Rouen Duck thread

[OldMissionChick]

I don't eat the ducks we raise either.  We started in March 2014 with four Rouen ducklings.  People told us they were good to eat and terrible egg layers, but my females were excellent egg layers, especially this summer.  Sadly, two of them were killed by predators.  After some research, I think the second one was killed by a raccoon.  I think we may plan to build a pen very soon, and may even place our duck house inside of it.  

If we add some new females to our flock for the purpose of eggs, we will probably stick with Rouen ducks; however, do any of you have a mixed flock?  I want to stick with our one Rouen drake, so I'm not quite sure if I should get a different breed of female--like Indian Runners or Pekin.  Our drake does his job well by taking the females foraging through our backyard.  I don't want to give him any male competition.  We only need about three females--no more than four--to produce eggs for our family.  

DuckVenture  

Sorry about your loss. We have 3 Rouen (1 drake & 2 hens), 2 Peking (1 drake & 1 hen) and 2 Khaki Campbell's (both drakes) and they get along great. Unfortunately we lost 1 Peking hen earlier this summer. No feathers or trail.

 

[Rhetts]

@DuckVenture What @Amiga said about having a fenced in area for the times you are gone sounds like the best solution. That way you can feel good about knowing your ducks are as safe as you can make them while you are away. When you are home then that could be there free range time. If you love ducks as much as it sounds I would try that first before giving them up.

I have a mixed flock. Rouen, Khaki, Buff, hatchlings from the Rouens and Khakis and we had Pekins until a predator tore into our duck pen and took 7 of the 9 ducks housed in there. I like our little flock. They all get along. Having the right amount of females and males really makes a difference. There is peace and the flock sticks up for every single bird in it.

Best of luck on your decision. It never is easy and we are always trying to do our best for them.

 

[DuckVenture]

Thank you @Rhetts and @Amiga. Our drake and last female stay near our patio now during the day. They don't frolic as much since we lost our last female, Ilana. It is Autumn and they are molting! I was hoping to locate a couple of juvenile Rouen hens this fall to replenish our little flock, but, in our area no one is advertising Rouen--just Pekin and Muscovey ducks. Would it be better to raise them from ducklings since they tend to be more like pets to us with the benefit of eggs? I'm not certain if an older duck would be as trusting or friendly to us if we haven't raised the duck by hand. I thought about ordering Silver Appleyards in the spring or another middle to heavy-weight breed of duck that tends to be a more prolific egg layer.

 

[Tsumo]

I have a behavior question. I have 4 rouen ducks 3 female and 1 male (Penelope, Puddles, Delilah, and Hank). My question is about Penelope. She follows Hank around nonstop and makes the feeding chuckle constantly while nodding her head up and down off to either side of her body. She only does this around the male when she's alone or with the other girls she acts fine. What is she doing this and why? Is she just a special kind of special? The other females don't do this at all! Wish I could film it and post it but I cant.

 

[Amiga]

I have a behavior question. I have 4 rouen ducks 3 female and 1 male (Penelope, Puddles, Delilah, and Hank). My question is about Penelope. She follows Hank around nonstop and makes the feeding chuckle constantly while nodding her head up and down off to either side of her body. She only does this around the male when she's alone or with the other girls she acts fine. What is she doing this and why? Is she just a special kind of special? The other females don't do this at all! Wish I could film it and post it but I cant.

She is absolutely star-struck by Hank, the drake. Crazy about him. Carmella does the same to Bean.

 

[Tsumo]

She is absolutely star-struck by Hank, the drake.  Crazy about him.  Carmella does the same to Bean.

Good to know!! Hank doesn't seem to care one way or the other about her. Lol We were starting to think she was a little bit "special" good to hear she not crazy!

 

[Amiga]

With our flocks, it's like X-rated middle school. Really.

 

[housewife]

Is this one a female?

 

[housewife]

Is this one a male?

 

[Amiga]

The first one yes, the second I think so can you show his tail?