Bully Male Pekin Duck

I need help on how to get different age groups of duck to get along. I have a male Pekin with 2 female Khaki Campbell/Buff (not sure what they are) that have been together for over 1 year now. We now have 2 new Pekin and 2 mallards. My older Pekin keeps bullying the 2 new Pekins. All 3 sets of ducks are separated right now, but I would like to have them all together. Any suggestions on how to get the older Pekin to stop bullying?? One of my older KC/Buff females has also been nesting on her eggs for about a week now. I am afraid that if she hatches any ducklings, they will also get bullied. If I remove the older Pekin from his females, they younger Pekins do not mess with the females or vice versa nor do they mess with the even younger mallards. Thanks!!

If you have the facilities, I would recommend a long term separation for the dominant drake - duration of the summer. Once the other ducks and any possible ducklings are more mature, and testosterone levels have decreased (thinking Sept. here) I would try reintroducing him to the flock.

I have thought about separating the dominant drake, but I did not know if this would be cruel to him since I have read that ducks can become depressed if by themselves since they are such social animals. If I do separate him, should it be completely away from the others or can it be in another enclosure inside of their larger fenced area??

I am having the same problem. I have three pekins (not sure if they are boys or girls) and am trying to introduce two mallards to the mix. The pekins are only two months older than the mallards. When we put the mallards in the pen, the pekins immediately went after them. We ended up having to bring the mallards back inside. We will try again tomorrow. Fingers crossed! Any advice on how to get them to get along will be greatly appreciated.

critter lover said:

I am having the same problem. I have three pekins (not sure if they are boys or girls) and am trying to introduce two mallards to the mix. The pekins are only two months older than the mallards. When we put the mallards in the pen, the pekins immediately went after them. We ended up having to bring the mallards back inside. We will try again tomorrow. Fingers crossed! Any advice on how to get them to get along will be greatly appreciated.

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How old are they all? There is quite a size difference between adult Mallards and Pekins - please be careful. The Mallards could end up hurt or worse, worst case.

Introductions need to be slow. I start out keeping new ducks separated by fence, then give them short times together, supervised, until it is obvious that everyone is okay. And I still check in overnight, as night-time behavior can be a little different than daytime. You are the only one who can protect them.

Thank you for the advice. I have four pekins and one didn't really pay attention to the mallards when we put them in the pen. Maybe the other three are males? I can't tell the difference. We are splitting the duck house and enlarging/splitting the run tomorrow to enable them to see each other without hurting each other. That should work, right? Tractor supply had pekin and mallard ducklings together so we thought it would be OK to raise them together. I didn't realize the pekins would be so much bigger!

critter lover said:

Thank you for the advice. I have four pekins and one didn't really pay attention to the mallards when we put them in the pen. Maybe the other three are males? I can't tell the difference. We are splitting the duck house and enlarging/splitting the run tomorrow to enable them to see each other without hurting each other. That should work, right? Tractor supply had pekin and mallard ducklings together so we thought it would be OK to raise them together. I didn't realize the pekins would be so much bigger!

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You are being great! There is a ton to learn with ducks. Just a ton. I remember feeling really tense for quite a while with so much to learn and so much worry about keeping them from getting hurt.

Sounds like you have a good plan.

And there are flocks that have both Mallards and Pekins and it works out. But I want to let new duck people know that sometimes things can get out of hand, so that they don't come home to tragedy some day. I don't do it to worry anyone unnecessarily - just trying to avert injury.

I appreciate the warning more than you know. You are correct, having ducks has been a challenge. I wouldn't trade it for the world, though! They are so cute and funny to watch. They are making great pets, we just need to get over this hump. The last thing I want is to have any of our critters get hurt, so thank you again.

Do you know how to tell the difference between male and female pekins?

The only way I know is when their voices change at several weeks of age, girls quack, boys have a much softer raspier voice.

Majestic Waterfowl has a voice-difference audio clip online.

sourland said:

If you have the facilities, I would recommend a long term separation for the dominant drake - duration of the summer. Once the other ducks and any possible ducklings are more mature, and testosterone levels have decreased (thinking Sept. here) I would try reintroducing him to the flock.

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Should the dominant drake be completely separated out of sight or is it ok to still have him in an enclosure inside their larger fenced area so he is separated from others by a fence?