please make my decisions for me! :0)

[NewChickenMom]

well, i got my first duckling and gosling on sunday. i know the gosling is female, but i'm not 100% on the duckling. i also have two sebastopol eggs in the bator. i tried vent sexing my duckling and i saw no male parts, just a cone shaped thing, so i assume the duckling is female. here follows my decisions...

assuming my eggs hatch

the gosling will have buddies
should i buy a male for my duckling, or a male and female?
what if my goslings don't hatch? will the goose be ok with the ducks till i can get a male?
what if i'm wrong and my duckling is a male, can two males co-exist with a female?

i don't know what to do!! tell me what to do!!

 

[Guitartists]

I'm pretty sure that you want to keep geese in pairs. As to the ducks.... I'm not sure, but I think I have heard of pairs of trios quite often. Someone will come along with a better answer as we have some very knowledgable goose/duck people here!

 

[Alaska animal lover]

What kind of duck is it?

 

[NewChickenMom]

Pekin, and i was planning on getting a male and female crested pekin

 

[DuckyBoys]

I'd wait to make sure what sex you have of the duck before buying more. Vent sexing is not that easy when they are that young. In a few weeks you will be bale to tell by voice - the hen will quack VERY LOUD and the drake will kinda honk softly.

Keep ducks in a ratio of about 3-5 ducks for each drake. If you keep them in pairs you might have some trouble. It would probably be ok for two male ducks to be with a female goose but not two males with one female duck - poor duck would be hurt most likely.

Some geese - depending on the breed - can be kept in trios or even more. What kind of gosling is it?

My geese are bonded to some of my ducks - the ones they were raised up with. If you raise that duck and that goose together they will most likely be friends.

 

[NewChickenMom]

i have a female sebastopol gosling and two sebastopol eggs in the bator. i'm getting an order of chicks from ideal to be sent on the 18th, will i be able to tell by the 16th if my duck is male or female?

 

[DuckyBoys]

How old are they right now? I think mine starting quacking at around 4 weeks or so and that was when I could tell who was who.

 

[NewChickenMom]

i dont know about the duckling. the gosling is 5 days. would a picture of my duckling help? i know he/she is older than the gosling because he/she can run, and knew exactly where to find food and water. the gosling was pretty wobbly her first couple of days and had to watch the duck to find food and water.

 

[Alaska animal lover]

Mallard and Mallard derived breeds. Which is what a Pekin is.
Mallards usually bond in pairs, although if too few drakes are available to go around, some of the drakes will bond with two ducks. Even if you have an equal amount of ducks and drakes, one drake may take on two ducks and leave another drake with none.
Ducks and Geese are compatible and my be housed together in the same facilities as long as space is sufficient.
If you don't expect to breed your birds, you can get two or more females.


This is all from the book Barnyard in your Backyard.
Hope it helps!

 

[Alaska animal lover]

Let me know if you want something looked up I have the book right here.