Duck almost drowned

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

I went outside to lock the ducks up tonight and found one of my Khaki Campbells practically drowned in the pool. She was struggling to keep her head above water. I lifted her out and she was sopping wet, unable to stand or barely move, and shivering. I think if I had found her any later she would have been dead. My very large Saxony drake was swimming around in there too, but the other ducks were all out. She hasn't had issues with wet feather before, and I'm wondering if she could have been mated repeatedly by that drake and gotten too weak to get out. Is a duck more likely to drown during mating if the drake is much larger than her? Should I keep them separated, at least when they have pool access?

 

[Quatie]

Drakes can definitely drown females. I have a Saxony drake as well and it is something I worry about sometimes. Mine has less of a mating drive so I don't worry too much, but some drakes can be more relentless. I have even had a one of my females look like they were going to drown another of my female as well. It can also be a problem if you have too many drakes to females.

 

[Quatie]

This Saxony drake does have a very high drive. He matured this spring right at the start of mating season. I have 2 drakes with 9 females, and I don't want to take one away because I got them on purpose to hatch ducklings. But I can separate a female that gets overly picked on.

It is possible the two drakes ganged up on her. I had a second drake, but he was too much for my flock. He massively stressed my other drake out because he was taking all his females. I had 2 drakes and 13 female at the time. I decided to rehome him, because it was not possible for me at the time to easily sperate out my drakes. Which leads me to, it may be better to seperate out your drakes and let your females have a break. A lot of us have a drake jail for these purposes.

How is your girl doing today?

 

[Miss Lydia]

If you have a large dog kennel they work great for over night @ruthhope

 

[Brooke_R]

I went outside to lock the ducks up tonight and found one of my Khaki Campbells practically drowned in the pool. She was struggling to keep her head above water. I lifted her out and she was sopping wet, unable to stand or barely move, and shivering. I think if I had found her any later she would have been dead. My very large Saxony drake was swimming around in there too, but the other ducks were all out. She hasn't had issues with wet feather before, and I'm wondering if she could have been mated repeatedly by that drake and gotten too weak to get out. Is a duck more likely to drown during mating if the drake is much larger than her? Should I keep them separated, at least when they have pool access?

Poor baby. I would keep them separated after that unless your watching them in case that happens again

 

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

Poor baby. I would keep them separated after that unless your watching them in case that happens again

Okay. I'm not sure that's what happened but I will separate them to be safe. He is probably twice her size .

 

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

You can always seperate drakes in a dog crate in the coop at night. I sometimes do this when introducing new ducks in the flock, or even occasionally for ducks that are unwell.

If you have a large dog kennel they work great for over night @ruthhope

Oh yes!! I actually have two medium crates [20" x 30" base x22" tall] in my coop as "bedrooms" for my two pekin drakes.

I did actually have the Saxony in the coop in a dog crate short-term for a few nights recently, because he bullies one Buff duck, who usually stays in with the breeder Anconas. I was collecting their eggs for a week so she had to move into the other coop, and I put the drake in the crate. He actually seemed to like going in there by the end of the week If I can find a bigger crate I could put both drakes in. Or maybe I'll think about permanently sectioning off a "bedroom" for drakes.
Thanks for the idea!

 

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

It is possible the two drakes ganged up on her. I had a second drake, but he was too much for my flock. He massively stressed my other drake out because he was taking all his females. I had 2 drakes and 13 female at the time. I decided to rehome him, because it was not possible for me at the time to easily sperate out my drakes. Which leads me to, it may be better to seperate out your drakes and let your females have a break. A lot of us have a drake jail for these purposes.

How is your girl doing today?

She is doing fine, thanks! I had her inside last night for a couple hours with a heating pad until she was dry and warm, and she was much better even after that.
I don't have another coop to separate the drakes at night, but I could definitely leave them in the pen during the day while the females are out in the yard.

 

[Quatie]

She is doing fine, thanks! I had her inside last night for a couple hours with a heating pad until she was dry and warm, and she was much better even after that.
I don't have another coop to separate the drakes at night, but I could definitely leave them in the pen during the day while the females are out in the yard.

That is so great she is doing better!

You can always seperate drakes in a dog crate in the coop at night. I sometimes do this when introducing new ducks in the flock, or even occasionally for ducks that are unwell.

 

[Feather queen]

I have muscovies and I saved one of my ducks from drowning when a drake started mating her in the water but unfortunately when I was away the same thing happened and I lost one of my beautiful ducks. So it is very likely that the same thing could have happened to your lovely duck