AeonsMusings
In the Brooder
- Aug 7, 2022
- 20
- 14
- 24
Hello wonderful people! Newbie here, first time owning ducks and we wanted to have a breed that served the purpose of providing eggs and meat so we went with muscovies. We have twenty ducks and they will be roughly 8 weeks old (give or take a few days, some hatched from a separate nest a little earlier than the others) this week. We’ve had a problem with cannibalistic behavior, and most of the abuse is targeted at the largest duck in the flock (occasionally they will snap at some of the smaller what I assume are hens at this point but it mostly directed at one poor Drake). The instant he (we believe it’s a Drake based on size but temperament is SO DOCILE) started getting his wing feathers in (the first in the group to feather), everyone started to try to pluck them out to the point he bled. We separated, tried no more peck, gentian violet dye, lots of cover creams that supposedly deter pecking but nothing seems to be lasting longer than a few hours. We managed to get him in a sock cover and that has done wonders but he’s outgrown the sock and we’re at a loss here.
The guy just….stands there. And lets the others pick on him without even trying to get away until he decides he’s thirsty or hungry and then he gets away to eat. Right now they’re in a run that’s roughly 70ft long and about 25ft wide, and once they’ve acclimated to being in this area we were set on letting them free range and be cooped at night but we cannot for the life of us seem to get this behavior under control. His feathers obviously can’t come in if they’re constantly getting pulled out and it’s not just one duck that bullies him or we’d remove the bully. He is very active and doesn’t act or behave like he is ill—eats well and drinks without issue. We’ve added in toys for them to chase and play with and none of them seem interested in a pool so if this is boredom related…How can we fix it? We assumed they had plenty of space while they adjusted to the yard but now I’m beginning to wonder they may just need way more. x.x
Any suggestions are appreciated for this worried duck momma.
The guy just….stands there. And lets the others pick on him without even trying to get away until he decides he’s thirsty or hungry and then he gets away to eat. Right now they’re in a run that’s roughly 70ft long and about 25ft wide, and once they’ve acclimated to being in this area we were set on letting them free range and be cooped at night but we cannot for the life of us seem to get this behavior under control. His feathers obviously can’t come in if they’re constantly getting pulled out and it’s not just one duck that bullies him or we’d remove the bully. He is very active and doesn’t act or behave like he is ill—eats well and drinks without issue. We’ve added in toys for them to chase and play with and none of them seem interested in a pool so if this is boredom related…How can we fix it? We assumed they had plenty of space while they adjusted to the yard but now I’m beginning to wonder they may just need way more. x.x
Any suggestions are appreciated for this worried duck momma.