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Help with Aggressive Ducks

post #1 of 14
Thread Starter 
I have 5 male and 1 female domestic mallard ducks. Along with 16 chickens and 3 geese. The geese are female and the ducks are very aggressive towards them. The male ducks are always on something (female duck or one of the geese). The geese are scared to death of the ducks. Do I get rid of some males? Do I get more females? I'm not sure what to do with these guys. Any suggestions? They all free range on our 35 acres and come into a pen at night. They share the same pen. Is that the trouble? Lol this is as difficult as raising my three boys.
post #2 of 14

welcome-byc.gif

 

I would say that you definitely have way to many male ducks and not nearly enough females. Every male duck really needs to have 3 to 4 females each to be happy. So I would say that unless you want to get 14 more female ducks(3 females for every male), you're going to have to sell some of your male ducks and get some more females for your remaining males.

post #3 of 14
Ditto.

-- Linda (AKA: gryeyes)
I refuse to fight a battle of wits with an unarmed person.

Buncha Outdoor PET chickens, ducks, two Toulouse ganders, and four turkeys. Plus 2 wiener dogs, some bunnies and a rescue cat which owns me. Oh. And a house silkie....

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-- Linda (AKA: gryeyes)
I refuse to fight a battle of wits with an unarmed person.

Buncha Outdoor PET chickens, ducks, two Toulouse ganders, and four turkeys. Plus 2 wiener dogs, some bunnies and a rescue cat which owns me. Oh. And a house silkie....

Reply
post #4 of 14
I 2nd ditto that. just be careful with males I read on here last week sad story about 3 drakes drowning a sweet hen. I found out my 3 Pekins from Tsc were drakes got 8 hens but they are to rough with them so I house the drakes separate and always supervise forage time couple times good thing I was there drake had hen penned down by neck being extra rough they have their good and bad days on bad days they go back to their run I just don't trust them with hens sometimes. So please be cautious with them.
post #5 of 14

Third ditto. Get rid of the boys if they are being naughty. Yes, I keep thinking of that poor duck who was drowned by the drakes. Poor girl :( Heed the advise you are getting.

post #6 of 14
Thread Starter 
Now how to get rid of the drakes.... They seem hard to get rid of. No one wants them. sad.png
post #7 of 14

Do you have something like Craigs list? And are you willing to let them go as meat birds?  Unless someone needs a drake specifically for breeding, that seems to be about the only way to get rid of them.
 

post #8 of 14

Where are you located?

post #9 of 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by yawnal View Post

Now how to get rid of the drakes.... They seem hard to get rid of. No one wants them. sad.png

Post on craigslist or whatever online classified you have.  Ask if you can put an ad up at your local feed store.  At this point, you really need to do something.  If you can't/don't want to sell them.  Consider giving them away.  People always take free things on craigslist.  If you care if they are used for meat, don't ask.  Or consider processing them yourself.

 

Otherwise, build a seperate run and house for all but one of the males.  It needs to be well away from the female and the geese and you may end up with fighting between the males.  The drakes will most likely also start to try to breed the chickens which is dangerous and/or deadly for the chicken.  This is one of the hardest things about having any animals but you need to consider the safety of all of them.

DOGS: 4 Shih Tzu, 1 Papillon, 1 Great Pyrenees

CHICKENS: 1 BO, 2 EE, 2 WLH, 10 blue and splash JG, plus various aged JG, BO, JG/BO and JG/EE chicks, and 8 meaties.   

DUCKS: 20 Muscovy ducks: 5 adults, 7 juveniles and 8 ducklings.  6 Pekin ducklings

 

Some threads started with basic info.

Picking a duck breed, where to buy, what genders to get

Raising and caring for ducklings

 

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DOGS: 4 Shih Tzu, 1 Papillon, 1 Great Pyrenees

CHICKENS: 1 BO, 2 EE, 2 WLH, 10 blue and splash JG, plus various aged JG, BO, JG/BO and JG/EE chicks, and 8 meaties.   

DUCKS: 20 Muscovy ducks: 5 adults, 7 juveniles and 8 ducklings.  6 Pekin ducklings

 

Some threads started with basic info.

Picking a duck breed, where to buy, what genders to get

Raising and caring for ducklings

 

Reply
post #10 of 14
Thread Starter 
I am in Utah. I put a note on my Facebook account wanting to trade my drakes for a male goose. I think it may work out okay. I checked into processing them but, yeah, that is not happening. I am weak. Tonight the mean drakes are locked up separately from everything. The one drake that is usually right next to the female is starting to look rough. I think they are abusing him too. So he is with the female away from the rest. Argh. Why do they even sell straight run ducks. Stupid me for buying straight run! Live and learn.
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