During the day, we now also keep our lone remaining drake in his own enclosure in our back yard because he can be aggressive with our hens and interrupt flock cohesion. Kyle McBride has been writing professionally since 2004. Over the past 6 years, we’ve had three drakes. We also let our flock out in our front yard gardens in the evening to forage while we garden and pick veggies. Male ducks also have a drake feather, which is a curled feather at the end of the tail. Observe the young ducks after 10 weeks of age. He also serves on the board of the Diversified Agriculture Committee for the South Carolina Farm Bureau. Typically, with no females around, drakes should be relatively calm and make good pets. She is a certified motorcycle technician and printer/copier technician. Great question, thanks! If you’re a new duck parent, we recommend starting small and simple… No more than 3-4 new ducks in your flock until you’ve got 1 year+ of duck parenting experience under your belt. They are a nice pair but the over-mating is really too much for our female’s neck, and we don’t have the space for more females. McBride also holds an associate degree in computer networking from Strayer University. Tyrant Farms is reader-supported. We actually had them all at the same time (by accident). Yes, even if you live in the city. It is very easy to determine the adult female's gender with the venting method. During the day, we allow for a quick conjugal visit in the morning, otherwise he’s in a separate fenced run. ), The Secret Science of Solving Crossword Puzzles, Racist Phrases to Remove From Your Mental Lexicon. We have a 75′ x 20′ fenced back yard where our flock spends their day, and two 2′ x 6′ duck houses (aka the Tyrant Farms’ Quackerboxes) where they spend the night. A younger drake will be much more aggressive than a 5+ year old drake, however our 7 year old drake is still quite the ladies’ man. For example, male ducks of Mallard-derived breeds (basically, all the domestic duck breeds except the Muscovy) have curly “sex feathers,” or drake feathers, on their tail. We hope this information helps you select just the right number and sex of ducks for your first flock! What’s going on up there? Unless you’ll be around 24-7-365, please don’t get a single duck. IF you get a drake(s), you’ll need some way to keep your drake separated from your hens at night so the hens don’t get over-mated or injured. Smaller breeds like Runners or Welsh Harlequins can deal with 2-3 square feet of space each. Now we have one drake. As you might have guessed, it takes one hen to make one egg in a 24 hour period. Note the pair of Mottled Ducks in the second image. Are they craving female company? :) There are no distinguishing features on Muscovy ducklings to determine sex. Ideally, your ducks can get a minimum of 6 hours of outdoor time in the sun in a safe fenced in area to play, swim, and forage. Will 5G Impact Our Cell Phone Plans (or Our Health?! Mature ducks are the easiest to sex. If you plan to do duck breeding or raise your own ducklings (read our step-by-step How to Raise Ducklings guide), you’ll obviously need to plan on having at least one male in your flock. Girls have a loud honk, and boys have a quieter quack. The easiest way to tell if your Pekin duck is a male or female is by its quack. As we wrote about in 17 tips to keep your ducks safe from predators, it’s essential to have a safe well-built duck coop in place BEFORE you get ducks. Their vocalizations are weaker than the female duck's. We also write for Edible Upcountry Magazine, so be sure to check out our articles over there as well! We’ll try to be crystal clear when referring to male or female ducks in this article so as not to cause confusion. Please be sure to subscribe to Tyrant Farms to see what's in-season out in nature, have fresh seasonal recipes delivered to your inbox and get helpful organic/permaculture gardening & duck keeping tips. Here are the questions you’ll need to answer when deciding how many ducks to get in your backyard flock — and the numbers and ratios of male and female ducks in your first flock: There’s no right or wrong answer here. Incubation is by female, 23-26 days. Venting should be left to professional venters. Festival of Sacrifice: The Past and Present of the Islamic Holiday of Eid al-Adha. The young males will have thicker legs, a wider stance and larger feet than the young females. Venting is the practice of gently squeezing ducklings until a small bit of fecal matter is expelled. At about 10 weeks of age, the voices of all domestic ducks (except Muscovy ducks) take on easily distinguishable male and female characteristics. Nothing much. Advice please. If you get multiple drakes, you’ll need to plan to pen them off from each other, or you’ll end up with injured drakes and likely injured hens if you don’t adhere to the aforementioned 3:1 hen-to-drake ratio. The voice of a female (hen) is a loud "Quack-Quack!" Aaron is the former farm manager at Oak Hill Cafe & Farm, a no-till, permaculture, farm-to-table restaurant & farm located right down the street from his alma mater, Furman University, in Greenville, SC. This forces the cloaca to open slightly and expose the duck's genitalia. Adult male ducks have a curled tail feather called a drake feather. Watch the video below for a more in-depth explanation. No! Male Muscovy ducks hiss more than females, accompanied by a tail wagging posture and feather fluffing. Why? In the book Storey’s Guide to Raising Ducks, Dave Holderread recommends 2-6 square feet of space per duck inside their coop/duck house, depending on breed and temperament. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. This alone, however, isn't enough information for accurate sexing. #welshharlequin #welshharlequinducks #ducksofinstagram, A post shared by Tyrant Farms (@tyrantfarms) on Dec 6, 2018 at 2:59pm PST. All Rights Reserved. Answers might include: Most duck parents we know (us included) became initially interested in ducks for egg production purposes. Once they hit sexual maturity at around 20 weeks of age, our drakes spent their days trying to mate the females and fighting with each other to be top drake. Male ducks also have one black feather in the back under their wings. Buff Orpington Duck at a glance. The answer to each question is — as with a lot of things — it depends. I have a 6 yr old female. It is very easy to determine the adult female's gender with the venting method. So if your family of four needs four eggs per day? They breed show quality ducks to exacting breed standards. As you can tell from this conversation, ducks are very social creatures, so don’t just get one duck. Ruddies often lay eggs in each others' nests and in those of other ducks and marsh birds. If you temporarily only have one duck, make sure it has a mirror so it feels like there’s another duck there. Sir Winston Duckbill, our Welsh Harlequin drake. Mature ducks are the easiest to sex. and more duck articles from Tyrant Farms…. © 2020 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Lifestyle. Observe the ducklings from four to six weeks of age. Once they appear to be used to each other, allow for supervised commingling. We’d strongly recommend getting a second duck for the simple reason that ducks will be happiest if they have another member of their own species around. Aaron also writes for Edible Upcountry Magazine, WordPress (.com), Daily Harvest Express, and other food and tech-related organizations. The young females will develop their flight feathers before the young males. Lion’s mane mushroom soup with broccoli and potatoes. I don’t really have the space for a large flock which is why I thought two would be fine. Some major field guides indicate the female Mottled Duck has an olive bill, and one makes a point that it is always unmarked. Thanks for planning ahead to be good duck parents! Both sexes make a trill type of sound, but females are more vocal than males. Male mallards also occasionally chase other male ducks of a different species, and even each other, in the same way. Nothing much. If you’re in the process of building your duck coop or you already have one built, you might be wondering: how many ducks can my coop hold? What’s going on down there? In one documented case of "homosexual necrophilia", a male mallard copulated with another male he was chasing after the chased male died upon flying into a glass window. Male vs Female: How to Identify Adult Ducks May 25, 2018: A common question we get is if a duck is a male or female. They’re not best friends, but they commingle in the garden or when they’re inside together. Tough decisions for Primmyrose von Ducklet on a cold December eve. Observe the ducklings from six to 10 weeks of age, Majestic Waterfowl Sanctuary: Sexing a Muscovy Duck, Muscovy Duck Central: Determining Gender in Muscovy Ducklings, University of California, Davis: Muscovy Duck Care Practices, Cornell University: Confusing Domestic Ducks. read our step-by-step How to Raise Ducklings guide, Holderread Waterfowl Farm and Preservation Center, 17 tips to keep your ducks safe from predators, see how duck eggs compare to chicken eggs, How to raise ducklings: a step-by-step guide, The Quacker Box duck house / duck tractor, DIY: How to build a self-cleaning backyard duck pond, American persimmon pie w/ chestnut flour crust & maple whipped cream. As with most domestic fowl, the sex of a Muscovy duck younger than four weeks of age can be determined only by a process called "venting." If they’ve never been in the company of a female duck, they don’t know what they’re missing. If in doubt, plan to build a larger duck coop than you think you need. Privacy Policy. This quantity of ducks and male-female ratio provides: Pippa Luckinbill (in holiday attire), hatched and raised right here on Tyrant Farms. However, anytime you’re introducing new animals to each other, do so carefully and slowly. Venting is done to tell the difference between a young male and female white duck. How many ducks should I start with?”. There are seasonal variations in a drake’s libido, as well as variations by age. Observe the ducklings from six to 10 weeks of age. A stuffed animal to befriend and cuddle up against while sleeping would also be appreciated. If you want to get serious about breeding show-quality ducks, you’ll also want to go with a top breeder, such as Holderread Waterfowl Farm and Preservation Center. and are less prone to medical complications (continual egg laying can cause a host of medical problems). The male ducks will develop more pronounced caruncling (fleshy, bulbous facial mask) than the females. Given the information you’ve provided, it seems like a good idea for you to have two drakes, assuming you’re not interested in egg production.