Bullying

[mightymom42]

I recently..a couple months ago added a couple new ducks to my flock. My existing drake who is a runner is bullying my new ones and it's been weeks. What do I do?

 

[Miss Lydia]

What sex? How did you introduce?

 

[mightymom42]

1ale and 1 female. Very slowly. I had a short stretch of wire between them and when they showed interest and didn't run I opened it up. My existing drake and my much older female are bullying. My new make has several missing neck feathers and I can see some skin. At a loss as what to do.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

How many females altogether? How much space do they have? Ducks are pretty territorial and the old drake definitely isn't going to want to share his females with the new one. If he's fighting him that bad it sounds like they need a longer time to get acquainted. But, your ratio might be off and you're going to need lots of space for them to integrate successfully.

 

[mightymom42]

He has 2 females to himself. He seems to want the new one and is bullying the new male

 

[Crazy Maizie]

The ratio is off. Drakes need at least 4 each - more is better especially when you have more than one drake. This is also why the female attacked the new drake. She doesn't need another male in the flock. Depending on what you're goal is for keeping ducks you're going to have to decide what works best for your old flock and new flock. One solution is to keep them separate and hope there aren't overmating issues. Another would be to get more females for both drakes. You could also have a drake only flock, but they would have to be kept where they can't really see the females (from what I've heard). Or lastly, rehome one of the drakes.

 

[mightymom42]

I would prefer to keep the new ones simply for the eggs. I do not have room for more females. Do you or anyone know who would take my male runner duck I got him last year.i love them all but I need to do what's best and within my means.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

You could post to your state thread here on byc or if on fb there are local poultry groups to join.

Where did you get him from? Maybe ask them if they have ideas for rehoming.

I'm confused though as to why you got a male and female if you just wanted eggs?
Are they attacking the new female duck at all?

 

[mightymom42]

You could post to your state thread here on byc or if on fb there are local poultry groups to join.

Where did you get him from? Maybe ask them if they have ideas for rehoming.

I'm confused though as to why you got a male and female if you just wanted eggs?
Are they attacking the new female duck at all?

Tractor supply. They were not sexed . I didn't realize having another male would cause this.
He is going after both but the male seems to have more feathers missing and skin showing. They both stay huddled together in their duck house .

 

[Monte93]

Drakes can be super aggressive so it's very important to have at least 4 or more females per Drake you decide to keep to avoid the hen's from getting injured or even killed by the drake. I have had to accept that I'll probably have to process a few drakes if I get a straight run from TS. If you're open to do that, I recommend getting a pithing tool as it's one of the most ethical procedures. I've been lucky enough to re-home one as a neighbor lost her drake to a hawk and needed a new companion for her hen.

Post on your local community facebook groups. Also, Nextdoor.com or Craigslist could also be good places. You'll definitely want to keep the new ducks separate or figure out a situation for the bullying drake ASAP. Good luck!