2 ducks (drakes?) fighting

[tiffany a]

Recently our family got ducks. they are about 4 months old and we think they are either one boy and one girl or 2 boys. Lately they have been fighting a lot. At first we thought it was mating, but we think it might just be pure fighting. The one that we know is a drake is the one always on top of the other. Any suggestions on if we should stop them and if they are going to hurt each other?

 

[Sh4479]

Are they full grown? What breed? Drakes have a quiet raspy type quack and curled feathers on the tail. (Pekin) We also have 2 drakes and we used to have a hen, but she ended up passing away. The males do tend to try to dominate each other and mate with the other. Its creepy.

 

[sourland]

Drakes will try to mate one another, and this can lead to fighting.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

Hey y’all I’m new here. We have backyard ducks. I read a bunch of the comments and threads about the drakes fighting. We are also fairly new duck owners. Our two drakes are about 6 months old. We bought them together when they were babies. They’ve always loved each other, now suddenly they are fighting. I’m so worried about them. They are pulling each other’s chest feathers. I never really found a consensus on 1) should we separate them? 2) should we add a female? 3) when exactly is mating season? Anything you can offer will be much appreciated.

NO FEMALE!! all ducks fight to decide who is the dominant duck. drakes will settle down after this but if you add females they’ll continue to fight for her and eventually kill her or each other. you will also need atleast 4 hens for 2 drakes.

 

[Sh4479]

They are pretty much full grown (4 months old) pekins. their quacks are pretty high pitched and not raspy at all. One of them has a slight curl and the other definitely has a curl. Do your drakes ever hurt eachother? that’s what we are most scared of because it seems pretty aggressive.

Sorry I missed you said their ages lol. Silly me, but yes drakes are aggressive. Mine are to each other anyway, but like I said usually only in the water.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

Alright, then we will wait this out. Thank you!

no problem! also you can get bird toys and even plastic baby toys to put in their pens to distract them and keep them entertained (sometimes ducks will get bored especially in winter and that’s why they could be fighting)

 

[nolamimi504]

I really think the only thing you can do if you want to keep them all is add about 9 more females and see how it works. If you are hatching out 17 eggs be prepared to rehome all of them that end up being boys.

Yeah I’m already working on getting rid of the male ducks and have a few takers. My husband wants to make Chocolate a house duck now. I don’t know if it’s mating season or hormones... I just know Midnight will end up killing Chocolate or Chocolate killing Goldie. We’re still learning with the ducks; they’re about 8 months old.

 

[nolamimi504]

NO FEMALE!! all ducks fight to decide who is the dominant duck. drakes will settle down after this but if you add females they’ll continue to fight for her and eventually kill her or each other. you will also need atleast 4 hens for 2 drakes.

My problem is I have 4 ducks; we thought we had 2 females and 2 males but we ended up with 3 males. Two of my males (Cayuga & Khaki Campbell) go head to head whenever they see one another. This is new behavior. Our female seemed to have chosen the Cayuga but the Khaki Campbell would just take it from her, whenever he got the urge, which was often. It’s like he truly believes Goldie is his and if anyone gets near her he attacks them. The Cayuga has always been protective of Goldie for months. I have 17 eggs incubating currently and am hoping some females hatch from there..but what can I do in the meantime. We have taken to bringing the Khaki Campbell inside the house rather than allow him and the Cayuga to have an MMA style match. The 3rd drake is no problem, shows no aggression or anything. Any advice??

 

[davez]

There is something called "light castration" or "light sterilization". Look into it. Keep the aggressive duck in a dark environment longer than the sun is out and it can reduce his mating drive.

Duck behavior varies. There is never a one size fits all solution, duck personality will play a part as well. Sometimes you can have combos that are unexpected.

Keeping them seperate will protect them and is probably the best solution for now. When you change the flock dynamic, expect some more fighting initially until they get pecking order sorted out.

 

[tiffany a]

Are they full grown? What breed? Drakes have a quiet raspy type quack and curled feathers on the tail. (Pekin) We also have 2 drakes and we used to have a hen, but she ended up passing away. The males do tend to try to dominate each other and mate with the other. Its creepy.

They are pretty much full grown (4 months old) pekins. their quacks are pretty high pitched and not raspy at all. One of them has a slight curl and the other definitely has a curl. Do your drakes ever hurt eachother? that’s what we are most scared of because it seems pretty aggressive.