Drake + Chicken Hen Pals

[Neuner]

We only have 3 Chicken Hens and 1 Pekin Drake. The youngest hen and the drake were raised together and are almost inseparable. We've had them for about a year now.

They roam the yard together and at night she hangs out at the edge of the opening in our elevated coop to be near him while he sleeps on the ground in the run below. She is his best bud and he gets alarmed when anyone or anything gets near her.

I think the problem we're having is that she has a pecking order and he does not. Now of age, even though they have to be near each other, she has started going after him, and he's getting pretty beat up. She's feisty, but on the low end with the older girls.

He does not try and mate with her. He gets away from her, but also doesn't want to leave her side, and follows her around like a lost sheep only to keep getting beat up.

He's looking bad with eyes that are infected and full of puss. We've been trying to cater to his wounds but he just gets worse. We separate them with a wooden fence but they both cry for each other and just hang out on opposite sides of the fence not wanting to be away. It's like a strange one-sided abusive relationship.

We've been looking for a new home for him but are struggling. She's also loud and throws fits when he's missing and so we're afraid of how she'll react if he's suddenly taken away.

Is there a way we can train these two to be apart?

 

[sourland]

I'd get a duck hen for him and give her time to bond with the other hens.

 

[Neuner]

I'd get a duck hen for him and give her time to bond with the other hens.

Thank you but we did have a duck hen but she was too loud for our living conditions and we had to give her away.

Our drake and duck hen were born the same time as the chick but the ducklings took care of the chick. The ducklings huddled together while the chick slept on top of them / between them.

When it was time to join them with the others, they still huddled together and took care of each other. Our drake and chick took it hard when we had to pull the duck hen away.

It's a very interesting dynamic.

 

[Miss Lydia]

You need to separate she can blind him with one peck. Fix it so they can still see each other and maybe think of adopting another drake so he has a buddy if you can't have a female duck or 3. It's not fair to him to let her continually beat him up like she is doing.
I would treat his eyes with a warm saline solution and then use Terramycin in his eyes to clear up the infection. Poor boy.

 

[The Birb King]

Thats strange that she wants to be around him but she also beats him up. Who did you give the female duck to maybe they can take the drake too? Or you could get him another male duck to hang out with.

 

[Neuner]

Thank you and yes, we've been constantly treating his eyes.

We've been able to keep him separated in the wood fence pen during the day giving him some time to heal. We've taken turns heading out to keep him company.

I'm going to build him a separate large wire mesh area which will hopefully keep him separated but also able to see everyone.

Hoping things change over time but that's the part we don't know. Do you suspect he'll eventually lose his close buddiness with the hen?

Thats strange that she wants to be around him but she also beats him up.

Yes, it's very odd and frustrating. Her attacking him only started about 2 weeks ago. The rest of the time they were best buds.

About 2 days ago, she was hidden behind some equipment. We let him out of isolation and he went running all around the yard until he finally saw her and then calmed down. He slowly approached her and they roamed around together for a while. Out of the blue, she started pecking at him again and we had to separate them.

 

[Isadora]

It's perfectly natural that they're both going to be upset if separated because they were raised together. I really wouldn't think there's much you can do about them being sad initially but they certainly should be separated permanently. The eye pecking is no good plus he eventually will have mating urges that he doesn't have anyone else to use on except a chicken. Ideal situation would be to rehome him to someone who has females or perhaps get him a male duck or 2 for company and keep them separately away from the chickens.
Sorry you're dealing with this. That kind of stinks.

 

[Neuner]

* Update -

We still have not been able to find another home for him but we've been able to keep them separated and his eyes and head are doing much better. The eye ointment has cleared up the discharge but it appears his left eye has a scratch or ulcer. It's slowly healing though.

I enclosed a large area with a fence so that he can still be around them during the day but he calls out loudly if his buddy hen is not near. It's driving us crazy. Yesterday was the worst as they both started picking at each other, even through the chicken wire. For a moment he had his beak stuck in it.

We're still looking for a new home, and I read that ducks are smart, so for the meantime, is there a way to train him or cause him to lose interest in his buddy?

 

[Miss Lydia]

You could separate them with a barrier so they can't see each other. I had to do that with my gander who was attached to a Muscovy that hatched him. I finally got him a female goose but he didn't want to any anything to do with her because he was so attached to the Muscovy, So I put up a barrier and he couldn't see his muscovy mama and mate. But since your drake won't have anyone to keep him company I'd give him a mirror so he can look at himself and have company while you find him forever home. No chance of keeping him and getting him a few female ducks?

 

[Neuner]

You could separate them with a barrier so they can't see each other.

Please see my previous messages:

#1: We separate them with a wooden fence but they both cry for each other and just hang out on opposite sides of the fence not wanting to be away.

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No chance of keeping him and getting him a few female ducks?

#3: Thank you but we did have a duck hen but she was too loud for our living conditions and we had to give her away.