precautions or if they should get along just fine? I should probably separate the chickens for the start, cuz they live together but not sure how it would effect the new ducks. Any ideas?? thx!

 

[Jenessa_096]

I would say just for extra precautions quarantine them for a week or two but some people have said ducks take integration better than chickens. I think it’s a good idea to lock up the chickens while they meet each other.

 

[fatty and friends]

don’t get any girls, drakes are better with no girls

 

[Quatie]

You don't want your drakes living with your chickens. Drakes have a penis unlike chickens. They can mate the chickens and kill them. If you had a lot of females, and the ducks don't share a coop with the chickens, they would likely be fine free ranging together. The minimum ratio of drakes to females is 1:4, but more is always better. You will likely have over mating issues with only two females. I have one drake and 13 females, and some of them were ove mated. In rare instances, 1:1 can work, but not advised. If you plan on giving the drakes and females separate areas, it can work where they are integrated only some of the time, like the winter when their mating drive is lower.

When you do introduce new ducks it takes a long time. You start out with the ducks in separate areas where they can see each other, but not interact. You want to atleast do that for a week or more. You will start to see them laying next to the border. Then you can introduce them in the same area, but now they can share the coop with a barrier between them. Again do this for another week or more. Lastly they can share the coop together with no barriers. You will need to see how they respond to decide if they need longer at any stage. Either way their will be some chasing likely. It can take a while before the ducks will accept each other, and other times it goes super smooth and they bond quickly.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Introductions are rarely an issue with ducks. They are usually very accepting unlike chickens. However, your flock could always be the exception.
Quarantining is important, but rarely done correctly with backyard hobbyists. I would read up on it to get a solid idea of the requirements of a true quarantine set up.
The real issue is that you have drakes with chickens - mallard derived ducks have an especially high sex drive. If there aren't enough female ducks the drakes are apt to try to mate with the chickens which could be detrimental.
The # of ducks you plan on adding to the drakes isn't a recommended ratio. The recommendation is usually 4 females to 1 male, but you have to observe your flock to see if that even works as the drake may need more.
What's the objective to having ducks? If just pets, keep the drakes, but separate from the chickens. They can be in their own bachelor flock. Once you add the females in, the dynamics will change. But, bachelor flocks can be just as rewarding. Unless you want duck eggs - then you would want females, but don't really need the males.
If you still want the females, you would want to start out by adding 8 more just to see how that goes. As mentioned above, you might need more to keep them from overmating.