Are drakes more aggressive in spring?

[Sunshineliz]

My two mallard drakes seem a little more aggressive lately. My Pekin girl is avoiding the pool and they're still bothering her.
Yesterday my daughter said they were chasing the duck around the yard and pecking her and she was bleeding. I brought her inside and cleaned her up but the wounds looked worse than simple pecking wounds. So at this point I'm not sure if a dog got in and bit her (that's happened before) or if the drakes did it. She's getting an antibiotic from the vet and the wounds aren't too bad, but I don't want her to get hurt again.
So do drakes get more aggressive in the spring? Should I keep them separated more even after she's healed?

 

[fatty and friends]

two drakes with one girl won’t work. in my experience smaller drakes need atleast 1 girl for every drake and bigger drakes need atleast 5 (all drake flocks work best though if possible)

 

[Isadora]

Are these the only ducks you have, one female and two drakes?
Yes, absolutely keep her separated until she's healed. Drakes need four to six hens so that they don't hurt the female with overmating.
Males often do get more aggressive with the mating in the springtime, but are definitely randy all year round.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yes dogs can cause death so please protect her from the drakes and the dog! Actually drakes can cause death 2 ganging up on a female can drown her good thing she is avoiding the pool

 

[Sunshineliz]

They are the only ones I have and I know it's less than ideal but they've been together since babyhood (didn't know their sex then) and they didn't really have any problems before this. If she didn't want to mate she'd just shrug them off and get out of the pool. And I asked here and people said since she's bigger and they've grown up together it'd probably be ok. They're about 10 months old btw.
I don't even know how I'd go about getting another girl. Short of kidnapping one from the local duck pond. Which I've kind of considered lol. I don't have room for a large flock and I don't want to take in ducklings that may just end up being more drakes.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Rescuing is always a good thing just be sure if you do you keep her in quarantine for a few weeks before introducing her to your flock of 3. Many here keep drakes separated from females too. Just keep them side by side so they can still see each other.

 

[CoriM]

Even though they grew up together they can adjust to different duck friends. You definitely need to do something for your situation. Like others have mentioned, you need at least 4 females per drake typically. Your female could get hurt or even killed if they both gang up on her or just mate her continually. You can order just female ducklings from hatcheries - though it isn't foolproof. But even if you did that those little ones wouldn't be ready to mate until at least four months. Could you check Craig's List in your local area for female ducks that might be available? You will need to figure out how to protect your girl and provide companionship for her.

 

[Isadora]

If getting that many more females isn't an option, you could always rehome one of the drakes. Still not the best situation for your lone girl but much better than having two males.

 

[ruthhope]

Although it is sad to break them up, you really need to rehome one of the drakes and introduce a couple more hens. My ducks are all rescues -- contact your local wildlife rehabber. There may be juvenile or adult female ducks that you could take.

My son has three ducks he raised from day old ducklings bought from Tractor Supplies. Although the ducks are not sexed, I think that there are more males than females in the "unsexed" ducklings as unwanted sexed males get dropped in with the unsexed. My son was lucky and got 2 females and one male. Like yours they have grown up together. They are happy as a threesome and actually the daft drake will not accept a new rescued female that we introduced. [The two females are fine with the new one, but the drake keeps shooing her away. He is mean to her in the coop and so he now sleeps in a partitioned off quarter of the coop.]

Hard as it will be, it is best that you rehome a drake and take on 2 more females. Your local rehabber or humane society might be able to help your with rehoming your drake as folks like me with all male flocks are often willing to take in another drake.

 

[BlondieSoup]

Yes, drakes are more aggressive due to a spike in hormones in Spring.