Large Drake with Small Ducks

[SFDucks]

Hello All,

This is my family's first year raising ducks. We ordered 10 straight run ducklings and ended up with a few too many boys. It's time to decide who stays and who goes. I have really fallen in love with our two giant Appleyard drakes. I'd like to keep one of them. My only real concern is we have some fairly small Welsh Harlequin ducks and a Dutch Hookbill girl that isn't huge either. We're worried the size difference might be a problem for the ducks we keep. Keeping them happy and laying well is priority number one. My wife wants to keep a Hookbill drake as they seem to be better foragers and are smaller. That probably means less stress on the girls as well as less feed. When it comes down to it I don't really like the Hookbill very much, he's a pretty bird but much less friendly than the big guys. My question is how much of an issue is it to keep a large drake with several small ducks? I don't want to stress them out needlessly, and certainly don't want them injured, but if it isn't a problem I would much prefer to keep one of the big boys.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

 

[CityFarmer202]

Welcome!!
With size, that is not an issue, but when the drake mates with the girls, he will be much rougher than a smaller duck. I had a big pekin drake who i adored, but i had to separate him at times to give the girls a break from his mating, cause he was rough, being so big. Hope it all works out for you!

 

[SFDucks]

Thanks for the response! I guess whether it be size or aggressiveness the big guys sound like more strain on the ladies. I guess that gets me part way to our decision. To bad, I really would rather have the potential for some Appleyard crosses in our future than Hookbill crosses.

 

[CityFarmer202]

your welcome sorry it was not what you were hoping...you could keep him separate with another drake and only let him out at breeding time if you wanted