Drake is being aggressive with younger ducks

[Quack head]

First, I would like to thank everyone in the Forum for helping me out with my ducks.

I am concerned, it has only been the Drake and hen for about 6 months and it was a harmoniously relationship.

As some of you know I acquired three young hens December 1st and was told they were three months old, I figured they were around two months old looking at pictures of other ducks and your comments.

This week I let the younger ones free range with the adults, they flock together (somewhat) in the pond until the drake starts chasing them and trying to mate. So much so they leave the pond and retreat to the night house. When they do come out, the drake, more than a few times a day will run up and chase them around the yard until he catches one and tries to mate, while the old hen just wanders up and quacks then he falls off.

At night, when I put them in, he is trying to corner them and mate until it gets dark then everything settles down.

If this is natural behavior that is fine and I will let nature take it course.

 

[sourland]

If it were me, I would separate them until the young hens are more mature. There is the possibility that he might injure them.

 

[johntfs]

I agree with @sourland. There are quite a few stories on this site that I've read even in my short time on this site about drakes injuring or killing hens through mating.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I don't think they should mate until about 4 months old and they might not be yet since you really don't know how old they are.

 

[johntfs]

You think they're two months old, so giving it until mid-March would easily make them four months old. They can better handle mating. Also, figure it'll be easier to deal with ducklings (if you want any) in the Spring than in Winter.

 

[FluffTheDuck]

The exact thing happened to me, and I had to separate them. However I have small females so I keep them separated. The drake is 2 years old and the young females are almost 1 year old.

 

[Duckfarmer1]

I add new ducks to my flock pretty often, and meshing them is sometimes rough. We had a group we called the ‘babies’ over the summer..they were quite a bit younger than my other ducks. I kept them, in the middle of the duck pen..so they could still see, hear each other, but not touch, for a very long time... they were just not ready to be together. As for day time....since the drake is the issue..you might want to let the young ones free range and leave the older ones in the pen.....and then, you could even switch it around so everyone gets a turn at the pond. More work..but no one gets hurt. I have a hurt duck now, Little Lou who will probably never be right again...broken knee, due to a drake stepping on him. Prevention is the best way to go, since you can see the issue now...good luck, and congrats on the new duckies!!

 

[Bookchic]

Hello,
I have a similar situation as mentioned on this post. I have a Rouen drake that is almost a year old that has been with two hens. And now have tried to introduce outside of the "introduction pen" 5 hens and a drake who are all 4 months old. The older drake terrorizes the young ones by chasing them around. They were in a separate area but could see the older ones for about a month. But have outgrown the penned area. Any suggestions? Will the older drake stop eventually?

Thank you for your help.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This time of year it's rough introducing newbies to an established flock because hormones are at an all-time high. You may just have to keep them where they can all see each other but wait until later in summer to bring them together again. Do they free range at all? if so you could try off an on to toss out treats and see if they can be together during a feeding frenzy. But your drake is going to be a handful until the hormones start to wane.

 

[Bookchic]

Thank you for all your help. We did separate the drake (Gus) with his girls (Gretchen and Gertrude) in one half of the duck yard and the 6 youngsters in the other half. Both have pools and houses so they're set until maybe September?

I'm not sure how long to wait to let them all be together. The younger ones were born in March.

The duck yard was about 1/4 of an acre so they still have a lot of grass and trees to wander around in.