Why won't 2 drakes and 6 hens work??

[MakNat]

You would think at that ratio, the lesser male could at least breed 1 of them.. I'm starting to think of getting rid of my older one.. He's just a big hoggy turd, but I love him.. My issue is.. I have 2 solid white hens, a black and white and a cool looking tan and white. The alpha male is mostly black and seems to only throw mostly black ducklings over all 4 hens.. The younger drake is solid white. I want him to be the one breeding them. The ducks don't lay like chickens and I'd HATE to lock poor old Duke up ( the black one ) I have no idea if they are the same as chickens taking 4 weeks??? I guess here really I just answered my own question.. Would it help for the younger drake to pull rank if I locked Duke up just a little while, like maybe a week??

 

[BirdBrain]

I can't see how it would hurt to put the old guy aside for a while.

 

[Goat_Walker]

But - dont lock him away by himself. Give him two hens to be locked up with. You can switch out hens if you want. I would think with that ratio though that the lesser drake would be getting at least one or two of the hens while the older drake is protecting the rest....

 

[Hennyhandler]

What do you mean by the ducks don't lay like chickens? I have chickens and no ducks but I am planning and preparing to get some!!!

Just wondered what this meant.

 

[MakNat]

Quote:
No, don't let that discourage you from ducks.. What I meant was, with mine, it just seems that they lay when they want make a nest and sit. My chickens however lay all the time. I get plenty of duck eggs too!! The chickens seem more predictable to plan them to be with a certain Roo...

 

[Hennyhandler]

Oh, okay I understand now. Oh, and don't worry I don't think anything could discourage me from getting a fluffy quacker!!!

Not even that thread on the gross things about ducks.

HAHA! Do you mind telling me what kind of ducks you have?

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Yep if you want to start a fight that would be the way to do it! Duke is going to want all his ducks back when he comes out of confinement. and the white drake will have become used to having his choice.... White is either going to run or fight when Duke gets out. Unless White fights and wins nothing will have been changed. If you are taking bets put me down for $5 on Duke....

 

[CityChicker]

I totally feel for you. We have raised ducks for so many years and *never* have had serious issues with drake aggression so I never imagined we would have a problem in the following situation. ..... I got several new Runners this winter. We introduced them and a small group of other Runners together into a large new pen. We had only two drakes in there and ten hens, yes 10 hens! The drakes fought relentlessly from word go. In all my years of duck keeping, I have never seen anything like it. Not to mention, the original drake is a meek little bird that is extremely friendly and loves human attention. Put him in with the other drake though and he turned into a little monster. He would not leave the other drake alone. I mean just constant fighting. Obviously, their time together was short lived and we now have another new Runner pen. LOL

 

[MakNat]

Quote:
Muscoveys!! And they Rock! I Love Them!!

 

[savingdogs]

In keeping with the theme of the title, what number of drakes usually works with a small group of hens?

Is it usual to have fights when you have two drakes? Was CityChickers situation unusual, and were your drakes raised together?

Maknat I'm getting 15 muscovy ducklings next Wednesday!

We want to have two or so hens and be able to have ducklings, so how many of each would be good? One drake best?

We have 17 chicken hens and one roo and he likes it that way.