Cull this drake?

[cottontail farm]

Please help me decide what to do with this drake. I have a flock of 6 hens, a rooster, a pair of runner ducks and 6 pekins all in a 50 x 20 yard. Runner ducks are a year old, and the male has been agressive towards me since last summer. I actually kept him when the others went to butcher because, at the time, he was the nicest of the group. Every day I deal with him biting at my hands, my boots, legs whenever i'm in the pen. He also figure-8s around my feet non-stop. I would not tolerate this at all from a rooster but have put up with it because I only had the pair of ducks and didn't want the hen to be wihout a mate. Now, I am raising a 6 pekins (seperate fence) and am seriously considering keeping a male and female of this group, keeping the runner hen and getting rid of the drake. I have (stupidly) let myself get soft on this guy, so I'm posting here for neutral opinions. These are not my babies, they are livestock.

Pros to keeping him: defends the flock agressively from neighbor's ducks, neighbor's cat, and I have actually seen him charge a raccoon. Very pretty and like I said I'm soft on him. Also have to admire the guy's you-know-whats as he does all of this while weighing all of 4 lbs.

Cons to keeping him: above mentioned agressive behavior towards me, no amount of pinning him down or giving the boot has had an effect, bites the hens, bites the rooster, yesterday threw a hen off a nest by the neck, today attacked 4-wk old ducklings. Also, I am 7 mos pregnant and just tired of his bs along with trying to do chores without tripping over him as he's under/on my boots constantly.

What would you do in this situation?
Is this typical drake behavior I was unaware of when I got ducks?

 

[Amiga]

He does seem very protective somehow - and his behavior indicates he wants to mate with you. I have noticed ducks do not care about species differences, for the most part, when it comes to mating. ahem. I hope I said that carefully enough.

Sometimes separating the duck, mixing up the flock dynamic will help. Recently I saw some discussion about neutering drakes. Good bad or indifferent, it may be worth considering. If there is something in his personality that touches you, I would respect that, and not be too hasty.

 

[Yukonn15]

Cotton tail farm,
I have Peking drakes and mine are very well mannered. A simple charge with no contact is all mine do, and if I turn around and face him he stops. Because you are 7 months pregnant I would not tolerate all this nonsense and because he is causing problems for the other animals send him to the pot.

 

[Kathy farms]

Please help me decide what to do with this drake. I have a flock of 6 hens, a rooster, a pair of runner ducks and 6 pekins all in a 50 x 20 yard. Runner ducks are a year old, and the male has been agressive towards me since last summer. I actually kept him when the others went to butcher because, at the time, he was the nicest of the group. Every day I deal with him biting at my hands, my boots, legs whenever i'm in the pen. He also figure-8s around my feet non-stop. I would not tolerate this at all from a rooster but have put up with it because I only had the pair of ducks and didn't want the hen to be wihout a mate. Now, I am raising a 6 pekins (seperate fence) and am seriously considering keeping a male and female of this group, keeping the runner hen and getting rid of the drake. I have (stupidly) let myself get soft on this guy, so I'm posting here for neutral opinions. These are not my babies, they are livestock.

Pros to keeping him: defends the flock agressively from neighbor's ducks, neighbor's cat, and I have actually seen him charge a raccoon. Very pretty and like I said I'm soft on him. Also have to admire the guy's you-know-whats as he does all of this while weighing all of 4 lbs.

Cons to keeping him: above mentioned agressive behavior towards me, no amount of pinning him down or giving the boot has had an effect, bites the hens, bites the rooster, yesterday threw a hen off a nest by the neck, today attacked 4-wk old ducklings. Also, I am 7 mos pregnant and just tired of his bs along with trying to do chores without tripping over him as he's under/on my boots constantly.

What would you do in this situation?
Is this typical drake behavior I was unaware of when I got ducks?

You'll miss him, so perhaps try giving him some alone time for couple of weeks. It could be the mating craze that he's exhibiting.

 

[needlessjunk]

Please help me decide what to do with this drake.  I have a flock of 6 hens, a rooster, a pair of runner ducks and 6 pekins all in a 50 x 20 yard.  Runner ducks are a year old, and the male has been agressive towards me since last summer.  I actually kept him when the others went to butcher because, at the time, he was the nicest of the group.  Every day I deal with him biting at my hands, my boots, legs whenever i'm in the pen.  He also figure-8s around my feet non-stop.  I would not tolerate this at all from a rooster but have put up with it because I only had the pair of ducks and didn't want the hen to be wihout a mate.  Now, I am raising a 6 pekins (seperate fence) and am seriously considering keeping a male and female of this group, keeping the runner hen and getting rid of the drake.  I have (stupidly) let myself get soft on this guy, so I'm posting here for neutral opinions. These are not my babies, they are livestock.

Pros to keeping him: defends the flock agressively from neighbor's ducks, neighbor's cat, and I have actually seen him charge a raccoon. Very pretty and like I said I'm soft on him.  Also have to admire the guy's you-know-whats as he does all of this while weighing all of 4 lbs.

Cons to keeping him: above mentioned agressive behavior towards me, no amount of pinning him down or giving the boot has had an effect, bites the hens, bites the rooster, yesterday threw a hen off a nest by the neck, today attacked 4-wk old ducklings. Also, I am 7 mos pregnant and just tired of his bs along with trying to do chores without tripping over him as he's under/on my boots constantly.

What would you do in this situation?
Is this typical drake behavior I was unaware of when I got ducks?

If this was a rooster would keep him? After having a drake that was hard on my girls I feel that it's better to keep the well mannered drake than put up with a nasty one and possibly pass it along to the next set of offspring. There are lots of drakes out there and why put up with the nasty ones when there are well mannered ones that are just as pretty. I know boys are just being boys and they aren't being bad but it's just not worth it to me. I rehomed mine since I felt bad and my girls were too small. Now I'm almost feeling like I passed off my problem onto someone else.

 

[casportpony]

What will he be like when your child starts walking? Will it be safe for your child to be around this duck?

-Kathy

 

[cottontail farm]

Thanks for the advice everyone. As I was re-reading this I thought "why am I putting up with this"? I was giving him the benefit of the doubt that this was how all drakes behaved, but it sounds like there are some that are better than others. My rooster is a complete gentlemen and I should expect the same here.