Drake to Hen ratios?

[nao57]

So I'd studied and read and listened to many of you talking about drake ratios of typically 1 to 5 (1 drake to 5 hens).

And this seems very sustainable.

But its getting to be more frequent to find my 'good' drake raping my chickens. Caught him doing it again today.

And afterwards she is scared and nervous, but alive. (Normally she will come right up to me however. And in this case she ran from even me.)

This has made me wonder if less drakes is possible still, like 1 to 6 or 1 to 7 (with most the eggs still remaining fertile)?

What do you think about this? What kinds of experiments have you guys tried and how'd they go?

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

drakes will kill chickens by mating them. drakes can easily manage 10+ hens

 

[21hens-incharge]

I would not allow him anywhere near the chickens.
Drakes are built different than roosters. Yes they can kill chickens by mating them.

 

[nao57]

I would not allow him anywhere near the chickens.
Drakes are built different than roosters. Yes they can kill chickens by mating them.

Yeah I've been trying to stop it, but I can't be out there all the time because of my health.

He's such a friendly drake, but now I might just put him down and turn him into hamburger.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Drakes should not be allowed anywhere near chickens. A Drake's penis is shaped like a cork screw and will rip apart a chicken's reproductive system resulting in permanent injuries or death. Most Drake's can "service" 9-10 hens quite comfortably in the fertility aspect. People recommend 5 hens as a minimum number you should have to avoid them being injured or killed by the drake. Having 5 hens isn't a capped number for fertility reasons by any means.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Yeah I've been trying to stop it, but I can't be out there all the time because of my health.

He's such a friendly drake, but now I might just put him down and turn him into hamburger.

Do you have a way you can separate him from them?
If so I would do so ASAP.

I have low tolerance for bad behavior out of drakes or roosters. That said....if he is decent to the ducks and you otherwise like him then a pen for him and 5+ duck hens would be worth a try.
If it is not doable for health reasons maybe someone can help....

 

[LT71689]

Do you have any roosters with your chickens, or are they all girls? Occasionally folks will find a rooster to be territorial enough to deter a drake duck, but that's no guarantee. There's also no telling what's motivating your drake to go after your chickens. You might give him 10 or more girls to choose from and he still might chase a chicken simply because he can, not because hes not happy enough with all his duck choices. He might just be a jerk

 

[KhaleahThomas1004]

I was having a similar issue. One of my Muscovy drakes was attacking my barnvelder hen, dragging her by the wings and by her tail feathers. My hens ended up hiding by my Cayugas and my Cayuga drake thankfully kept the other drake at bay. I did get rid of the problem drake but I do believe that it was my own fault because there were 3 drakes to 6 female ducks.

 

[nao57]

I was having a similar issue. One of my Muscovy drakes was attacking my barnvelder hen, dragging her by the wings and by her tail feathers. My hens ended up hiding by my Cayugas and my Cayuga drake thankfully kept the other drake at bay. I did get rid of the problem drake but I do believe that it was my own fault because there were 3 drakes to 6 female ducks.

Wow.

Hope it turns out OK for you. I guess those two types would have a bit of a size difference. And that probably didn't help any.

 

[nao57]

Last night right before putting the ducks to bed, my bad drake started wrestling with the less aggressive peking drake, over presumably the mating rights and the females.

I'm not sure how much of this is normal and how you tell how far they will go, on drake versus drake problems? Any thoughts on this?

(Forgot to mention the aggressive drake is a small Blue runner. That made it especially odd for him to go after the peking drake, which is about twice his weight.)