Damaging mating?

[RebinNH]

I have had to hold him to the ground for being badly behaved with me. He is ok. Doesn't take long before he totally gets it, so he really is not one to challenge me...yet. But I had to get rid of his brother because of how much and ferociously he attacked me, so I'll never say never.
I only have the one drake and the 2 hens, so I think perhaps the dynamics are different from yours. Not so many options here and the little one needs a break every so often. Mating seems to occur once or twice a day, which I think is manageable.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I have had to hold him to the ground for being badly behaved with me. He is ok. Doesn't take long before he totally gets it, so he really is not one to challenge me...yet. But I had to get rid of his brother because of how much and ferociously he attacked me, so I'll never say never.
I only have the one drake and the 2 hens, so I think perhaps the dynamics are different from yours. Not so many options here and the little one needs a break every so often. Mating seems to occur once or twice a day, which I think is manageable.

Maybe because she is so little he is trying to find a spot he can really hang on and balance
Unfortunately it’s her eye area
If only we could say no bite her here and all would be good

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I have a female who is blind in one eye from a drake mating her badly over and over again. I also currently have a drake who is bigger than my hens (he is 1/4 Appleyard, 3/4 Khaki but the size of an Appleyard). I will be rehoming my large drake in the spring. I will not risk my girls being injured. Been there done that and lost hens. Your choice but I am not be in the "wait and see" group. I have not had the best experiences with agressive drakes.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I have a female who is blind in one eye from a drake mating her badly over and over again. I also currently have a drake who is bigger than my hens (he is 1/4 Appleyard, 3/4 Khaki but the size of an Appleyard). I will be rehoming my large drake in the spring. I will not risk my girls being injured. Been there done that and lost hens. Your choice but I am not be in the "wait and see" group. I have not had the best experiences with agressive drakes.

Sorry you had to experience that

 

[CoriM]

I think you need to protect your hens. The ration of two to one male is not enough. Especially if she is so much smaller, she is more likely to get hurt, so you really need to guard her eyes - sounds like you might need to get rid of your drake so she isn't hurt.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I agree with @Miss Lydia
He doesn’t sound like a terrible drake just hasn’t figured out where to hold onto yet
You can have 20 girls but sometimes a drake will focus on his favourite girl
I know the OP said separation isn’t an option but sometimes it’s needed
I use temp fencing to do this
Put a dog pen blocking off an area of the run and that way they can all see each other but they get a break they need
I have done this in high Mate season as well as when one of my girls hurt her leg and I wanted her to have less area to move around
In high mate season my girls necks will look a little rough so I give breaks to heal up.

 

[RebinNH]

Wow! So much to consider in all of this. I cannot section them off and really do not think a break is what they need. I think he possibly needs to learn and being left by himself will not help that. In fact I think it might make him anxious and therefore less agile. Will he learn in time (before he injures an eye or two) is what I need to consider.

The good news is that yesterday I saw him on the back of the little girl again and finally this time he was holding her neck. As far as giving the girls a break, again I think that is not possible with my set up, except for an hour or two here and there. It's not like he wants to mate all day. He seems satisfied with a couple times a day - once first thing being left out of coop in AM and later in the afternoon. They sleep together in the coop but the girls huddle together on the floor and he is on a shelf above. I think he will balance this out between the 2, as another thing I hav seen is that he started to mate with the little one (Fern) in the afternoon and switched mid stream to the other girl (Luna). She finally has begun to let him but you can see she's not as experienced as Fern. So I guess they all need to learn and so I perhaps I need to stay out of the way. They are a team of three and roam that way!

Having only 2 hens will determine whether I need a drake or not. If he learns how to be with them, he will stay. I really do not want a third female and would only get one, if he were to leave. Originally with straight run, I got drakes and was fine with just 2 drakes. It's really not about the eggs for me. It's about the free ranging bug eating and now the company. I did not "get rid" of my other drake because he mated improperly (I had nothing for him to mate with). I re-homed him because the dynamics of 2 drakes and me did not work out. He was out of control and I did not have the inclination to deal with his attacks. I'd have been a bit crazy to have continued to do so!

As far as this drake (Jupiter) goes, he is almost always very polite with me and knows me as momma duck as I have always been.

Btw, all three are very good flyers and a dog crate would not separate them.

 

[CoriM]

A couple times a day doesn't sound bad at all. If you're there supervising from a distance you can always intervene if you're worried about the eye. Hopefully they'll all get the hang of it soon!

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Wow! So much to consider in all of this. I cannot section them off and really do not think a break is what they need. I think he possibly needs to learn and being left by himself will not help that. In fact I think it might make him anxious and therefore less agile. Will he learn in time (before he injures an eye or two) is what I need to consider.

The good news is that yesterday I saw him on the back of the little girl again and finally this time he was holding her neck. As far as giving the girls a break, again I think that is not possible with my set up, except for an hour or two here and there. It's not like he wants to mate all day. He seems satisfied with a couple times a day - once first thing being left out of coop in AM and later in the afternoon. They sleep together in the coop but the girls huddle together on the floor and he is on a shelf above. I think he will balance this out between the 2, as another thing I hav seen is that he started to mate with the little one (Fern) in the afternoon and switched mid stream to the other girl (Luna). She finally has begun to let him but you can see she's not as experienced as Fern. So I guess they all need to learn and so I perhaps I need to stay out of the way. They are a team of three and roam that way!

Having only 2 hens will determine whether I need a drake or not. If he learns how to be with them, he will stay. I really do not want a third female and would only get one, if he were to leave. Originally with straight run, I got drakes and was fine with just 2 drakes. It's really not about the eggs for me. It's about the free ranging bug eating and now the company. I did not "get rid" of my other drake because he mated improperly (I had nothing for him to mate with). I re-homed him because the dynamics of 2 drakes and me did not work out. He was out of control and I did not have the inclination to deal with his attacks. I'd have been a bit crazy to have continued to do so!

As far as this drake (Jupiter) goes, he is almost always very polite with me and knows me as momma duck as I have always been.

Btw, all three are very good flyers and a dog crate would not separate them.

I think 2 girls is fine with only one drake
The biggest reason we need 4-6 per drake is so ducks are not being teamed up on and with only be drake that will never happen

 

[RebinNH]

Thanks for that. They do seem like a happy trio.