No Chickens, but 5 Ducks

[RealSpecialKay]

I know this is called Backyard CHICKENS, but I also saw a lot of DUCK posts here too, so I thought I would join. We have 5 Welsh Harlequin Backyard DUCKS (2 male / 3 female)... and I love them dearly. I never knew I could love ducks so much. They have such unique personalities and are so silly! We have had Tiny & Daisy ("the Bigs") for three years. Then, we incubated their eggs and had Wil Bill, Dixie & Dolly ("the Littles"). They are 2 1/2. We had two more "Bigs" but sadly, Bill was taken by a racoon and Cody was mortally injured by a bobcat. (And we live in a suburb in the middle of a neighborhood! We have since learned to better protect our babies.) We also lost one of our "Littles" due to illness / heatstroke... Demi. One of the major issues we have is.. the Bigs and the Littles do NOT get along. We have tried merging them, but they FIGHT. And, we have them separated now... they take turns between the yard and the porch, and they duck yell at each other! Well, the females, do. (The males are totally chill.) And this has got worse since the fall molting. The females are not happy. Other than our ducks being picky eaters (they only like duck food, lettuce and black soldier fly larvae), things are good. Looking forward to seeing what everybody else does and looking for new ideas!

 

[tlcmurphy]

I know this is called Backyard CHICKENS, but I also saw a lot of DUCK posts here too, so I thought I would join. We have 5 Welsh Harlequin Backyard DUCKS (2 male / 3 female)... and I love them dearly. I never knew I could love ducks so much. They have such unique personalities and are so silly! We have had Tiny & Daisy ("the Bigs") for three years. Then, we incubated their eggs and had Wil Bill, Dixie & Dolly ("the Littles"). They are 2 1/2. We had two more "Bigs" but sadly, Bill was taken by a racoon and Cody was mortally injured by a bobcat. (And we live in a suburb in the middle of a neighborhood! We have since learned to better protect our babies.) We also lost one of our "Littles" due to illness / heatstroke... Demi. One of the major issues we have is.. the Bigs and the Littles do NOT get along. We have tried merging them, but they FIGHT. And, we have them separated now... they take turns between the yard and the porch, and they duck yell at each other! Well, the females, do. (The males are totally chill.) And this has got worse since the fall molting. The females are not happy. Other than our ducks being picky eaters (they only like duck food, lettuce and black soldier fly larvae), things are good. Looking forward to seeing what everybody else does and looking for new ideas!

Welcome to BYC (BYD?)!
I don’t have ducks, but @KathiQuacks has hatched some of her own and integrated them with her big ducks
And we LOVE pics!

 

[Jenbirdee]

hello ! every time i add new littles i do a few weeks of see no touch through a fence . at night in crate inside duck house so see no touch. then when they’re together it takes about 5 months for them to get over the silliness. The big are always afraid of the Littles.

 

[triciayoung]

Welcome. Happy @Jenbirdee answered. She is a very experienced duck care taker. I am sorry for the loss of your ducks.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Hello and welcome to BYC @RealSpecialKay! I'm very sorry about Bill, Cody, and Demi

 

[Jenbirdee]

thanks @triciayoung also i want to say i too am sorry for your losses @RealSpecialKay and one question if you currently have 2 drakes and only 3 hens it is best to add more hens- at least 4 hens for each drake is recommended ratio to avoid over mating/ injuries/ accidental mating deaths / drake fights/ injuries . and please don’t put any little girls in with big boys until the girls are egg laying age. and please post some pictures of those Welsh harlequins!! . They are gorgeous ducks. I only have one Welsh Harley right now. I used to have two. They are so pretty and precious aren’t they?

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

Definitely lots of Duck owners here on BYC, you can connect with more of them in our Duck forum... https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/ducks.42/

I am so sorry for your losses, its never easy on the heart.

Make yourself at home here and welcome to our community!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.

 

[sourland]

Hello, and welcome to BYC.

 

[RealSpecialKay]

thanks @triciayoung also i want to say i too am sorry for your losses @RealSpecialKay and one question if you currently have 2 drakes and only 3 hens it is best to add more hens- at least 4 hens for each drake is recommended ratio to avoid over mating/ injuries/ accidental mating deaths / drake fights/ injuries . and please don’t put any little girls in with big boys until the girls are egg laying age. and please post some pictures of those Welsh harlequins!! . They are gorgeous ducks. I only have one Welsh Harley right now. I used to have two. They are so pretty and precious aren’t they?

Thank you! And, all the hens have been laying about a year so young girls here. And like I said, right now, Tiny & Daisy are kept separate from Wil Bill, Dixie & Dolly. With Tiny & Daisy, I think Daisy wants it more than Tiny! And, Wil Bill, Dixie & Dolly have it pretty planned out now. They know what they're doing. No one is getting over-mated. I watch... That doesn't sound good, but you know what I mean. Dixie & Dolly are good sister wives. And I will post pictures later. I just got a new laptop though and lost the pictures I had. Will need to import them from Facebook.