No. of Males vs. Females - Help!

[Meagan Brown]

We officially have 8 boys and 4 girls - Rouen Ducks. I started reading up about laying eggs and found an article about how the boys can get aggressive with the girls if there is more males.

I need some advice; as I want everyone to place nice.
What should I do? I really don't want to get rid of any.... :/

Curious if this is different based on the breed.
Thank you all for sharing your wisdom and recommendations.

--
Meagan & 12 ducks

 

[Miss Lydia]

8 drakes to 4 females is not going to work well the boys once they get to breeding age will literally mate you females possibly to death and more than likely there will be fighting among the drakes So big considerations to make either rehome 7 or get more female ducks because it's best to have 3-4 females to each drake for it to work in behalf of the females, drakes have even been know to gang up on a female and drown her trying to mate with her. Duck sex is not pretty.

 

[Meagan Brown]

8 drakes to 4 females is not going to work well the boys once they get to breeding age will literally mate you females possibly to death and more than likely there will be fighting among the drakes So big considerations to make either rehome 7 or get more female ducks because it's best to have 3-4 females to each drake for it to work in behalf of the females, drakes have even been know to gang up on a female and drown her trying to mate with her. Duck sex is not pretty.

Thank you. This is disheartening to think we have to potentially get rid of some of our ducks. I don't think our duck house could house more 6 more females.

We appreciate your advice and will try to figure out next steps.


--
Meagan

 

[Bluechick2u]

Nothing wrong with establishing a drakes only flock, they DO have more personality than a duck and are more ornamental, people who get them for ornamental purposes do exactly that. Plus they're generally quieter than the females, and you don't have to worry about them getting egg bound. But yeah, google the drakes reproductive part, and see why it's almost a death sentence for the few females if you leave them all together like that, I lost a duck that way, it was not a good way to go.

 

[Meagan Brown]

Nothing wrong with establishing a drakes only flock, they DO have more personality than a duck and are more ornamental, people who get them for ornamental purposes do exactly that. Plus they're generally quieter than the females, and you don't have to worry about them getting egg bound. But yeah, google the drakes reproductive part, and see why it's almost a death sentence for the few females if you leave them all together like that, I lost a duck that way, it was not a good way to go.

Thank you! We are looking to relocate 5-6 of the males and potentially get more females! We appreciate your advice, also it is helpful to hear your personal experience.

 

[Bluechick2u]

In my area, NOBODY will give up a duck, they are all overloaded with drakes, good luck in your area, so jealous that dicks are even available where you are, get as many as you can!!!

 

[Meagan Brown]

Thanks BlueChick! I just put posts out on Craigslist and Front Porch Forum ( local email list ) to see what I get back.

 

[Meagan Brown]

Does anyone know when the males start to get aggressive? They don't seem to aggressive yet. Again, these guys are 13-14 weeks old.