Can a drake outrank a rooster?

[jonaeselaye]

A couple of months ago I adopted a drake (we were asked to take care of him for 1-2 weeks but the owner was unable to have him back). He is a very tall pekin and is kept in in separate enclosure from my chickens (1 australorp x rooster, 3 silkies and 3 sex links) but is allowed to free range during the day.

Recently we started letting the rooster and sex links free range to give the silkies a break from getting bullied. The duck awkwardly follows the hens around but doesn't chase or attack them. He kind of just walks up to them and tries to eat near them. He does chase the rooster though so I've started keeping the rooster in his own run in the mornings (he rejoins all the hens in the enclosure in the afternoon). I have noticed that when the duck is nearby, the rooster does not crow much or sometimes not at all. Can that be because he is intimidated by the duck?
I'm not sure if having a drake around means the rooster is less dominant not if it's because of his contraceptive implant or maybe both?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Who has the contraceptive implant? My Roosters I have 3 forage daily with the rest of the birds, Geese ducks and chickens and the main rooster is in charge of the drakes and female ducks they very much respect him, he just isn't in charge of the geese. They have worked out their place in the flock maybe let your drake and rooster work theirs out as long as no one is getting hurt. Beware though that drakes can try and mate with chicken hens and can cause serious injury and even death if they succeed So keep close eye on that. Then you may want to separate the two and get your drake some female ducks of his own. Actually it would probably be a good idea anyway because he would be a lot happier with some females.

 

[Compost King]

I have heard horror stories about drakes being around chicken hens... but this article says otherwise. I don't know the answer but because I read your post I did a search and found this.. https://countrysidenetwork.com/daily/poultry/poultry-poultry/can-chickens-and-ducks-live-together/ ... it goes against what I have been told and I have no idea what to believe on this until I see it happen with my own eyes.

 

[Miss Lydia]

The key is having enough female ducks to each breed most here would say at least 3 and up. Drakes are extremely randy and may not be satisfied with only a few. Especially if they are all kept in a pen and not free ranged. I have never had any of my drakes try and mate my chicken hens but they have always had 4 and up females each. My drakes now Muscovy 4 females, My Runner has 6 females. Stick around here long enough you'll come across a thread where someone has a drake trying to breed their chickens.

 

[jonaeselaye]

Who has the contraceptive implant? My Roosters I have 3 forage daily with the rest of the birds, Geese ducks and chickens and the main rooster is in charge of the drakes and female ducks they very much respect him, he just isn't in charge of the geese. They have worked out their place in the flock maybe let your drake and rooster work theirs out as long as no one is getting hurt. Beware though that drakes can try and mate with chicken hens and can cause serious injury and even death if they succeed So keep close eye on that. Then you may want to separate the two and get your drake some female ducks of his own. Actually it would probably be a good idea anyway because he would be a lot happier with some females.

The rooster has the contraceptive implant, he was administered with the 4.7mg a month ago and is potentially getting the 9.6mg does in 1-2 months. I have heard that as well which is why I was worried about the tiny silkies free ranging with them We have put our names on the waiting list of a few shelters to adopt a female duck. The only issue is we are already at the council limit of how many poultry we can keep so if we get offered to adopt a female duck, we will have to first get approval from our neighbours and councils

I have heard horror stories about drakes being around chicken hens... but this article says otherwise. I don't know the answer but because I read your post I did a search and found this.. https://countrysidenetwork.com/daily/poultry/poultry-poultry/can-chickens-and-ducks-live-together/ ... it goes against what I have been told and I have no idea what to believe on this until I see it happen with my own eyes.

I have horror stories too and worry about him getting too close to my silkies. He has never lived with other ducks though, his previous owner let him free range in the backyard and in the house with 4 hens, 2 dogs and a cat. Apparently they all use to eat and sleep together in the owner's bed so no doubt he is lonely at my place.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Aww I hope your council and neighbors will give the okay.

 

[Compost King]

@Miss Lydia answered a lot of questions I had about mixing species in a flock. Its why I love BYC what ever questions I have someone has the experience to answer it. Its why I post on threads if someone asks a question I am interested in, so I get the alerts when someone with experience posts.

 

[chickens really]

Hello..Anyways. Sorry
Definitely if you can don't house the Ducks with your Chickens. A recipe for disaster once breeding season begins.

 

[casportpony]

I have heard horror stories about drakes being around chicken hens... but this article says otherwise. I don't know the answer but because I read your post I did a search and found this.. https://countrysidenetwork.com/daily/poultry/poultry-poultry/can-chickens-and-ducks-live-together/ ... it goes against what I have been told and I have no idea what to believe on this until I see it happen with my own eyes.

I think that's a pretty good article. And I agree with @Miss Lydia, with the proper drake to duck ratio, ducks can be kept with chickens.

 

[casportpony]

@jonaeselaye, and I may be in the minority here, but I used to have a drake that was raised with chickens, so he never bonded with the other ducks, instead, he followed the chickens around, and occasionally he tried to mate with them, but they would usually just run away from him. He got along with the other roosters and never fought with any of them. I guess what I'm trying to say is just keep an eye on him and there is a good chance he will be able to coexist as an only duck, though he might be happier if he had some duck buddies.