Male and Female pekin ducks...

[RoseUrsem]

I have two 5-6 week old ducklings (Daisy and Jemima), and I think I have a male and a female. We only intended for two ducks (hatching from a incubator), so we do not want any more (offspring from the two) because they make a very large mess and we don't have the space. I was wondering if I can keep a male and female ducks together without getting ducklings? I know with chickens if you get the eggs in the first few days they are still fine to eat... Is this the same with ducks? Or will they go walk-about, and come back a month later with a trail of ducklings?
Any help greatly appreciated, and please do NOT suggest the male as dinner, because I am a vegetarian, gone through the traumatizing experience of watching them hatch and will NOT even think about eating them!

Thank you very much!
Rose

 

[Pyxis]

You should be fine as long as you collect the eggs daily. Pekins in general aren't a broody breed anyway, so it would be unlikely that your female would want to hatch eggs. I won't say it won't happen, because I have a pekin duck that goes broody, but it is unusual for the breed. So just collect the eggs and you'll be good to go

 

[RoseUrsem]

You should be fine as long as you collect the eggs daily. Pekins in general aren't a broody breed anyway, so it would be unlikely that your female would want to hatch eggs. I won't say it won't happen, because I have a pekin duck that goes broody, but it is unusual for the breed. So just collect the eggs and you'll be good to go

Cool! Thanks! We have 3 chickens as well. At night (they will be free range) we are going to put them in their coop so predators can not get them. Should we do this for the ducks to? Someone told me they will not like this, but I am not sure if this is true...

The ducks and chicks are very attached to each other so they will probably want to be together.

 

[Pyxis]

Yes, you should definitely lock them in the coop at night to keep them safe from predators

 

[candira]

Hi, I was reading this and decided your story sounds similar to mine so I thought I would share. I didn't hatch my ducks, but got 2 ducklings and 8 chicks from tractor supply in February. When they grew up I realized they were pekins and a male and female. I thought that was great. I realized how defenseless they were as well and built them a predator proof house as I already had a chicken coop. When I decided to start free ranging, that's when the problems started as my male pekin tries to mate everything in site (ducks and chickens). I too did not want more ducks mainly bc I have no other use for them other than pets and they are a MESS! But I had read, that if he's successful mating my chickens, it could injure them. And I saw for myself how the chickens would flail about trying to get away from him when he tried to mate them. I ended up getting 5 more female ducks to try and keep him satisfied. That has seemed to work mostly. But from time to time I still have to save a chicken or 2 when I see he gets one pinned down.

To answer your original question, when I open the duck house in the morning, the eggs are all laid there and I can collect daily. So no more ducklings for me! Good luck with yours!!!!
~Candice

 

[RoseUrsem]

Hi, I was reading this and decided your story sounds similar to mine so I thought I would share. I didn't hatch my ducks, but got 2 ducklings and 8 chicks from tractor supply in February. When they grew up I realized they were pekins and a male and female. I thought that was great. I realized how defenseless they were as well and built them a predator proof house as I already had a chicken coop. When I decided to start free ranging, that's when the problems started as my male pekin tries to mate everything in site (ducks and chickens). I too did not want more ducks mainly bc I have no other use for them other than pets and they are a MESS! But I had read, that if he's successful mating my chickens, it could injure them. And I saw for myself how the chickens would flail about trying to get away from him when he tried to mate them. I ended up getting 5 more female ducks to try and keep him satisfied. That has seemed to work mostly. But from time to time I still have to save a chicken or 2 when I see he gets one pinned down.

To answer your original question, when I open the duck house in the morning, the eggs are all laid there and I can collect daily. So no more ducklings for me! Good luck with yours!!!!

~Candice

Thats great!!! My ducks are 12 weeks old now and get along so well with the chickens that I think they think they are the same breed!

They don't seem interested in mating at all. So I think it will be fine. I know they are still young, so lets see what happens. Thanks for your help!!!

 

[RoseUrsem]

Cool! Thanks! We have 3 chickens as well. At night (they will be free range) we are going to put them in their coop so predators can not get them. Should we do this for the ducks to? Someone told me they will not like this, but I am not sure if this is true...

The ducks and chicks are very attached to each other so they will probably want to be together.

They are very happy to go in the coop at night.

 

[candira]

My ducks were raised with my chickens, so they get along very well too! But once my drake got to be 18 or 19 weeks old, he started wanting to mate with everyone! Maybe my boy (Romeo) is 1 of a kind, but I just wanted to give you a heads up!

 

[lms702]

I've never owned ducks before, but one male and one female pekin (ducklings) will be arriving soon. Is this okay? They will be raised and hopefully pampered together, so i am wondering if the drake will be agressive in mating. I own no other birds or animals. Has this ever been an issue with you?

 

[candira]

Well I may have a super excited guy, and he does mate with all 6 of his female companions, but I do notice on my female Pekin that she always tents to have ruffled feathers down the back of her head and neck. But its not bad. I haven't really noticed it on the others, but they are darker so it's not as easy to notice. He seems non aggressive when he mates with them, he just likes to mate (ALOT)! I'm definitely no expert, but in my experience, my guy needed more females after he was mature (around 18 or 19 weeks old)! Before that, 1 female was fine. Good luck with your ducklings!