Agressive ducks, more than ever

[Cincin]

Hi everyone!

The mating season has started and I'm having some problems. I have three male ducks (two brown ones, maybe Rouen or this type, i dont know well, and one white one too small to be a Pekin, I think), and they're really bullying the white one. For the past couple of days, their aggression and bullying have escalated, isolating him and not letting him eat or wander around nearby, so I've decided to separate them temporarily, but I'm not sure if I'm doing it right (today was the first day of separation).

They live in an enclosure in the garden of about 10-15 square meters, and in that enclosure they have a pen 6 meters long and 1.5 meters wide, so today I decided to put them in the pen in shifts.

For the first few hours of the morning, the bullied duck was there with his own food (pellets and fresh water), water, and a pool, while the two bullies roamed freely in the enclosure (also with their own resources). At midday, I switched them, putting the bullied duck out and the bullies in, and so on... I don't know if I'm explaining myself well.

Now, to close up the night and go to sleep, the bullied one is locked in the pen and the bullies are outside (I've removed one of their shelters, and they also have hedges under which they like to sleep, and there are no predators here; it's a "human" residential area, so they're not "at risk").

Tomorrow I plan to continue doing the same and also add another pellet feeder and plenty of environmental enrichment (hanging and hiding fresh vegetables), but I've read so much all afternoon that I'm overwhelmed and I don't know if it will be too many changes and make things worse.

I know it's because of the heat cycle and the hormonal fluctuations, and it's the absolute risk of having only males, but they turned out to be males, I don't have room to add females and getting rid of them is emotionally very difficult for me.

I've already spoken with two vendors like yours, "tractor supply," to see if I can rehome the two bullies, but it breaks my heart into a thousand pieces. They're all my little ones, and it's a very sad situation. I just want to do what's best for all of them.

Any advice? Thanks for reading this far. Big hug.

 

[ruthhope]

Hi everyone!

The mating season has started and I'm having some problems. I have three male ducks (two brown ones, maybe Rouen or this type, i dont know well, and one white one too small to be a Pekin, I think), and they're really bullying the white one. For the past couple of days, their aggression and bullying have escalated, isolating him and not letting him eat or wander around nearby, so I've decided to separate them temporarily, but I'm not sure if I'm doing it right (today was the first day of separation).

They live in an enclosure in the garden of about 10-15 square meters, and in that enclosure they have a pen 6 meters long and 1.5 meters wide, so today I decided to put them in the pen in shifts.

For the first few hours of the morning, the bullied duck was there with his own food (pellets and fresh water), water, and a pool, while the two bullies roamed freely in the enclosure (also with their own resources). At midday, I switched them, putting the bullied duck out and the bullies in, and so on... I don't know if I'm explaining myself well.

Now, to close up the night and go to sleep, the bullied one is locked in the pen and the bullies are outside (I've removed one of their shelters, and they also have hedges under which they like to sleep, and there are no predators here; it's a "human" residential area, so they're not "at risk").

Tomorrow I plan to continue doing the same and also add another pellet feeder and plenty of environmental enrichment (hanging and hiding fresh vegetables), but I've read so much all afternoon that I'm overwhelmed and I don't know if it will be too many changes and make things worse.

I know it's because of the heat cycle and the hormonal fluctuations, and it's the absolute risk of having only males, but they turned out to be males, I don't have room to add females and getting rid of them is emotionally very difficult for me.

I've already spoken with two vendors like yours, "tractor supply," to see if I can rehome the two bullies, but it breaks my heart into a thousand pieces. They're all my little ones, and it's a very sad situation. I just want to do what's best for all of them.

Any advice? Thanks for reading this far. Big hug.

My two pekin drakes fight non-stop if together and so, like you, I leave one in the coup [10' x 5'] and let the other out into my back yard with my muscovy drakes. I started swapping the two during the day but it became onerous when I had to go out. So for more than a month, I have alternated days for one out and the other inside. Peace reigns!! They each sleeping their own compartment, in the coup -- one has a dog crate the other a closed off compartment next to the dog crate. For the first hour in the morning. They are making threatening gestures and noises at eachother through the coup wall. It is heavy duty wire with hardware cloth over, so they can see each other. By the end of the day, they sit facing eachother on opposite sides of the wall.

I think you are doing fine with yours. If you are busy, you can always alternate yours by the day rather than half day