Duck pecking order: what the...!?

[Niche Flock]

Hello! Has anyone ever encountered their female ducks going through establishing a pecking order? I have 18 ducks total. I rank them in three
" generations" based on age and the ones I have had the longest.
1st generation: 2 ducks, Blackie & Brownie, Cayuga & Brown Indian runner <6 old ( salt and pepper feathers, my most reliable layers year round even at their age)
2nd generation: 4 Indian runners (Penelope, Papaya, Blue & Squirt) <1
3rd generation: 12 ducks: 2 Cayuga (Bib, Ebony), 4 Welsh Harlequins ( Alba, Browley, Apricot, Piper), 6 khaki campbells ( all lovingly referred to as "Mimi" because I can't tell the, apart yet...."

My egg production has been low, I thought they were going through a molt but I realize feathers are actually flying & being pulled out. The 1st generations & 2nd generation ducks get pushed out of the way when it comes to food time, or bathing time. Some of the older ducks stand up to the "babies" I witnessed a two ducks dueling it out breast to breast pushing into each other.

The strangest thing I have noticed however is the hyper sexuality. I've seen in the older ducks, when I just had blackie and brownie how they would mount one another especially in or near water, and it seemed to work out as a dominance thing. I know water is an aphrodisiac for ducks, seeing as how that is the most preferred method/location for reproducing in.

Now about every day, after I fill up their black plastic swimming tub, the younger ducks take turns mounting each other, aggressively holding down the others head, pinning them under AND making sounds and motions that I have seen between drakes and ducks. Like, Jenga style they will stack themselves on top of one another. I am VERY familiar with the mating habits of drakes...I had four male Indian runners that I reassigned a home to because they were much too aggresive for my flock. I had all of my ducks sexed, and they are all female. I am also aware that ducks can undergo partial sex changes. This is nature, anything is possible...

My question is concerning the aggressive sexual behavior, I know ducks are some of the most notorious when it comes to sex in the animal kingdom, but does anyone have experience with their ducks abusing one another in this way in order to establish a pecking order? Right now it is just amongst the 12 new ducks, all under a year and not yet egg layers. Is it just a passing of the times as they reach sexual maturity? Are they just being this brutal to one another because they are deciding who gets to spend the most time in the water, making a pecking order??

Any advice or first hand experience would be much appreciated. I have not interfered with any of their behaviors. Thank you!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My female muscovy will occasionally fight, but nothing serious. For a few years I had no drake. I had one younger female take over the mating. They seem to know they need a drake to reproduce. Is there a reason you don't own a drake or two? It would probably calm your hens down. I got a drake this year finally and my hens are much happier.

 

[Niche Flock]

@oldhenlikesdogs I had four drakes before I had my 12 additional ducks (so my ratio of ducks to drakes was rather unhealthy...7 ducks to 4 drakes) the Indian runner drakes were extremely aggressive and actually killed one of my ducks. So I had 6 ducks to 4 drakes. They would pile on top of one duck and relentlessly pursue them. The ducks stopped laying and couldn't forage or eat without being mounted. I had to separate them from the ducks, but they spent their days in a corner of the yard and free range area trying to reach them through the fence. It was sad because I loved them, but they were very aggressive. My friend was looking for some Indian runner drakes for herding, so she adopted them and gave them a new home.
I am interested in keeping mu ducks as pets and for egg production, not really looking for ducklings and I don't want to have to keep an eye out for fertilized eggs.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I totally understand all that. Is it mostly the younger duck hens? They should calm down as they mature more, but you may still have a hen or two playing the part of a male during breeding season.

 

[Niche Flock]

Yes, only the younger twelve are doing all of the mounting and mating acts. I hope they relax a little once they start laying. Not sure if I want a drake right now. 18 ducks is plenty haha!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I only have 7 total ducks. They can be messy.

 

[Niche Flock]

Haha I have come to understand their messiness I think. When I have friends over I explain to them that they are not living in squalor, I "just" changed the water in their kiddie pool, or I just changed their bedding...messiness is just their thing!

 

[chickens really]

Ducks are sexual..Hens mount Hens even with a Drake around...My Call Drake mounts rubber boots , my old Dog and the mud flap on my Sons Blazer....

 

[Niche Flock]

Oh my, hahaha!!! The mud flap is hilarious!

 

[Miss Lydia]

My Runners were something else when they became sexually active even with a drake they were mounting each other going through the whole shebang but once they started laying things did calm down and now I rarely see a females on another female.

They are a hoot for sure.