Drake mating/attacking my hens

[shelley69]

oh gosh! i will get onto that straight away, didnt realize it was so severe ive not seen him trying to mate with the chickens tho, quite a few ppl have ducks n chickens mixed

 

[m.kitchengirl]

My 8 month old drake has been acting up with the chickens (for months now). It definitely gets more intense as time goes on.
I separated them. Different times in the yard. It was easy enough, ducks are easy to herd so I let them do their thing til mid afternoon & herded them back in, let the chickens out.

But, it dawned on me one day - WHY am I doing this? I don't really want to incubate eggs, don't want to have to deal with culls or tons of ducks.
I found a breeder, told her about his chicken issue - his only issue - and he is moving there. He is great with his girls, just better off with more ducks than I have, and not good around chickens.

We had a practice day yesterday (he stayed in while all the girls roamed & I did yard work) and it was glorious. It had been over a month since the ducks and chickens & I were all out there & it made my day. I think everyone was happier. My friendly duckies followed me all over the yard & there were no squabbles.
He will be happier where he is going, with a bunch of Ancona hens & other ducks. I can raise my all girl flock & bake to my heart's content.

I just thought I would offer you a perspective. It was a tough decision & took many months of deep thought. What is right for me may not be right for others.

 

[elsasmom]

My 8 month old drake has been acting up with the chickens (for months now). It definitely gets more intense as time goes on.
I separated them. Different times in the yard. It was easy enough, ducks are easy to herd so I let them do their thing til mid afternoon & herded them back in, let the chickens out.

But, it dawned on me one day - WHY am I doing this? I don't really want to incubate eggs, don't want to have to deal with culls or tons of ducks.
I found a breeder, told her about his chicken issue - his only issue - and he is moving there. He is great with his girls, just better off with more ducks than I have, and not good around chickens.

We had a practice day yesterday (he stayed in while all the girls roamed & I did yard work) and it was glorious. It had been over a month since the ducks and chickens & I were all out there & it made my day. I think everyone was happier. My friendly duckies followed me all over the yard & there were no squabbles.
He will be happier where he is going, with a bunch of Ancona hens & other ducks. I can raise my all girl flock & bake to my heart's content.

I just thought I would offer you a perspective. It was a tough decision & took many months of deep thought. What is right for me may not be right for others.

I have female muscovy ducks and I have hen chickens. I've tried several drakes over the years and they all were aggressive and get large enough to be dangerous. I, too, am happier with an all female flock. If I want to raise any babies, I can get fertile eggs to put under them

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have female muscovy ducks and I have hen chickens. I've tried several drakes over the years and they all were aggressive and get large enough to be dangerous. I, too, am happier with an all female flock. If I want to raise any babies, I can get fertile eggs to put under them

I agree if you don't want ducklings go with all girls, I have 2 drakes and 8 ducks and also chicken hens and have never had a problem maybe it's a combination of 2 things, enough ducks for my drakes and 2 roosters that will kick butt if they have to.

 

[aoxa]

I got rid of my drake after he had pinned down my lowest chicken on the pecking order and attempted to mate her. It was too much. He never tried to go after the other female duck, just the chickens. They HATED him.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

I have my 3 rouens in with my moms RIRs. My drake doesnt care about the hens at all. Just his girlfriend (rouen hen) however, the RIR rooster tries to mate my 2 duck hens. Been shreding their poor backs. My drake got tired of it, and laid the beat down on the roo. Now all is calm in the barnyard lol.

 

[blondiebee181]

I'm glad I have read this thread. I have 4 three-month old pullets and 1 Pekin drake who is the same age. I bought them as day-olds and they have grown up and hung out together all their lives. The ducks weren't sexed when I bought them from the feed store so I just closed my eyes and picked so to speak...but he is starting to grow curlies and doesn't quack like a female should. I would preffer an all-female flock and I really wanted Runners, but the guy at the feed store was confused on the breeds I think. So...Paul he is and just recently he has started bobbing and trying to get randy with my hens.

I don't think he has caught any so far but he has tried. Although he is fairly big, they are much faster than he is and despite his meager efforts to court them, they still like him. They follow him around, he sleeps in their coop, they share a run and go in the yard together. I just bought a 10X20' dog run that is pretty large for them, large enough for the hens to escape if he doesn't suprise them (or fly onto the roof of the coop) Now, so far these little rituals of boy chase girls happens pretty much in the morning (morning wood?) when they first come out and then subsides as the day wears on, and like I said Paul has not displayed any real aggressive behavior yet. Will he get worse? Should I get him a female? Should I try to give him to a breeder, possibly for some females? He is a friend and we are rather attatched to him so we would rather not deal out capital punishment. Will the chickens pine if he's away or will they be okay especially if I get a duck hen? Is he stressing them out? I have them solely as pets and layers, and they have a few more week yet, but I want them to be happy and not having to worry about Paul waiting in a dark corner.

 

[larkflying]

I'd get rid of Paul -- he'll cause more troubles as he matures. The chickens will be fine without him . . .

 

[Mike Winters]

drakes are the embodiment of sexual aggression they tend to get very very obnoixious and do NOT TAKE NO for an answer. it is better to separate him because drakes have a penis (roosters do not have one) and can cause alot of internal damage to a hen

 

[tia]

My Indian Runner drake can be pretty brutal. I moved him into a pen by himself because he was picking on the hen that was at the bottom of the pecking order. After I moved him I found out that it wasn't only him, but was also one of the other hens who became pretty possessive over the drake. She was pulling feathers out from the other hens. I moved her in with the drake and now things are much more peaceful. I was worried about her being the only hen with the drake, I was afraid he would pick on her, but if anything it is the other way around. He can't move two steps without her. Good luck with your drake. It is hard to know what to do with them.