Should I have a Drake?

[LittleBo]

I have four female Khaki Campbells and some websites suggest I should have a drake, whereas others say they will live happily without a handsome male with them... I don't know what to do?

Thank you in advance for your advice and comments, LittleBo

 

[Amiga]

We got our first drake last fall.

As much as I care about Bean, flock management has been more difficult since he arrived. This is not always the case, but I am tossing my experience into the hopper here for you to consider.

Bean came with his two girls, and they are a lovely trio. Really, they are what I had pictured when I first wanted ducks. Cute, good foragers, a little shy.

But my existing flock of runners are not impressed with him. They grew up for two and a half years without a drake. When he arrived, Einz spent three weeks screaming at him.

Things settled down until Valentine's Day, when hormones kicked in. At first it was mostly okay. He hopped on his girls, and then Romy, our one Buff girl. And a couple of the runners. No big deal.

One day, Zwei decided this must stop. And so did a few of her friends. Next time Bean hopped on Romy, three runners dragged him off, then the chasing started, then Romy started running from Bean and . . . we now have two flocks. Bean and his girls, Romy and the runners.

Life is still very, very good. I love the ducks. Bean is a good drake. He is pretty mellow. But he occasionally hops the fence to go after Romy, who seems to like him, but does not like the ensuing struggle over her body. I don't allow them all in the same pen at the same time. I am hoping by fall, the hormones will subside and we can be sort of one flock, until spring. Maybe this will sort itself out. But I am not counting on it.

I have had to split pens, set up additional fence, and adjust my management, making it more difficult to feel okay with having someone else care for the ducks. If someone puts all the ducks together, or doesn't watch to keep Bean away from Romy, chaos and injury may result.

We did not need a drake. We adopted the trio, happily. And I have no regrets. I do have more of a handful than I had before.

 

[Going Quackers]

Want a simplified answer? No.

Unless, you want to expand your flock through your own birds, then obviously you'll need one, even then however, one can buy fertile eggs for a broody duck to hatch out without bringing a drake in.

I own drakes, actually quite often, i have several due to breeding. I also keep call ducks in pairs, so i have two there as well. Drakes complicate things and bring an entirely new dimension, some things are positive, other things er? not so much.

My main drakes, which are two, do fight and can be handful because of that, they do patrol with their ladies on occasion BUT drakes don't protect like a rooster does, so don't expect that aspect, i find there in the middle with this, i have seen mine be with their ladies but just as often be somewhere else, mind you i have some pretty independent ladies lol

Drakes have to be raised with proper lines drawn, in other words the pecking order must be well in place, they will try to be over you as the keeper, so they have to know your not part of the flock and are in charge.

As well, some can be handful with the ladies themselves, being excessive with breeding and some are known to kill ducklings, so separation maybe needed.

I am fortunate my drakes seem to tolerant the young that have come through the flock, and also leave brooding/nesting ducks be, although if they didn't they wouldn't be here lol I do have to separate my mature drakes at night though, in confined spaces they fight.

I started into drakes because i had a straight run, if i'd had a choice, i likely would have never added any but the ball was already rolling and more have been added each year as they breed, mind you i usually sell off the extras.

So there is my long, drawn out ramble, or refer to the simplified one.

 

[gryeyes]

I have too many drakes for the number of girls, so most of the duck ladies have bald necks from over-mating.

But I like drakes. Some of them have bonded with a single duck so there are arguments and some chasing when another drake tries to move in on a "chosen" duck.

None of the drakes have ever tried to harm ducklings but I also have a couple of ganders who have taken over duckling/mom guard duties. They escort the family groups and even take over when momma duck needs a nap; the ganders swim with the ducklings or stand guard whilst the babies play in the pond.

I could do with about six fewer drakes.

 

[duckcrazy]

I have one drake, that I separate him from the others until the afternoon. I let him out with the girls under supervision . It is his first year so he is very hormonal. He's use to the partial separation now and seems to accept it. When reintroduced with the girls during the afternoon, he can get randy. Often I just yell his name and he stops, but there are times I have to chase him away. He does have a mate who will stand by the fence and chatter with him, but if I allow them unsupervised visitation rights, she develops an open sore on her head from too much breeding. I really like my drake, he is funny, gentle, but can become quite aggressive defending his mate against any of our dogs that get too close. One drake is enough for me...and the girls second that motion--quack quack.

 

[Carcajou]

A drake is not necessary though they are usually pretty birds. I have a Khaki Campbell drake and he is the sole survivor of my first flock (straight run) so I will not part with him. He knows his name and will respond when I talk to him which he really learned to do when he was alone for a while. It is entertaining to watch and listen to him give directions to his harem of five Khaki ducks but he does tend to overbreed one particular duck who has all the feathers chewed off the back of her neck. She often tries to avoid him when he gets to chasing her. When I got the five new girls in 2011 I had to wait until they were fully grown and let him figure out they were girls before I could put them together. He was really not impressed with a bunch of ducklings on HIS turf!

I would not intentionally have another drake should anything every happen to "Flighty". Yes, he sometimes flies, usually just off the ground with his feet hanging down and that is entertaining to watch!