Someone wants to give me 2 male ducks

[sourland]

Quote:
X 2 You don't need a flock of harassed and injured/killed hens.

 

[HJECG]

I'm also interested in getting one or two ducks as pets, and I already have a small flock of chickens. Because I live in the city, I'm thinking that a pair of male ducks would maybe be better due to the noise factor. However, I wasn't aware that male ducks were so aggressive toward female chickens. I definitely don't want a duck hurting any of my hens. Are all duck breeds sexually aggressive toward chickens or only some? Are the dwarf duck breeds less likely to hurt chickens? I do have two Silkie hens so if even a small duck went after them, they could be injured.

 

[Lana_the_farmer]

2 drakes can be great buds, unless you add in females then the fighting will start. But if you plan to just keep these two bachelors they should be just fine.

I would recomend not putting them with your hens since they might try to mate them (which will kill them). Plus ducks are so messy with there water! They need to be able to have deep enough water to get there entire head into. It also is nice to give them a kiddie pool/pond, not just for their enjoyment but its very pleasurable to watch them youself an there excitment of the pool

Have fun!

I have two drakes, raised together, living with my four chickens. The two ducks keep to themselves, they do fight but the dust settles. One of the ducks has established dominance and my other duck is missing feathers on the back of his neck. They try and mate as they would with a female duck, with one another. You can't change nature.
I have not experienced any issues in their interactions with the chickens. They get along find and during their mating season, they're a little more stand-offish than anything with the hens - no mating whatsoever.

Another thing I noticed during mating season (and largely why one duck is missing feathers right now) is that they seem to be drawn to acts of domiance. When my two large dogs playfight, the ducks run towards them and want to be in and around the action.

Overall, you won't know until you try but two male ducks raised together 'should' be fine and can be mixed with hens. There are far too many variables for a generalised statement. Enjoy!

 

[Isadora]

Overall, you won't know until you try but two male ducks raised together 'should' be fine and can be mixed with hens. There are far too many variables for a generalised statement. Enjoy!

This is not good advice. Keeping Drakes with chickens works great!... until it doesn't. It only takes one attempted mating for a drake to injure or kill a hen. Why would you want to take that risk? If you go to the emergencies/diseases section, and type drake injured hen (or something similar) into the search bar, you will see many, many, many instances where poor hens have suffered severe trauma from drakes attempting to mate them.
Just because nothing has happened yet, doesn't mean it's a good idea.

 

[cincyfarmgirl]

My Pekin duck was born July 4, 2022 but I’m still not sure if it’s male or female because it doesn’t have the loud quack like everybody says females have but it I can hear the quack it’s not a little throaty squeak that some people say male ducks have and it does not have a curled feather on its tail. Should I continue to wait another few weeks or a month and then the curl will appear or the quack will become more distinct? Originally I had two ducks that I got from tractor supply. Unfortunately one of them met was killed by something a raccoon maybe.. (since then I have taken greater precautions for their safety keeping them penned up with chickens in large open fenced yard when I’m not nearby )The other one has grown fine but I’m not sure if it’s male or female. I want to get him or her a buddy because the two of them looked like they really cuddled up and liked each other before the first one met its demise a month ago. but first I would like to know what I have. But I don’t see any clearly distinguishing features nor do I have anything to compare him or her too. Any suggestions?

 

[Miss Lydia]

A video of said duck along with its voice will sure help.

 

[RebinNH]

Don't trust a vet to tell you, as did I. The duck he said was a female turned out (ay 4 months) to be another drake. As sibling to my large drake I assumed he was right because that duck was smaller and did not hiss (or show aggression) as did the drake. The tails looked very different as well. Also didn't progress (caruncles, wing and feather acquisition, & flying) as did the obvious drake. That said even with 2 ducks sometimes it is not so obvious!

 

[cincyfarmgirl]

Don't trust a vet to tell you, as did I. The duck he said was a female turned out (ay 4 months) to be another drake. As sibling to my large drake I assumed he was right because that duck was smaller and did not hiss (or show aggression) as did the drake. The tails looked very different as well. Also didn't progress (caruncles, wing and feather acquisition, & flying) as did the obvious drake. That said even with 2 ducks sometimes it is not so obvious!

Thanks for the info so I guess I’ll wait and see if it lays any eggs. Meantime I think it’s kind of lonely hanging out with the chickens. When the chickens go to roost in the evening the duck kind of wanders around takes a while to settle down. It quaks - somewhat quietly. I think it’s a girl. I’ll wait a few weeks to see if there’s any signs of the mail and then get myself another girl so she won’t be so lonely and we’ll get eggs.

 

[cincyfarmgirl]

A video of said duck along with its voice will sure help.

OK I’ll try to get that listen

 

[RebinNH]

Good luck finding a female. I would love to find a couple too. But where do you get a adolescent muscovy hen?