Male duck rejected

[AMaggio]

Hi everyone, I have 11 female and 4 male ducks all of whom have been together for over two years with only minor incidents. The lowest male in the pecking order is my pekin who is just a gentle giant. This morning I go outside to let everyone oug of their coops and the poor guy is bleeding everywhere, some blood feathers were broken. So I brought him inside to look him over and take care of the bleeding, he's fine but i did find another injury where his nail seems to have pulled away a bit from his foot, nothing major I taped it and he's mostly okay. I take him back outside after a few hours just to make sure he wouldn't reopen the wound and now the males are chasing him around and won't let him in the coop. I'm thinking they caused the injury I the first place maybe chasing him around because his back neck feathers are damaged and dirty, which they werent yesterday, and one of the places he was bleeding was likely caused by them grabbing at him. I brought him back into the house and I'm worried because he doesn't want to eat his normal food, I did get him to munch on peas which he loves but he can't survive on just peas. Do ducks go through depression when they're separated? I know he's going through some stress right now but any suggestions would be helpful.

The pictures show the poor state of his neck feathers and the dark spots are the injuries covered in blue coat. He's had a number done to him. Right now he's in a spare bathroom in a makeshift hospital.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Drakes turn into monsters when the spring hormones surge. Could you bring a female duck in the house with him so he isn't lonely?

 

[KaleIAm]

I'm sorry to hear about your duck.

I sometimes have to separate my female pekin from her flock for medical reasons, and she gets depressed inside by herself. She sleeps all day and all but stops eating. I end up taking her outside to be with her, "sisters," for brief playdates because that's almost the only time she will eat.

I have heard of other ducks being more casual about being separated from their flock, but my flock seems very bonded. I think it is probably much easier for ducks who are imprinted on their owners.

If he were my duck I might try bringing in the lowest in the pecking order female to keep him company. I have two immediate concerns with this. 1) He might overmate her. 2) She might peck at his discolored wounds. This happened to me before when my duck had a blood feather break even though all my ducks loved each other.

I also might try making a separate area for him outside where he could be right next to the other ducks, but they wouldn't be able to damage him further.

I hope he gets well soon.

 

[AMaggio]

I could bring one of the other girls inside. The winter storm has made it impossible for me to move my flocks where i want them, they were all going to be separate after everything melts, but of course the warming weather has gotton to the males too soon.

 

[DukesDucks]

I had the same problem last spring with one of my drakes getting bullied to the point of bleeding like yours. Fortunately I have a small shed I can use as a back up coop so I put the bully and 2 females in there. They had their own small run and could see the other ducks. It took at least two weeks before he was given free run again without attacking the other drake.

 

[AMaggio]

I brought my female mallard who is tiny and always gets over mated inside. She was hatched out with the pekin and they're really close. He perked up right away and she's happily sitting in a cardboard nesting box as he sits next to her. He's eaten already and both seem calm now. Once my movable fencing has thawed I'll be able to get everyone situated. Things should thaw out in a few days. X(^^)X

 

[DukesDucks]

I just posted the same message on another thread about drakes fighting.

I would suggest you use the search tool at the top right of the screen. Do advanced search using the words 'jerk' and 'drake'.