when to order ducks

[marvun22]

im from north dakota would early march be a good time to order ducks. also ive asked this a million time but my 2 male and 2 female ducks i currently have are currently doing fine. the 2 males gain up on one of my females during the night and she is doing just fine. so that group seems to be ok. would my soon-to-be other flock of 7 females and 3 males work. the ducks im ordering are are 1 pair (1 male and 1 female) buff ducks, 1 pair khaki campbell, 1 pair rouen, 4 female pekins. it looks good on paper i mean a 2 pairs of the ducks i currently have. a pair of buffs, campbells, and rouens, with 4 females to spare if the males feel like overdoing it.

p.s. do any of you people have some reviews of efowl which ill be ordering from. also do you guys know and coupon codes besides funducks, funchickens, and friendme.

 

[DenverDucky]

I haven't ordered from efowl but I did order from californiahatchery which, like efowl aren't hatcheries, they just act like a middleman. I recommend ordering from a hatchery like Metzers that has small minimums like efowl.

 

[marvun22]

just wondering what would be different between efowl or metzer.

 

[DenverDucky]

Metzers have their own stock while efowl orders through places like Metzers and then essentially they resell them to you

 

[marvun22]

is it worth ordering from metzer even though efowl is about $20 dollars cheaper

 

[DenverDucky]

I'm counting that you are looking for a total of 10 ducklings. Metzers minimum is 10 so you would only be paying for shipping. Efowl charges for under 15. The prices below are for all the pairs of the breeds you were looking for as well as 4 pekin hens.
Metzers- ducklings+shipping=$78.80
Efowl- ducklings+min order charge=$78.59

I wouldn't recommend ordering ducklings hatched around Easter as the price goes up.

 

[Freakmonger]

Its all about what you feel comfortable with in ordering or whom you want your money to go to. I had a bad experiance with californiahatchery, and decided to order from Metzers. They have been doing things for a long time. There are others too. You may need to consider your male to female ratio if they are a mixed flock, as I understand it the drakes can be very "aggresive" putting it mildly.

 

[jdywntr]

im from north dakota would early march be a good time to order ducks. also ive asked this a million time but my 2 male and 2 female ducks i currently have are currently doing fine. the 2 males gain up on one of my females during the night and she is doing just fine. so that group seems to be ok. would my soon-to-be other flock of 7 females and 3 males work. the ducks im ordering are are 1 pair (1 male and 1 female) buff ducks, 1 pair khaki campbell, 1 pair rouen, 4 female pekins. it looks good on paper i mean a 2 pairs of the ducks i currently have. a pair of buffs, campbells, and rouens, with 4 females to spare if the males feel like overdoing it.

p.s. do any of you people have some reviews of efowl which ill be ordering from. also do you guys know and coupon codes besides funducks, funchickens, and friendme.

As I think many have said before that is too many males for that number of females. You are going to have 5 males and 9 females total, you have 2 of each now and are adding 3 more males and 7 more females. It may sound good on paper to you but in reality it is not a good ratio.

Are you going to keep the breeds seperated? It doesn't sound it since you said that the Pekins will be "spare if the males feel like overdoing it."

The drakes are not going to care that there are other females available. If they take a liking to a particular duck the ratio that you want to get can be deadly. Just because, so far, the ganging up on one of your ducks hasn't resulted in injury does not mean that it won't. You will also have to deal with fighting drakes as you want far too many.

Even if you seperate each breed, which means, 4 seperate houses and runs, it does not mean that 1 drake won't be too much for 1 duck.

Are you prepared to have to seperate 3 of the males? You could have a bachelor pen but that will need to be set up far from (out of sight of) the females.

I would urge you to do a lot more research on what is best for the BIRDS and not just what you want.

 

[Going Quackers]

As I think many have said before that is too many males for that number of females. You are going to have 5 males and 9 females total, you have 2 of each now and are adding 3 more males and 7 more females. It may sound good on paper to you but in reality it is not a good ratio.

Are you going to keep the breeds seperated? It doesn't sound it since you said that the Pekins will be "spare if the males feel like overdoing it."

The drakes are not going to care that there are other females available. If they take a liking to a particular duck the ratio that you want to get can be deadly. Just because, so far, the ganging up on one of your ducks hasn't resulted in injury does not mean that it won't. You will also have to deal with fighting drakes as you want far too many.

Even if you seperate each breed, which means, 4 seperate houses and runs, it does not mean that 1 drake won't be too much for 1 duck.

Are you prepared to have to seperate 3 of the males? You could have a bachelor pen but that will need to be set up far from (out of sight of) the females.

I would urge you to do a lot more research on what is best for the BIRDS and not just what you want.

Couldn't agree more. To give an idea, i currently own 2 drakes and have 10 ducks, the boys still have their moments, and i am even still adding two more ducks later this spring to increase my ducks up to 12. Plus if i have any that hatch that come out of my current nest. Yes, personalities do vary but at the end of the day, natural instincts are strong.

 

[marvun22]

ill give you a short story on the 4 i have now (2 male and 2 female) they were hatched together they were raised together they were sold together they always are right next to each other. if that ratio of 2:2 is bad i will not be able to help that. from my expiriences in the past the ducks that were raised together stayed away from ducks that were raised at a different time male or female except one time when one flock had only 2 males left and 1 flock had only 1 female left. the 2 males battled for the female and when one won him and the female joined together and the female was fine until she got taken by a racoon. (i now let my ducks sleep in the chicken coop) so as far as i know my 2 male and 2 female flock would stay away from my flock of 3 male and 7 female. also if the gender is still a problem would adding 2 indian runners or welsh harlequin females help enough to keep my current order. also if that was to work which one should i get and explain why (also if you are saying i should get an indian runner tell me which color)

p.s. sorry for that run on sentence