Mating trouble...

[BettyNicol]

We are new duck owners. Got 6 this spring from a straight run (no one in our area had anything other than a straight run). 4 cayugas and 2 welch harlequins. we are pretty certain we have 2 male cayugas and 1 male Welch harlequins. Yes - that’s right - as luck would have it - we have 1/2 and 1/2. We want them for the eggs and joy. It’s all been going really well until a few weeks ago when the males started trying to mate with the ladies, while they’re in the water. They are 16 weeks old now. They all seem to go after the somewhat smaller female Welch harlequin. Sometimes one of the C females even seems to be trying to mate with her. Not sure what that’s about. Today, for the first time, we saw a male mount her on the ground. while at least two other C’s were also biting her neck. this was alarming. But equally alarming is when they try to mate in the stock tank - the C males are much bigger than the female WH and they easily dunk her head under the water. It’s so bad that we haven’t yet built them a ramp into and out of the tank. We’re only letting them swim while we stand there to keep them from drowning each other. That can’t go on for much longer.
QUESITONS;
1) I’ve read that you only need one male for 5 or 6 females. Is this true?
2) Is there really no way to manage our situation without getting rid of at least 2 of the males? We really like the WH male, as he’s very gentle and I don’t think I’ve ever even seen him trying to mate.
3) where could we find someone who’d take two male ducks and not kill them? That’s important to us.
4) will this get worse than it already is?
5). If we get rid of 2 of the three males, will the balance be right? How will the dynamics change with 3 females and one male?
6) how easy would it be to add a few females at some point? Is there a certain time of year you have to do it?
7) we have two duck books but would like one that addresses more specifically about the details of behavior and interactions. Any recommendations?
8) lastly - we also have 2 young chickens (about 18 weeks old) and 2 older chickens. The ducks and chickens each have their own separate sleeping quarters. During the day they all hang out together. The ducks are definitely in charge but they totally leave the chickens alone - except one time that a chicken wandered into their sleeping quarters and two of the ducks dragged her out by her neck. Then they let her be. But that’s the only problem we’ve seen. Is it likely to stay this peaceful, not that they’re 16 weeks old, or might this change as they get older?

Thanks a bunch.

 

[Texag87]

Since you have chickens in the picture, I would suggest re homing the more aggressive drakes. The alternative would be getting six more ducks and having to keep them separate from the flock for 4 months. You do not want to expose your chickens or ducks under 4 months to adult drakes. It can be fatal.

 

[Miss Lydia]

You could post your extra drakes here?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/animals-in-need-of-free-re-homing.16182/

 

[Duckmom27]

1. Yes, one male to 5 or 6 females is a good ratio.
2. If you can keep the males separate from the females, or at least the aggressive males separate, that would be another way to manage it
3. Some people keep all-drake flocks, or you may find someone who wants two pet ducks and doesn't care about eggs.
4. I've only had ducks for about two months now so I don't have experience on this but from what I've read I think it getting worse is possible
5. 3 females and one male should work fine
6. I don't know anything about the time of year part of your question, but to add new ducks you'd want to keep them separate from your current ducks for a while but able to see each other, so they can meet each other without fighting. After a few days or a week or two then you'd let them be together (supervised at first to make sure they're not fighting). This is with adding adult ducks. If you add ducklings you want to wait until they're full grown before letting them in the same space as your current ducks, but you can let them see each other before then, they just shouldn't all be together
7. No recommendation here but if you find a good book on that topic I'd love to know about it!
8. No experience here since my ducks and chickens are still very young, but I do know that if a drake tries to mate with a chicken it will either seriously hurt or kill the chicken.