Aggressive Muscovys - two drakes fighting

[sloane]

I have two Muscovy drakes and three other ducks. One drake was the leader of the pack for a year and now the tables have turned and the #2 drake has taken over. He has become so aggressive that he will not let the other drake anywhere near the other ducks and keeps his apart from the group all day. They are fighting. This morning I let them out of the house and the new #2 had blood all over his wing. He is becoming a bit skittish around us also and seems rather sad. It almost like the top drake is trying to get the other male to leave the yard and never come back. We are new to this so, any advice on how to handle the overly aggressive male and get him to accept the other one back into the group?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have two Muscovy drakes and three other ducks. One drake was the leader of the pack for a year and now the tables have turned and the #2 drake has taken over. He has become so aggressive that he will not let the other drake anywhere near the other ducks and keeps his apart from the group all day. They are fighting. This morning I let them out of the house and the new #2 had blood all over his wing. He is becoming a bit skittish around us also and seems rather sad. It almost like the top drake is trying to get the other male to leave the yard and never come back. We are new to this so, any advice on how to handle the overly aggressive male and get him to accept the other one back into the group?

I can truly understand what your saying since I have 4 Scovy drakes, one being so dominant i have to keep my oldest 9years separated from him. [by fencing] he has his girls but they can come and go as they please my drake is too large to get thur. Now my dominant drake and his Son who by the way are 2yr and 1 yr have gone at it a few times but as long as I don't see anyone getting hurt I let them work it out, and yes sometimes there is a bit of blood and both look pretty ratty right now, molt will take care of that. You really need more ducks, Or need to re home one of your drakes, a drake needs at least 3-4 ducks apiece to keeps him happy and also means less wear and tear on the girls. some even rec more but I find 3-4 seems to work here. Once Sept. Oct moves in they will calm down some, but don't expect there to ever be complete peace, your less dominant will just have to learn to stay as far away as he can. That's how it has worked here so far,. I don't let my drakes sleep together in the open, we have made stalls with top [wood strips with hardware cloth ] for ventilation and the drakes are kept apart for their own good,

 

[sloane]

Thank you for the advice Miss Lydia!

I will have to keep them apart for now. We don't have the room to get more ducks at the moment and getting rid of one will be a challenge. They are my kids pets and they love both of them. The girls do get peace and quiet during the day. They free range and hang out in the creek most of the day. We will have to see how summer goes. Thanks again!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you for the advice Miss Lydia!

I will have to keep them apart for now. We don't have the room to get more ducks at the moment and getting rid of one will be a challenge. They are my kids pets and they love both of them. The girls do get peace and quiet during the day. They free range and hang out in the creek most of the day. We will have to see how summer goes. Thanks again!

I understand completely, we let one of our girls hatch ducklings I only let her have 4 eggs, well out of 4 we got one drake 7 weeks now, and of course I have to keep him so up to 4 drakes as I stated, I do love my drakes though they make great pets. I'm such a softy.