We have a drake feather - ****PICS ADDED*****

[davekrista]

Ok. So I finally was able to get a good look at my pekin ducks today. They are about 16 1/2 weeks and I hatched them from eggs. My first hatch. We have 4 and from what I can tell, only 1 has the curly drake feather. And is much bigger with a lower/raspy quack. The other 3 are smaller and no curls. So I'm thinking we have 1 male with 3 females...

Is this a good ratio or do I need to "adjust" that? Also when should I expect eggs? and how would I be able to tell if we can eat them or if they are fertilized? This is all new to me and I am getting so excited for this next phase of owning ducks. They are so cute with their own personalities. I can't wait until all the snow finally melts so I can truely see how they are...

Pics added towards bottom -

 

[AdamD77]

1 male to 3 females is the perfect ratio!

From what I've read, if you want to make a good effort at breeding them then 1M:2F is good for ensuring egg fertility, and on the other end of the scale some males can be randy enough to serve more than 3 females, but in theory its great

The only thing missing from this thread is some photos!

 

[davekrista]

Quote:
I will try to get some pics... Their barn needs to be cleaned and hubby will probably do it in the next couple days but i will try to see what i can get before then.....

 

[desertdarlene]

I was wondering if they're all closely related? I know that's not a big deal for backyard flocks, but just curious.

 

[davekrista]

Quote:
They are all part of the same flock... the male is my crested one. I'm not totally sure if they came from the same "mom" and "dad" though. I ordered them from someone on this site, so a good chance they are brothers and sisters. Is that bad? I didn't even think of that.

 

[desertdarlene]

Someone else might answer that. I hear that it's not bad unless you keep breeding siblings for more than a couple of generations. I'm not sure about crested ducks.

 

[davekrista]

These are the best pics. For some reason he keeps hiding his curl by putting his wings on top to cover it......My 7 y/o wanted "him" to be a "her" so his name is lollypop.

- he is the only crested one i have in the pics, and i'm thinking the others are girls.....

 

[desertdarlene]

He's developed a really nice crest. I remember when you showed his photo when they all hatched and it was just a little bit of fuzz. Now, it's all nicely grown out.

 

[Miss Lydia]

cute pictures..

 

[FunnyBunnies12]

Our babies were born within a week or few days from one another! I have 2 drakes to 7 females in my hatch, then mom and dad, so 3 drakes to 9 females. So I think I have the perfect ratio as well. My 2 drake ducklings only 1 is turning out to have a emerald green head.

Pablo

Peking(He's the very front blue fawn drake with the white ring and slight curl at the tail)

Your crested babies are GORGEOUS!! Amazing how fast they have grown, just seems like yesterday we were asking about veins, humidity, lock down, and now here we are asking about them laying eggs, locking up, ect.