Drake Terrorizing Coop

[Ozarkhomesteader]

So, i have a muscovy drake who i go last summer, so hes about a year old. Sadly, a fox killed all but one of my muscovy hens, and so there are only two left. They share a coop with 3 domestic ducks and 2 geese. There used to be 6 chickens in with everyone, but they also got killed by the fox in that last attack. It was terrible. Anyways, i really like this drake. He is very pretty, and has such a fun personality. He always comes over asking for treats. He is somewhat tame, and loves to come up to me and get a good scratch, but HATES to be picked up or messed with not on his terms.

so, my issue is he is a major jerk. The geese are terrified to leave the coop, cause when they do he chases them all around and trys to mate with them. He mates with the girl muscovy, and the girl ducks, and the boy duck and the chickens. He is crazy. He pulls feathers, keeps the other ducks and geese out of the pond. Guards the food pile (i tried making two and then 3 piles, but he decided to just run around all over chasing birds away). I had another muscovy drake that did this instead of my current one. i sold him and as soon as he left this one became just like him.

Has anyone delt with this problem before? Or something similar? How did you fix it? I finally had to separate him, but he seems kind of lonely. Is there anything i can do about this?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Your seeing some typical behavior My Muscovy drake is the ruler of the property right now. He runs the geese off but they have enough room to stay away from him but back in early spring when Testosterone was running high in my gander and drake I just had to keep them separated from each other. But I put my Female Muscovy's with him. A drake mating a chicken is pretty much a death sentence for the hen. Once late summer- fall approaches things will settle down. I have 3 separate areas for feeding and they are far enough apart there is no problem of the geese getting to eat. Your drake needs his own space with some female ducks to keep him company.

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

Thank you for the reply Miss Lydia! That must be it...I will get him some more girls and try putting him back in the coop in a bit. These are my first muscovies, and though ive seen this a bit in my domestic drakes, it has never been this intense. Good to know that hes not just a bad boy I really like him.

Now, i am not able to let any of my poultry free range due to terrible predetation. So, do you think he will be ok later in the season in a 20x30 yard? There will only be 2 geese, and 7-8 ducks at most.
Also, how few girls could i get to keep him happy, but i dont want them to get over bred. I have a poultry limit in my city, but i could get rid of a few chickens if i needed more than 2 or 3 girls for him. What do you think?

Thank you for you help!

 

[Miss Lydia]

2-3 females would be fine 3 would be better. My Muscovy has 4 and still has 2 that are his favorites but he doesn't over use any of them. Thankfully. And I have Runners and Buffs and he doesn't even look at them. Kind of strange but I guess he prefers his own kind they speak the same language.

Later on in the season maybe come late Aug into Sept My drake calms considerably and things begin to normalize around here. Whew. Probably same for you.

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

Awesome! Thank you! I will get him a couple more girls...he will be a happy man Yeah, even this spring he never over bred any of the muscovy girls...just everyone else in the coop. I his own way he respected them and wouldn't hurt them. Thats pretty cool. Now, just hoping he decides to ignore the other ducks again (he did last fall and winter) once the breeding season is over.

Yup, looking forward to that time Thank you for putting my mind at ease