Having too many drakes was really taking a toll on my females, so I separated them and began searching for new homes for the males. Three males went to my friend Sue's, and the other two went to her neighbor down the road. Sue then found another friend who was interested in taking the Indian Runner drake she had, so at that point Sue just had the two Khaki Campbell drakes for bug control. Those two drakes kept each other company just fine, wandering about like a couple of bachelors without a care in the world.
Over the past month, some kind of predator has zeroed in on Sue's place. The first to disappear was her new little banty rooster, Randy. Then one of the yearling hens was reduced to a pile of feathers. A couple of days ago, Sue found one duck hiding under a deck, with the other nowhere to be found. The remaining drake didn't really fit in with the chicken flock, so didn't know what to do with himself, and Sue felt bad for the poor guy. When I went out to visit yesterday and heard the news, of course I figured the best solution was to bring the last male duck back home.
And so, my female ducks now have a drake again, and a well-travelled one at that. I suppose I'll have some ducklings in the spring, which is just fine with me! Welcome home, sir