Aggressive Male

[Jen Bullock]

Hi Guys!
So I have 2 chickens, one male one female. They have been bonded for 3 years. This past summer a fox attacked and took their baby, the mother was able to get into a tree but was missing for 3 days. Once she came back we had an outbreak of mites. I separated her but it has taken 3 months for her to fully recover after being severely anemic.
Now she is terrified of her mate and he attacks her everytime he is near her. To make things even more interesting he is now laying eggs which is incredibly rare I know but is clearly a hermaphrodite. He wasn’t actually the father of the baby that hatched, but he has all male characteristics aside from now laying eggs.

Also out of our 13 ducks we have 7 females to 6 males. So far they have been great but one hen in particular who is bonded to one male keeps getting attacked by every other male we have. I can’t seem to keep them off of her. We separate her and her bonded mate every night but through the day she is just being over taken by the boys!
I’m attached to everyone of my birds, I love them like children and don’t want to part with any of them.

Suggestions on either problem?!?

 

[sourland]

Both chickens are female. If you separate the bonded pair, the drakes may very well start gang breeding another hen. Your hen to drake ratio may very well not work. If your ducks have access to swimming water, it is very likely that the drakes will start inadvertently drowning hens while gang breeding them.

 

[centrarchid]

Picture of male needed.

 

[EclecticLadyy]

What to do depends on what you want to achieve. I am wondering: What is the point of having all those male ducks? Are they pets? Or are you raising them for meat? Or are you raising them for hatching out fertile duck eggs? Too many male poultry (of any kind) cause constant battles, stress and havoc in the barnyard. Especially to the hens who usually get jumped on and basically endure being gang-raped every day. Unless you are aiming for fertile duck eggs, I would CULL the drakes for a Christmas feast. In my experience, Ducks usually pair bond naturally if given the opportunity and ample open space. How big are their living quarters?

 

[sbhkma]

Is that a pic of your rooster? Looks like a hen to me.

 

[ThenNotSoChickenMaster]

He looks female to me.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

I feel terrible admitting that I giggled reading this. It just kept getting worse and worse for you!!

And your rooster now lays eggs? I would so love for that happen with Henry. It'd help make up for all the money I've spent with his recovery from a coyote attack. My husband now calls him the million dollar chicken.

So, something similar happened when two sister cats I adopted were separated for a few weeks. They were tightly bonded throughout their ten years, but when they were split apart it's like they didn't recognize each other anymore. The scents were probably all wrong on their fur, and depression is perceived as weakness, so my other cats weren't thrilled with them either.

Gradually things calmed down, but the bonding was broken forever, which was very sad indeed.

I'm not sure your chickens will ever return to the bond they once had, but hopefully over time, lots and lots of time I'm guessing, things will soften and your hen will regain her confidence and feel less depressed and won't be such an easy target anymore.

 

[Jen Bullock]

 

[Jen Bullock]

What to do depends on what you want to achieve. I am wondering: What is the point of having all those male ducks? Are they pets? Or are you raising them for meat? Or are you raising them for hatching out fertile duck eggs? Too many male poultry (of any kind) cause constant battles, stress and havoc in the barnyard. Especially to the hens who usually get jumped on and basically endure being gang-raped every day. Unless you are aiming for fertile duck eggs, I would CULL the drakes for a Christmas feast. In my experience, Ducks usually pair bond naturally if given the opportunity and ample open space. How big are their living quarters?

 

[Jen Bullock]

They are pets. And have all gotten along fine for 2 years. I’m also a vegetarian so my pets will not be killed for food!
They are free range through spring/summer and fall. We just moved them to their winter living area which is an enclosed 8x14 pen, maybe bigger with another huge open area and a 10x10 outdoor area with pool.
I think I will just need to keep my bonded pair separated at all times now.