Do drakes calm down with age or will they always be hyper and aggresive!?

[rugbyrebel]

I'm a first time duck owner and I think I've gotten in over my head! I was so concerned about noise and messiness that while researching ducks, I missed a major, obvious point... how sexually aggressive they can be!

From my three ducklings I ended up with two drakes and one hen. Far from the ideal ratio but they have surprisingly been perfectly fine together (so far) and have not been over-mating the female. She is in control and bosses them around. However, the drakes are aggressive towards my chickens. I separated the chickens and ducks immediately once I saw one of the drakes go after my smallest hen.

It has been a nightmare rotating yard ranging and I leave work at lunch some days to do this. I rearranged my fences to have two separate outdoor runs but the ducks are able to push through the fence sometimes and they still chase the chicken up and down the fence line, scaring her (she fails to realize she can just NOT stand by the fence

). So I still don't trust having them all ranging at the same time.

I really do not want these drakes anymore but I'm struggling with the idea of rehoming. I can't bear the thought of them possibly ending up in a bad home and I keep all my birds as pets only (not like things are so great for them now though... they spend most of their time locked up and they are terrified of me now that I've had to chase them around a few times). When they are not around the chickens, they are peaceful, beautiful, fun to watch and I love them. When they are chasing my chicken along the fence I get so angry I could just wring their necks on the spot!

I am not keen on buying a bunch more duck hens to correct my ratio, I suspect it wouldn't help anyway. I am looking into getting better fencing but it will take a few months and it's going to be expensive. (I was planning on doing this anyway but I am resenting how urgent it is now).

My question is, for people who've kept ducks for years, will they ever calm down or mellow out? Will they lose some interest in mating and be more manageable? I could deal with a couple years of this nonsense but if it's a lifetime commitment I'm not sure I will be able to bear it!!

The boys are buff orpingtons and they are just turning one year old.

 

[KingOfTheCoop02]

I don't think they will calm with age... but when the breeding season is over for the year they will calm then.

It is pivotal to your flock that you remove at least one drake, as eventually your duck will get overbred. Also, if a drake does manage to catch a chicken and attempt to copulate with her, the difference between Anatidae and Galliforme anatomy could cause her death or at least serious injury.

 

[Ambunny]

I'm a first time duck owner and I think I've gotten in over my head! I was so concerned about noise and messiness that while researching ducks, I missed a major, obvious point... how sexually aggressive they can be!

From my three ducklings I ended up with two drakes and one hen. Far from the ideal ratio but they have surprisingly been perfectly fine together (so far) and have not been over-mating the female. She is in control and bosses them around. However, the drakes are aggressive towards my chickens. I separated the chickens and ducks immediately once I saw one of the drakes go after my smallest hen.

It has been a nightmare rotating yard ranging and I leave work at lunch some days to do this. I rearranged my fences to have two separate outdoor runs but the ducks are able to push through the fence sometimes and they still chase the chicken up and down the fence line, scaring her (she fails to realize she can just NOT stand by the fence

). So I still don't trust having them all ranging at the same time.

I really do not want these drakes anymore but I'm struggling with the idea of rehoming. I can't bear the thought of them possibly ending up in a bad home and I keep all my birds as pets only (not like things are so great for them now though... they spend most of their time locked up and they are terrified of me now that I've had to chase them around a few times). When they are not around the chickens, they are peaceful, beautiful, fun to watch and I love them. When they are chasing my chicken along the fence I get so angry I could just wring their necks on the spot!

I am not keen on buying a bunch more duck hens to correct my ratio, I suspect it wouldn't help anyway. I am looking into getting better fencing but it will take a few months and it's going to be expensive. (I was planning on doing this anyway but I am resenting how urgent it is now).

My question is, for people who've kept ducks for years, will they ever calm down or mellow out? Will they lose some interest in mating and be more manageable? I could deal with a couple years of this nonsense but if it's a lifetime commitment I'm not sure I will be able to bear it!!

The boys are buff orpingtons and they are just turning one year old.

My current drakes are 15 years old and show nothing signs of calming down. Every spring when they start getting frisky and have to separate them or the draw blood on each other in pursuit of a female, they would fight all day long, to the death probably if allowed but I separate them until autumn (fall) when their hormones have cooled down and then they all run happily together until March/April (uk spring).

 

[CoriM]

I feel for your situation, that is tough. I agree that you can't continue with that ratio, because eventually your girl will probably get hurt. Even 1 male to 1 female could be harmful, but glad so far you've had good luck. My ducks are all pets as well...I did order three females from a hatchery a few years ago and received two males accidentally. They were only interested in mating and chasing my older pekins, who were terrified, and of course the males were miserable being kept penned up separate from the flock. I ended up culling them. It was hard and sad, and I still feel sad when I think about it, but I knew that even if it was possible to rehome them (which I doubted, people are dumping and trying to rehome drakes constantly) they would be terrified and possibly experience a worse fate. For the drakes, it was about 30 seconds of not understanding what was going on, and then it was over, so I thought it was much more humane than when I euthanized a duck at the vet who couldn't walk anymore - that process took way longer, and she was scared in the car and at the vet. I'm not suggesting that you take this path, just that it's something to consider if you don't want to add more females to your flock, though you might need to add another one or two anyway.