Aggressive duck mating; drake attacking hen; pulling out feathers and causing bleeding

[tabithafrost]

Hey all! We have one drake and three females. He is very aggressive when trying to mate with the same duck. He pulls her feathers out to the point of exposed raw skin and bleeding skin. I crate him separately at night but I’m at my wits end and thinking of re-homing him. Anything else I can do to avoid this ongoing problem? Pics attached!

 

[sourland]

If he were mine, I would separate him until the duck regrows her feathers. If upon reintroduction his behavior did not change, then I would rehome him.

 

[tabithafrost]

If he were mine, I would separate him until the duck regrows her feathers. If upon reintroduction his behavior did not change, then I would rehome him.

Thank you! I tried this and that’s exactly what’s been happening. I start to feel bad for having him in a crate, reintroduce him after her feathers grow back, then it happens all over again.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

3 females is the bare minimum for a drake to hen ratio. Do you have enough room to add more females? He can stay separated, but I like to divide their run into a good space so that they can walk around and stretch. Plus, I put a small shelter in for the drake housing. If you rehome, he may just do it to another hen - so it's best to be truthful to the next owner.

 

[tabithafrost]

3 females is the bare minimum for a drake to hen ratio. Do you have enough room to add more females? He can stay separated, but I like to divide their run into a good space so that they can walk around and stretch. Plus, I put a small shelter in for the drake housing. If you rehome, he may just do it to another hen - so it's best to be truthful to the next owner.

Thanks! Funny thing is we thought he was a female when we got him so it came as a surprise later on. We have chickens too, but he started attacking the chickens first. Now we have a coop for the chickens and a coop for the ducks. They all free range throughout the day in separate areas of the yard. Unfortunately, we don’t have room for more ducks unless we get rid of our chickens. I would definitely be truthful if we did re-home.

 

[PicklesMom]

What if you separate her but let him out with the other girls for a bit? We once had luck with that approach and he picked a new favorite.

 

[tabithafrost]

What if you separate her but let him out with the other girls for a bit? We once had luck with that approach and he picked a new favorite.

That’s a good idea! Thanks!

 

[Banana01]

Do you think that maybe they are trying to avoid the drake and can't escape? Do they have ample space to escape or are they trapped in a pen with no way to get away from him? I have seen a lot of rough behavior, but never feather pulling like that. I have one female that has stayed with my drake that currently is laying eggs, but the other females escape from him. It could be that he is so forceful because they reject him, so for that reason you could justify getting a new drake if the females reject him.

For example, my drake mates underwater and drowns the female, dunking her head underwater for up to 10 seconds, then pulls her head up. But they are a pair, she stays with him. The other females arent laying eggs yet, or they are scared of him because my ducks split up most of the time.

 

[tabithafrost]

Do you think that maybe they are trying to avoid the drake and can't escape? Do they have ample space to escape or are they trapped in a pen with no way to get away from him? I have seen a lot of rough behavior, but never feather pulling like that. I have one female that has stayed with my drake that currently is laying eggs, but the other females escape from him. It could be that he is so forceful because they reject him, so for that reason you could justify getting a new drake if the females reject him.

For example, my drake mates underwater and drowns the female, dunking her head underwater for up to 10 seconds, then pulls her head up. But they are a pair, she stays with him. The other females arent laying eggs yet, or they are scared of him because my ducks split up most of the time.

She definitely tries to avoid him and runs away. This results in him clinging on and feathers being pulled out. He mates with the others too who are more willing, both inside and outside the pool. She’s definitely scared of him and is able to outrun him, but sometimes he is quick to jump on her in the pool or when I re-introduce him to the coop. They all lay eggs but she will stop laying temporarily when she gets stressed from him being so aggressive.

 

[Quatie]

With a drake like that, I doubt more females would help. You may need to be prepared to keep that drake seperate majority of the time. If it is a seasonal thing for him, then drake jail may work for him. If the drake works well with the other two females, you could also consider rehoming the female after she is in better condition. It would be a lot easier to find her a home. You could have her go to an all female flock.

I have had to get rid of 2 drakes due to behavior issues. One was a moscovy drake that picked on my Pekin. He became dinner and the next day, no one missed him. My pekin was extremely happy and calm settled back into the flock. The second one was a khaki Campbell Drake that needed way too many females and even stressed my other drake out. We rehomed him, and again the flock calmed down and my females were much happier again. My ducks terrorized by the drake were far less skiddish, and my other drake lost his crazy stressed out look. It can be hard to remove a drake sometimes. But if it creates a happier flock, I would remove them every time.