Without being there to witness the interactions, it's really difficult to assess the situation. But having had decades of
experience showing, breeding, working Siberian Hudkies, I'd say that your dog has claimed the ducklings as his personal property. You see, huskies are born with the word "mine" on their lips. My toy. My food. My chewy. I've often seen my own dogs try to lay claim to my
rabbits, "protecting" them from the other huskies. But that doesn't mean that the dog is truly protecting them. Rather, it's a claim of ownership. Dead rabbits is the most likely their future intent.
That your dog is growling at you and your husband is a serious sign. With your dog being just about a year old, he is a serious full-fledged teenager. Teenage huskies can be a total handful if they don't have an established place in the social pecking order, and just a just pain in the neck if they do. He's already established bad habits, so it's going to take some extra work to get him back in line. Huskies are very, very aware of social ranking. And strong personalities like to be near the top of the pack. But humans must be at the top, otherwise you have a potentially dangerous dog living in the family.
I'd suggest neutering him ASAP if he is not neutered already. This is real important with a growling husky. Then he needs formal obedience in order for him the accept that there are rules in life that he has to follow.
Letting your dog "adopt" them may not be a good message to send to a husky. I strongly suspect he sees them as scary animated squeaky toys, but because he is still immature, doesn't know exactly what to do next with them. The ducklings must be owned by you, and you only. He doesn't need to be away from the ducklings, but he only gets supervised visitation rights. Having said that, now that he has already claimed them without challenge, you may have difficulty getting him to unclaimed them and acknowledge your superior position. Since his growling at you worked, from his point of view, you may have some issues regaining control. He is already getting the feedback that he ranks above you, thus giving him say in what to do about the ducklings.
By the way, huskies aren't LGDs. While there might be the dog here and there that lacks the kill instinct when it comes to livestock, by nature they are small animal killers. Not with anger, hatred, bloodlust, or hunger......its just a centuries old survival instinct.
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