Duck being attacked

dustin1025

Chirping
Jul 27, 2020
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I have 11 ducks. Only two of these ducks are drakes (runners). I have one Ancona duck that the drakes constantly pick on. Today was the second time I found her hurt and secluded. Ever since she was a duckling she has had a little hobble in her walk. I have checked the bottoms of her feet many times and she is feed waterfowl feed (niacin and vitamins). She keeps up with the rest of the flock and eats/drinks just fine. Do you think her being different makes her a target? I don’t understand why they are going for her so much with so many other ducks around. Thank you in advance for your advice/experience.
 
You also may need a few more females to keep their attention off her as often. It may not work. You should separate the males out if you can and give her some time to heal. Males can be jerks sometimes and nothing will help. I had to cull one of my muscovy males because he was having too much of a negative impact on my flock. You could try rehoming one of the males. You might be able to rehomed your ancona to someone without males, but sometimes females can be just as mean.

Also, how old are your ducks?
 
You also may need a few more females to keep their attention off her as often. It may not work. You should separate the males out if you can and give her some time to heal. Males can be jerks sometimes and nothing will help. I had to cull one of my muscovy males because he was having too much of a negative impact on my flock. You could try rehoming one of the males. You might be able to rehomed your ancona to someone without males, but sometimes females can be just as mean.

Also, how old are your ducks?
I have her away now in a quiet place. I treated her wounds with vetracin. They all are various ages. My two Runner drakes are 10 months. I have 1 runner, 3 anconas, and 2 Welsh harlequins also 10 months. I also have 3 runners and a pekin who are almost 5 months. Thanks for your help!
 
When the males come of age, they can start to become more aggressive. As we move into the spring, that can also trigger some agression. They can be a bit forceful with their females during the breeding season. Like @SolarDuck said, the limp makes her an easy target.

When she is doing a bit better, if you can, I would introduce her back to just your females first. I hope she starts feeling better soon.
 
When the males come of age, they can start to become more aggressive. As we move into the spring, that can also trigger some agression. They can be a bit forceful with their females during the breeding season. Like @SolarDuck said, the limp makes her an easy target.

When she is doing a bit better, if you can, I would introduce her back to just your females first. I hope she starts feeling better soon.
Thank you. I will really consider rehoming them. I already had to find homes for 2 of their brothers this past summer to try and avoid something like this. Thought I might be okay with the two. I read you keep Muscovy? I was thinking of adding a couple females, but not sure if they take to other ducks the same.
 
My muscovy female integrated well overall. I got 9 week old ones, so I could get sexed ducks. They were shy at first and got picked on at first. As they grew and got use to the new environment, they settled in and showed my other ducks why to not pick on them. After that, it was mostly my muscovy females establishing a pecking order. They are a lot more dramatic when they have scuffles, but I have never seen any one get hurt. Interesting thing is when we introduced two new ducklings to the flock, they saw us protect the ducklings and did the same. Now they are like one of the flock. They also like to stick together and do their own thing at times.

They have a different language compared to the mallard breeds. They are also very closely bonded to each other, more than mallard breeds. I would recommend 3 or more. They will be happier with more friends of their own species. We got 2, saw how lonely they were and went back to the breeder and got 2 more of their sisters and a brother. Male was a bad idea. But the 2 girls were a lot happier after we added their siblings.
 

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