? on flock ratio's

[Going Quackers]

Spring will be here soon( i hope real soon.. ) anyways, am I kidding myself that i can keep two drakes with only having 5 hens? or is this just impossible...

I have two drakes.. that were "supposed" to be hens.. well obviously that was a fail, and i still have one of my original drakes from my straight run of original ducks...

I know for a fact one has to go but will both? the baby boys are pretty... cocky sorry cannot think of a better description... they aren't nasty but definitely are after the top spot.. my oldest drake wants nothing to do with them, has a hen that is for sure his and a few of the others seem to sway back n forth between the baby drakes and him.

Now my one hen who used to belong to my other drake who was gotten rid of because he got nasty(and i mean with people) she was pretty lost after he left... has latched onto these baby boys

going with them or the other hens only.. she seems to ignore my oldest drake...

I guess this is why i am conflicted on getting rid of both baby drakes BUT i do not need my hens picked apart or my other drake bullied ..(he is not negotiable.. he is a definite stay)

I am surely over thinking this but these are all pets, eggs and foraging only but i know i do need balance .

Oh colour wise.. the baby drakes are blacks.. my older drake is a white with a black spot on his head.. he's 1yo in May and the baby drakes will be 1 in July/Aug... my hens are mainly white(3 of them) and then i have two that i cannot recall what they were... one looks grey and white the other has a hint of colour... lilac? i'll go look that up lol

 

[Oregon Blues]

It's OK to wait and see if they can get it worked out. It's not like you can't re-home one of the drakes later if they aren't getting along or your ducks are being harassed by too many males.

I've been known to keep an occasional drake too many. As long as it doesn't disrupt the flock, it is OK. If you find that the drakes fight, or the ducks are being over-used, then you can separate them.

I would recommend that you not purchase in that ratio, but you already have the drakes, so give it some time and make your decision on what happens in your flock dynamics.

 

[Going Quackers]

It's OK to wait and see if they can get it worked out. It's not like you can't re-home one of the drakes later if they aren't getting along or your ducks are being harassed by too many males.

I've been known to keep an occasional drake too many. As long as it doesn't disrupt the flock, it is OK. If you find that the drakes fight, or the ducks are being over-used, then you can separate them.

I would recommend that you not purchase in that ratio, but you already have the drakes, so give it some time and make your decision on what happens in your flock dynamics.

Thanks for your thoughts. This was definitely our line of thought too.