Duck behaviour question - pecking

[granora]

I'm a first time duck owner, and I need some help!

The Campbells are almost 7 weeks old now, and for about the last week the biggest one ('Bad Duck') has been pecking the others on their back or wingtips. Should we be worried about this? Why does Bad Duck do it? Is this normal teenage duck behaviour?

Also, we got 12 birds straight-run. The plan was to keep 4 or 5 ducks, assuming we have that many, and kill the drakes and any extra ducks. Is it going to cause problems to have so many drakes until they're big enough to be butchered? We were thinking of doing 4 when their juvenile feathers have finished coming in, and another 4 or so when the grown-up feathers are in. Does this seem sensible? We're read up on the duck thing, but not done it before, so any advice would be lovely!

Thanks, everyone!

 

[Dodgegal79]

No the drakes will be fine until they get older. You can tell so sure because they will start to fight and drive the girls nuts. I think they are just trying to get a pecking order figured out. As long as no blood is drawn they should be ok.

 

[granora]

The only blood has been if Bad Duck got one of them on the tip of the new wing feathers that are coming in, but that only bleeds a tiny bit.

Phew, that's a relief. I was worried that we had a super-aggressive duck or something!

So, what sort of age do they start fighting each other for the ladies?

 

[lowcountrypoultry]

I've noticed my muscovys begin have small battles for the ladies at around 4.5-5 months of age, around the time of maturity. I would think it would be the same for mallard derived breeds also.