Drake ostracizing one female.

[TeriHarmon]

I wonder if anyone can give me some insight on my Pekin drake's behavior. He was hatched in April and grew up with a Buff female. In August I acquired 2 female Blue Swedish, and 1 Pekin female. In the beginning him and his little Buff friend ignored them. As they got older the babies would follow the two older ones about. Then they were all together. Probably the past 3 weeks he has been mating with all of them. I noticed he would have trouble mounting the female Pekin because she is bigger than he is.

I noticed today he would chase her off from the rest of the group. Not letting her get water when they're all hanging about the water bowl. Chase her and poke her. In the coop tonight at bedtime he was chasing her away. They were all sleeping together in a corner, but tonight she is by herself in the far corner. What would cause him to be such a stinker all of a sudden?

 

[ChicagoDucks]

I've had similar trouble integrating new ducks to the flock. They are trying to establish a new pecking order and it sounds like your female Pekin is at the bottom. Mine have eventually gotten along after some of this kind of behavior. It takes time. Watch to make sure that the other ducks and drake don't start to get too rough with the Pekin girl. You can try giving them a treat all together at the same time, sometimes a drake will be too motivated by his stomach to chase away the bottom duck. Or pen up your drake for the afternoon and give the girls some time without him to help integrate the Pekin with the other ducks.

 

[TeriHarmon]

Thank you. Four of the girls all came in August. They all get along and he was getting along with her too. Now, all of a sudden she is singled out. I think maybe separating him by himself like you said, for the day, might make him a little more appreciative.

 

[ChicagoDucks]

Good luck! Sometimes the drakes start to look at them differently once they reach maturity. If they were babies in august, they'd be around 3 or 4 months? About the time you might see a change. Let us know what ends up working best!