Drake picking on one girl?

[JosieR]

I have 3 Cayugas (9 weeks old) and 2 runners (about 10 weeks old I think). I was told I have 1 Cayuga male and the rest are females. The one that I'm pretty sure is the drake (he whistles and is bigger, his bill is wider, he's a bit more rough that everyone else when eating peas from my hand, etc) is just picking on one of my runners.

It's a fairly new thing. I noticed a couple of feathers in the box they were living in but chalked it up to overcrowding while waiting for their house to come. Now the other day, I caught him pulling at the feathers on the back of her neck area. He was doing it in their little pool and then out while they were on the grass. Now I'm finding feathers in their new house.

Is he getting "interested" already? I did a search on here and some people said their ducks lost feathers around this age and it has been hot here but even if the feather loss is normal he was definitely picking on this one runner the other day.

My runners are my favorite, (there, I said it LOL) and I don't want him harassing them, he's SO much bigger than them.

 

[FenDruadin]

The feathers are probably from moulting, which is normal around that age. My early-April hatched babies are moulting and there are feathers everywhere. If he were pulling the feathers out, you'd start to see blood and bald patches.

However, that's not to say that he's not bullying her a bit. Mine that age are starting to decide who's in charge and they're all being a little aggressive with each other. Keep your eye on it and see what develops. If she starts to have bald spots or bloody areas, then you might need to separate him. Usually it's a simple matter of putting him in a separate pen--alone--for a few days. When he comes back, he's a little humbler.

Good luck--

 

[Goat_Walker]

sounds like he has figured out that your girls are more than just company. My drakes all have their favorite girls.

 

[JosieR]

No bald patches where he was picking, when I saw him doing it, I'd squirt him with the hose LOL he'd stop and then start again when I wasn't looking. I'll be out doing yard work tomorrow so I'll keep an eye on it. She seems a little bossy (which is probably part of why I like her so much!) and she started running around and trying to fly and everyone else followed her. I thought maybe he was annoyed that she seemed to be leading.

My daughter announced to us today that you need a rooster and a hen "to cooperate" to make a chick

so she suggested maybe he was trying to get her to cooperate so they could have a duckling. I thought my poor hubby was going to trip over himself trying to get away, he was so afraid she'd want to know more about this cooperation her teacher mentioned when they were hatching chicks. The molting makes sense since the runners are a little older than the cayugas.

Thanks for your help! I'm going to try to get some good pics of them and their new house while I'm out tomorrow too.

Josie