So....we have ALL males.

[MommaDuck]

Our first two ducks my husband brought home on a whim. A month later I brought home four more because by then I'd been bitten by the bug. haha. Plus I have never had duck eggs and wanted to try some. So six ducks we were bound to have a couple females right? Wrong. They all turned out to be males. Two came from TSC and the other four came from Big R. I think it is a conspiracy. LOL. We didn't want that many males. We were wanting only one male. It sucks because I really like our ducks. They come running when we call "here ducky, ducky, ducky" They are so funny when they run. They did circles around me the other day when I went out to feed them. They KNOW when we are about to go let them out of their pen. The pen is outside our back door and they can see us and their heads go up and they stare at the door. They are used to being herded into their pen, sometimes they go in on their own. This is our first time owning ducks. I have heard from my father in law and on here about what happens where there are too many males and not enough(in our case none) females. I wish they were all females

 

[mkcolls]

How old are your ducks?

We had a friend drop off 15 Rouen ducklings that hatched May 29th. At the beginning of July our BIL, who had ducks as a boy, told us they were all females. By the beginning of August I knew changes were afoot, and we now have 12 drakes, 2 females and 1 that can't decide what it is.

As you can see from my signature we have many other fowl, ducks have been a mystery to us.

 

[MommaDuck]

4 and 5 months.

 

[Amiga]

Ducks can really connect with people. Sounds like you have a lovely bunch!

Sometimes I wonder what I would do with a flock of drakes. Although they don't lay eggs, they still make the best fertilizer I have ever used, eat insect pests and weeds, and just generally improve the mood. And they are much, much more quiet than females.

If you have the space, you might consider keeping the guys in their own area, and have a couple of females separate from them by about 50 feet. That way the hormones don't turn lovely boys into ornery boys.

 

[jdywntr]

X 2 with Amiga.
You may want to order sexed day olds from a hathery or get older birds so that you know what you are getting. My first muscovy, I picked out 5 and only ended up with 1 female. The muscovy I have now were 3 months old when I got them, the people had 13 from this hatch and only 1 was male! Talk about lucky.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

MommaDuck, sorry you ended up with all drakes. As others suggested by sexed ducklings to get your girls you want. We sell them both straight run and sexed to customers as ducklings. We also offer our pet quality girls for sale for egg laying since they still good to eat eggs, no need to butcher them.

 

[Going Quackers]

I agree with the rest and totally sympathize! I had 10 hatch this year, 9 were boys

 

[Carcajou]

I also sympathize and agree with the advice the rest. My first batch last year came from a local feed store and I ended up with 8 drakes and one duck. Gave six drakes away to a poultry farmer. This year I ordered five females from a hatchery and all are doing well. Hope you enjoy your ducks!

 

[learycow]

Seems to be a big thing this year! I ordered 27 from someone, sold to ma as straight run, and only got 6 females! She simply took them out of the incubator and sent them, no sexing. It's just how mother nature works sometimes!
If you have all drakes, you should be fine. Normally they don't fight unless they have females to fight over. But still keep an eye on them and weed out any that start to act aggressive. And if you do get females, be sure you do your homework on the breeds. Some breeds require 2 females for every male while others suggest more, closer to 4 or 5 for every male. This simply prevents over-breeding and keeps your females comfortable.

Also, I would advise staying away from feed stores and TSC who get ducklings to sell versus ordering them. These companies tend to get the ducklings (and chicks) cheap from certain hatcheries. They are cheap because the hatcheries need to find a way to "get rid of" their extra unwanted males from sexing out females for people. A lot of these males get sent with a few females thrown in. I can't tell you how many people come to me this time of the year (or earlier) because they got 6 unsexed ducklings at TSC and only 1 is a female. It happens every year too!

 

[zooweemama]

Same happened with us. We bought 12 ducklings (feed store) and ended up with 3 girls. Nice. LOL Second batch we paid extra for sexed females from Metzers (would do it again).