Rouen males

[Coopcheney]

Hello, I am new to keeping ducks. I have two male Rouen ducks about 16 weeks old and currently live with my four female chickens. I didn’t know till now that they are male since I has them as tiny ducklings and they were abandoned in a box at tractor supply. They share a huge coop with my female chickens. Until now I was hoping they were female since I understand that male ducks need female ducks to mate with. How do I go about bringing in female ducks for my boys to co exist with ? I don’t want to puss my chickens off since they have known the male ducks since they were tiny and sometimes my females will peck at the ducks. Any help will be appreciated !

 

[HollowOfWisps]

My advice is to separate them IMMEDIATELY and by that I mean yesterday. They are right at the age where they start to become very hormonal and they will start mating your chickens. A drakes penis is corkscrew shaped and a chickens vent is not designed for it. A drakes penis will actually “screw in” then rip apart destroying a chickens vent and can/will kill them if they are mating them. Having two drakes in with only chickens is not a matter of if, but when. If you want to keep them separate them and you will need 4-5 female hens per drake. Some drakes need less and some need more, but young hormonal ones it’s better to air on the side of caution.

 

[Coopcheney]

I don’t have another coop to put them in at night?

 

[KathiQuacks]

I agree with HollowOfWisps, you need to find a way to separate them, and I mean completely separate them, not just at night. Even something temporary like a dog crate and fencing will be better than nothing.

Those boys will harm / kill your chickens. This is much more important than trying to introduce female ducks right now.

 

[Coopcheney]

I have separated them. They have been with the chickens since they were a few days old and seem to sit at the fence wanting to hang out with the chickens

 

[arianna7]

I have separated them. They have been with the chickens since they were a few days old and seem to sit at the fence wanting to hang out with the chickens

thats cute one of my pairs of rouens do the same with my girls!