Need poultry advice!

[lydjhay]

First year raising birds and I’ve got some concerns. Right now I have 3 roosters and 4 hens (I know, not the best ratio but I didn't get to pick), and I recently added 3 ducklings. I’m not sure yet if the ducks are drakes or hens. They’re all still young chicks and ducklings and currently in separate brooders.


Once they’re older, the plan is to let them free range together during the day on 2 acres with a pond, and keep them in separate coops at night (ducks in one, chickens in another). But I’m starting to get worried about a few things and could use some insight.


I’ve read that too many roosters can lead to over breeding and aggression toward hens. I’m already nervous about the 3:4 ratio. On top of that, I’ve seen warnings that drakes trying to mate with chickens can be dangerous even fatal for hens. If I end up with male ducks and too many roosters, am I setting up for disaster?


Will they try to breed across species during the day? Will the males fight each other? Should I start thinking about rehoming some of the roosters now, or wait until everyone’s older and I know the ducks’ sexes?


Really just looking for any advice, experiences, or suggestions from folks who’ve raised mixed flocks or been in a similar situation. I want to keep everyone safe and happy.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

With only 4 hens I wouldn't keep a rooster, but if you do than one is more than enough. Roosters will mate quite often, and your hens will be stressed, and bare backed.

Don't raise the chicks and ducks together. If you do they will imprint and you will have trouble with ducks being aggressive, and trying to mate the hen. You will also want to not keep too many drakes. They too mate often and is too much if not enough hens.

I would wait until you know the sexes before start to remove males. Generally around 4-6 months is a good time to do so.

 

[lydjhay]

With only 4 hens I wouldn't keep a rooster, but if you do than one is more than enough. Roosters will mate quite often, and your hens will be stressed, and bare backed.

Don't raise the chicks and ducks together. If you do they will imprint and you will have trouble with ducks being aggressive, and trying to mate the hen. You will also want to not keep too many drakes. They too mate often and is too much if not enough hens.

I would wait until you know the sexes before start to remove males. Generally around 4-6 months is a good time to do so.

Got it, so just to clarify, it’s best to keep ducks and chickens separate while they’re young (no shared brooders), but is it okay for them to free range together once they’re grown? I’ve heard mixed things and want to make sure it’s safe for everyone.


As for the roosters, I’ve noticed a lot of local posts with people trying to rehome them too, so I’m not sure I’ll have luck giving them away. Would you personally recommend culling in that case? If so, how do you go about it humanely? This is all very new to me, so I want to do it right if it comes to that.


Long-term, I’d love to start breeding in the spring and maybe sell chicks at local markets. Do you think it makes sense to just keep one rooster and increase the number of hens to prepare for that?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Got it, so just to clarify, it’s best to keep ducks and chickens separate while they’re young (no shared brooders), but is it okay for them to free range together once they’re grown? I’ve heard mixed things and want to make sure it’s safe for everyone.

Generally if they aren't imprinted they most ignore each other with occasional pecks. I have muscovy. There's some back and forth at times, but nothing like imprinted birds. I had a drake rip the comb off a rooster fighting because the duck was too familiar with chickens.

As for the roosters, I’ve noticed a lot of local posts with people trying to rehome them too, so I’m not sure I’ll have luck giving them away. Would you personally recommend culling in that case? If so, how do you go about it humanely? This is all very new to me, so I want to do it right if it comes to that.

I generally wait until they are mature. I than pick the best behaved ones and I either pen them somewhere else, or we put them in the freezer. I'm lucky my husband eats meat, and is willing to process them. You could give them away, or sell them as meat birds. I used to feel bad and tried to keep every rooster, but that isn't sustainable long term. We give them a good life, and a quick death. The really good ones I make room for.

Long-term, I’d love to start breeding in the spring and maybe sell chicks at local markets. Do you think it makes sense to just keep one rooster and increase the number of hens to prepare for that?

It all depends on your long term goals, and breeds. For bantams a good ratio is 1 rooster to 5-6 hens, and for large fowl it's 8-12. It all can depend on the rooster. Some will breed a hen every 10 minutes during the breeding season. You may want to start removing the troublemakers first and work you way down to the better behaved cockerel before making your final choice.

 

[LaFleche]

If I end up with male ducks and too many roosters, am I setting up for disaster?

This exactly.

As this is your first time as poultry keeper I would advise to rehome all the males as soon as possible.

 

[lydjhay]

Generally if they aren't imprinted they most ignore each other with occasional pecks. I have muscovy. There's some back and forth at times, but nothing like imprinted birds. I had a drake rip the comb off a rooster fighting because the duck was too familiar with chickens.

I generally wait until they are mature. I than pick the best behaved ones and I either pen them somewhere else, or we put them in the freezer. I'm lucky my husband eats meat, and is willing to process them. You could give them away, or sell them as meat birds. I used to feel bad and tried to keep every rooster, but that isn't sustainable long term. We give them a good life, and a quick death. The really good ones I make room for.

It all depends on your long term goals, and breeds. For bantams a good ratio is 1 rooster to 5-6 hens, and for large fowl it's 8-12. It all can depend on the rooster. Some will breed a hen every 10 minutes during the breeding season. You may want to start removing the troublemakers first and work you way down to the better behaved cockerel before making your final choice.

thank you so much for all the tips !! I will wait a couple months and start monitoring them together before making any decisions

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

thank you so much for all the tips !! I will wait a couple months and start monitoring them together before making any decisions

Every situation is different. It's what makes poultry keeping so diverse. What works for me may not work for you. I'm still learning stuff decades later. It's what keeps it such an interesting long term hobby. I always say make a good plan, and make a even better back up plan, than hope for the best. Birds don't always follow the rules.

 

[FrostRanger]

You can certainly wait to see if any of the boys are keepers if you're wanting to breed but don't put up with a jerk, jerk roosters are more likely to have offspring who are jerks too

However, in general it would be best to just keep the females this year and either have them raise a cockerel or get a mature rooster from someone who aggressively culls for temperament and has a roo that is just too nice to cull next year. You get no guarantees with animals but you are more likely to get a nice rooster that way. Either way I'd get a few more females

As for the ducks, I'd be very wary keeping a drake around the chickens for the reason you stated. If you want to try it, I'd keep one drake and get more duck hens and as others have suggested wait until they're older to let them mingle and keep an eye on things. Hopefully with a good drake and those measures you shouldn't have issues. If you do you will have to make some decisions

Whatever you choose to do I wish you luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

My experience is growing up on a farm with free ranging chickens. Most slept in the henhouse but a few slept in trees. Dad brought in three ducks, already mature, and let them free range. They all fed themselves from foraging during the good weather months. Even in winter they only got a little supplemental food but our winters were not that harsh and they could forage off the hay where the horses and cattle were fed.

The chicken flock was 1 rooster and 25 to 30 hens and we had two drakes and one hen for the ducks. The duck hen was not overbred or brutalized by the two drakes. The drakes did not try to mate with the chickens. I'll repeat, the ducks and chickens were not raised together so they did not imprint on each other.

I’ve read that too many roosters can lead to over breeding and aggression toward hens.

Of course it can. It doesn't mean it will, just that it can. Some people seem to believe in magic ratios. I don't. To save typing I'll just say that some people do fine with 1 rooster with two hens while others have problems with 1 rooster and over 20 hens. Each chicken is different and each flock has its own dynamics.

My suggestion is to keep as few males as you can to meet your goals. It is not that you are guaranteed problems with more males, but the more you have the more likely you are to have problems. For your stated goal of breeding, one male with a relatively small number of hens is plenty.

I don't know what your goals are relative to which male would be the best. The way I approach that is to set traits I want to see and then eliminate any males that don't live up to those standards. That usually makes it pretty easy to get down to one or two. If you can't choose between them then both are probably pretty good choices.

As far as breeding across species lines. It can happen, it sometimes does happen. Does it happen often? Not from what I've seen. I saw a lot of farms with both chickens and ducks that did not have that problem. I'd think it would be a good idea to raise chicks and ducklings separately so they don't imprint on each other. Besides, ducks can make a mess with water to the detriment of chicks. I think it is a good practice to keep them separated even if you are not worried about interspecies mating.

I want to keep everyone safe and happy.

A commendable goal but when dealing with living animals you do not get guarantees. Even under what you think are identical situations you can get totally different results. My suggestion is to do the best you can but observe. Go by what you see. Be ready to act if you need to.

Good luck!