Agressive Males... Help

[tull14]

Hi there-

I haven't posted in awhile but I am seeking advice. I have 9 ducks in my flock, 5 hens and 4 drakes. I have a mix of Khaki Campbell, Rouen, and Pekin. Although I do believe one of my Rouen females is a Mallard. With that being said, my Rouen (Mallard) hen is the smallest of the flock and all the drakes are ALL OVER her. Today I went to the barn to let them out for free range time I noticed the back of her head is bleeding. I'm not really sure what to do about this? Should I separate her from the rest of the flock? I'm afraid that if I bring her in the garage she will have more anxiety. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Virus]

You may want to just separate all of the hens and drakes. This will keep her safe from the other males and she'll have friends with her. When you let them out to free range they can all be together males will hopefully lay off her a bit if she's around the other girls and will be distracted with forging around. There's not much else I can really think to do as she's small and weaker than the other girls so the males will see her as easy picking.

 

[jducour]

I have 4 female ducks, and I sometimes feel that my two drakes are too many for my flock. 4 drakes is certainly too much, as you are seeing now. You need to either keep the two flocks separate, or rehome some of the drakes. Two is probably the most you can keep, but that depends on your flock. Mine gets along well with two drakes. One does most of the mating, like 90%, and the other can't be bothered. It works for us. None of my females are overbred, though my drakes probably think I should get one or two more