All male duck flock fighting

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Bryana2002

In the Brooder
May 4, 2023
15
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Morning! I brought home a bachelor group of adult ducks that needed a home a month ago. 2 jumbo pekin and 6 rouen. They will not stop picking on each other! I know they are working out their dominance issues and probably mating season is contributing, but one of the Pekins the back of his neck is just raw (treating with bag balm) and the other are starting to look a lot more roughed up. It isnt all the time, and I think being in the coop at night is worse but I do have to lock them up at night for safety. It is a very large coop so plenty of room and they get at each other during the day too, its just not 24/7 fighting. Anyway Im starting to be concerned I made a mistake having all males and other than rehoming some of them which I would prefer not to do I dont know what to do to help them calm down and accept each other and their new home? Help! How do I get them to calm down and be nice to each other? They were fine with each other in the larger flock before I got them.

Secondary question...my neighbor has hens (on the other side of the fence, cant see them but can hear them) Could the female chickens be causing an issue?
 
They need to be separated from each other ot they'll hurt each other. Ducks have penises, it can hurt bird not made for it such as other male ducks and chickens.
Your neighbors birds aren't bothering them but they must never mix.
 
yes, I know that. they NEVER are together at all....just wasnt sure if them being around at all and my guys not having any females on their side of the fence could be contributing to why they are fighting so much
 
I don't think the chickens are causing this it's just the hormones the drakes are experiencing right now, . Do any of the drakes get along if so you could separate them into 2 or 3's and make fencing out of plastic poultry fencing and the metal and plastic fence posts that have the sharp point so they are easy to get into the ground? Dog crates work well for inside to keep them from ganging up on each other.
@thumper650 has kept all drakes and had a good set up not sure if he'll get this tag since he doesn't come on much now.

@ruthhope also has a bachelor flock.
 
Miss Lydia said:
I don't think the chickens are causing this it's just the hormones the drakes are experiencing right now, . Do any of the drakes get along if so you could separate them into 2 or 3's and make fencing out of plastic poultry fencing and the metal and plastic fence posts that have the sharp point so they are easy to get into the ground? Dog crates work well for inside to keep them from ganging up on each other.
@thumper650 has kept all drakes and had a good set up not sure if he'll get this tag since he doesn't come on much now.

@ruthhope also has a bachelor flock.
Click to expand...
Oh thank you!! That gives me hope :)
 
@Bryana2002 I have all drakes -- rescued and rehomed, currently 4 but 6 until January this year when I successfully found a forever adoptive home for two.

My boys squabble at this time of year but it's nothing serious when they are outside during the day. There will be times when one chases another for 5 minutes round the garden. Sometimes they all join in the chase and I go out and shout at them. But I don't need to actively intervene. The next minute all 4 will by sleeping side by side under a bush. But night time is a different matter. They get aggressive when shut up together in the coop. I have in the past used up to 3 dog crates in my coop to separate warring drakes. But it's congested in there with all those crates and I hae just found it's easier and more flexible to divide up the space with a temporary dog pen folded into compartments. So I now have just one medium dog crate for my special needs pekin who has slept happily at night in his llittle private bedroom for a year now. But I have separated off two compartments by attaching one edge of the dog pen to the front of the dog crate and then folding the pen into two compartments. My fourth drake is a muscovy that is tightly bonded with the Special needs pekin: he sleeps atop of the pekin's dogcrate so that he can hang over and make sure his buddy is OK.

I recommend you partition your duck house in to separate the bays at night. I think you will find that they will more peacefully coexist during the day if they are not bickering all night in the coop
 
Thank you! I tried exactly this last night. About to go check on them and see how it went but can separate even more if needed. Do you leave them food food and water overnight in their “bedrooms” or just during the day? Trying to figure out how to keep the mess down if I have to separate more than I have
 

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