Aggressive drake in a bonded pair

[sourland]

There was just an article on the news about a town that was horrified by the male mallards injuring and killing the female mallards to the point the town threw a party when spring was over (not even kidding).

Not at all uncommon when there are other competitive drakes in the area.

I repeat that in my experience mallard drakes form a strong pair bond and are not abusive to their mate unless their are other competitive drakes in the area. I would for sure closely monitor the pair and his actions.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Not at all uncommon when there are other competitive drakes in the area.

That may have been the case for the drake massacre in the article, but when I personally saw it happen there was only one drake and one hen.

 

[TomCahalan]

Wild mallards (which is what you have) do form pairs, unlike domestic ducks (which your runner was). Wild mallard drakes will rape other ducks if the opportunity presents itself, and it seems that this is what happened with your runner.

I think that your pair will be fine and introducing another duck would be a bad idea. If you do decide to increase your flock, make sure to add a large number of ducks at once.

 

[ajohn151]

Hey y'all!

Today is a sad day, one of the members of our duck squad is no more. We have three little ducks: two mallards and one runner(?) mix. They've gotten along fine their whole life, the mallards grew up together and we adopted Faye from our neighbors. Then one day I find her in the bottom of their Duck Tub! Our sweet lady Faye. I knew something was up because there was a TON of primary feathers in all her hidey holes and in their run; I thought maybe she was molting. No blood, but I've seen our drake be pretty rough with her in the Tub from time to time. When I found her she was missing a lot of tail feathers and almost all of her primaries.

I'm assuming it was the Drake, so do I trust him with the one other hen or find him a new home? If he can go Bonkers once, what's from stopping him overmating his special girl?

So sorry for your loss. I can only imagine how heart breaking that was to find. I don't have any Mallard experience so I hesitate to comment on how to proceed. Good luck with with things and please update us on what you decide.

I would love to see more pictures of your pool setup. That looks like a really neat idea.

 

[Ducktor Beers]

So sorry for your loss. I can only imagine how heart breaking that was to find. I don't have any Mallard experience so I hesitate to comment on how to proceed. Good luck with with things and please update us on what you decide.

I would love to see more pictures of your pool setup. That looks like a really neat idea.

Thanks ajohn151. A say day indeed, and the tub is taking a brief hiatus as I clean it out after the incident. The pool is solar powered and fed by rainwater! Tried to make an aquaponics situation but the ducks dug up all the water celery I planted; instead it gets 24 hr circulation via a 250GPH submersible pump, a 75w solar panel and a 45aH battery with inverter, plus a small bale of barley for algae control. About once a month I drain the pond into the garden and flood it with all those duck poops! The mallards spend a lot of time in there and dive to the bottom despite the lack of plants, and as long as there's circulation, it doesn't smell...as bad

 

[ajohn151]

Thanks ajohn151. A say day indeed, and the tub is taking a brief hiatus as I clean it out after the incident. The pool is solar powered and fed by rainwater! Tried to make an aquaponics situation but the ducks dug up all the water celery I planted; instead it gets 24 hr circulation via a 250GPH submersible pump, a 75w solar panel and a 45aH battery with inverter, plus a small bale of barley for algae control. About once a month I drain the pond into the garden and flood it with all those duck poops! The mallards spend a lot of time in there and dive to the bottom despite the lack of plants, and as long as there's circulation, it doesn't smell...as bad

This is a great idea! I want to build something similar. 3 questions. Do you know which pump specifically you use and does it run constantly? What is the bail of barley and how does that work?