Too many male ducks?

[dukey9]

A little earlier this year I got three welsh harlequin ducks. Two of them turned out to be males. I know you should have a lot more females than males but would they be ok if I got another female and had two males and two females? Or do I need to get ride of one male and still get another female( I hate to give one away). Thanks.

 

[Welshies]

Pairs are okay, but only if you have one pair. You can get rid of one drake, or get another hen and get rid of one drake. You can have 1 drake and 1 female only if they are alone. 2 hens would be better but 1 hen is fine for 1 drake.

 

[dukey9]

Ok, thanks.

 

[dukey9]

Is it possible to have two males and three females or would that too cause problems.

 

[Welshies]

Is it possible to have two males and three females or would that too cause problems.

That would cause problems.
You can only have 1 drake for every 4-5 females, (excluding Aylesbury and exhibition/standard Rouen; they can get away with 1 drake to 3-5 hens). Otherwise, males will rape each other, turn aggressive, hurt the females, fight with each other, et cetera.

 

[dukey9]

Also can you have two pairs of 1 male and 1 female but each pair is a different breed? I wanted to add some Muscovies to my flock.

 

[quackingdom]

Ducks don't care or notice that they're different breeds, so that won't work, sorry. It especially won't work with Muscovies since they are one of the worst when it comes to males being aggressive towards each other. You need at least 7-9 females per Muscovy male.

 

[dukey9]

Ok thank you all, it really helped a lot.

 

[Welshies]

Ok thank you all, it really helped a lot.

And also, crossing Muscovies with a MD (Mallard derived) duck breed creates a mule duck, a sterile crossbreed that doesn't lay well, and can not breed, ever.

 

[dukey9]

I wasn't planning on breeding the two different breeds but will they do that on there own, if so are they good for meat?