They're gonna be drakes, dagnabit! Now what!?

[Springthing]

Ok, so we got chickens and ducks at Easter, raised them up, and I am just now paying close attention to them and giving all our birds the attention they really need. They were raised correctly, don't get be wrong, but I didn't go out of my way to learn about them. So now I'm starting!

The chickens, about a month ago, started laying. We still have a few that haven't laid yet which is odd because they are all the same age.

======> ducks....Ok, so we got a few ducks as well. They were bought because they're cute, they sound awesome across the yard, and would produce eggs and be turned into main course meals in the late fall. (I think)

Judging by what I've read up on so far, it seems we may have four drakes and one duck. I'm basing this on the fact that from what I've read Drakes have a curly butt feather (The two Swedes we have have that), two quiet ones (one Pekin and the one Ancona) points to the fact they may be males, and the one boisterous, quacking Pekin which I take to mean should be a female.

Have I got that right so far? I know this probably isn't an exact indicator of who's what, but this is a first attempt at sexing them.

Pictures will be posted in the What Breed/Gender forum once I can start to post pictures.

And finally.... does anyone know how much longer after chickens ducks start to lay eggs? Two months or so....does that sound right? I know it depends on breed, etc, but in general?

Thanks for reading!

ST

 

[maxxsmommy]

I know this might not help you at all but i have 4 hens and 3 ducks whom of which I'm postitive i have 2 drakes and 1 hen.. they are around 20 weeks old and non have started laying yet. I am hoping soon though

 

[TigerLilly]

Well, it sounds like you've already decided to eat the drakes...that's what I was going to suggest. Are you keeping any for breeding & raising your own?

 

[DB_Tex]

Well, I suppose if you have that many males they will go into the freezer sooner rather than later? I wanted ducks specifically for duck eggs so I ordered the sexed females.

 

[Springthing]

Quote:
I don't know that anybody will last the winter. I don't want to sound cold but I think they may all be headed for the freezer before the new year. I think it all depends on how much we and the family gets attached to them. Only time will tell their fate.

For raising our owns...we can get them as day olds, dime a dozen, so to speak, around Easter. It would be fun to hatch our own but, again, time will tell.

 

[Springthing]

Quote:
We were hoping they were sexed before we got them and that we'd only get females but, alas, that's not how the ducks turned out. It would have been nice to only have ducks, no drakes, but it's all good!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Unfortunately, I am in the same boat as you. My girls hatched at least 3/4 drakes this year. Can you believe that?

If everything goes as planned, we will be processing 30 - 50 drakes this weekend for freezer camp. There is no way I can keep that many drakes.

 

[Springthing]

Quote:
Do you process everything yourselves?

 

[jdywntr]

I SO want to find someone close to me that processes their own. I would feel much more comfortable having some hands on experience. I helped with chickens when I was a kid but that was a while ago.
Anybody in Florida up for a little teaching? Payment would be an extra set of hands to help.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Do you process everything yourselves?

Yes, we do. I have someone that comes over and I help him.