Ducks chasing & biting other ducks tail!!!

[Bruin1107]

I have 4 call ducks. 3 males and 1 female. Recently 2 of the male ducks started chasing and nipping at the tail of the other male duck. They are not pulling the feathers out. Can anyone tell me why this is happening? It seems like this duck has been singled out of the group. He swims with the other ducks but far behind them, and often sleeps by himself outside the house, while the other 3 are together! I feel sad for him could it be the male to female ratio is off? Should I get more ducks to join them? Thanks!

 

[Sonny42408]

2's company, 3's a crowd. They are just trying to run the third duck out of the flock. The Other two drakes may fight over the hen eventually as well. Adding 5 hens would balanced everything out with each drake having 2 hens, unless one drake becomes very dominant, and runs off the other 2. Maybe you can trade that drake for another hen?

 

[Amiga]

I agree the male-female mix is not good. Protect the female, she could end up injured or worse. I would have her separated by a fence so they can all see each other, and then decide if I want to rehome her and have an all boys club, or get more females.

 

[gysygirl]

I have 1 drake call, 1 drake mallard and 1 female call, All are 6 months old the males have just in the last few days decided to start fighting over the female

the Call drake is chased off the pond by the mallard and constantly harrased I know the problem is only one female who the mallard has claimed but have been had to wait and to see if it would happen or not! The only solution I know is more females I tried to buy some more calls on Sunday but was not impressed by the ones I went to see (vastly overpriced and kept in a muddy pen looking very bedraggled), I now have the numbers to two local breeders and am off next Sunday to get hopefully three more girlies to calm things down (I get to buy more Calls woo hoo)

Think of it as an opportunity to get more georgeous little calls and you have a good excuse!

 

[pangaro1]

I am having the same problem with 5 drakes and two hens.one of the drakes is being singled out and isolated. I wonder if I should get more hens.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am having the same problem with 5 drakes and two hens.one of the drakes is being singled out and isolated. I wonder if I should get more hens.

Yes you should get more ducks, drakes need to have at least 3-4 ducks to keep them happy and the girls from being abused. this is apiece not collectively. Drkes can also gang up on ducks and drown them in water. in the mean time separate your girls from all but 1 drake, place the other 2 drakes away from this group to keep them from fighting. or rehome 2 of the drakes.

Welcome to BYC

 

[DuckyGaze]

I am having to separate my Khaki campbell and Appleyard drakes from the rest of my flock because both of these drakes chase down other ducks and
hurt them. 3 of my hens are now limping badly! They just will NOT leave the other group of ducks alone.

So we got both of the trouble makers, and made them a special pen with their own little swimming hole, (my son and I dug last night) and when we got
them out of the duck house this morning we took the 2 drakes and put them apart in their new pen.

I hate doing this but they just will not stop hurting the females from the other group of ducks.
They are the 2 original drakes from last year and they each have their females so why are
they being so mean to the females in the other group which are only 3-4 months old?

I wish they would all live in harmony but I just do not know what it is I should do. Space is not a problem.. they have almost half an acre to roam on. Lovely
grass, a big pond, and safe pens for the night, and enough food.

How could I break this terrible behavior problem?

 

[DuckyGaze]

I am having to separate my Khaki campbell and Appleyard drakes from the rest of my flock because both of these drakes chase down other ducks and
hurt them. 3 of my hens are now limping badly! They just will NOT leave the other group of ducks alone.

So we got both of the trouble makers, and made them a special pen with their own little swimming hole, (my son and I dug last night) and when we got
them out of the duck house this morning we took the 2 drakes and put them apart in their new pen.

I hate doing this but they just will not stop hurting the females from the other group of ducks.
They are the 2 original drakes from last year and they each have their females so why are
they being so mean to the females in the other group which are only 3-4 months old?

I wish they would all live in harmony but I just do not know what it is I should do. Space is not a problem.. they have almost half an acre to roam on. Lovely
grass, a big pond, and safe pens for the night, and enough food.

How could I break this terrible behavior problem?

Please, I really do not want to torment my ducks more than I have to. If anyone has any advise, please let me know. Thank you .

 

[Amiga]

Sometimes just splitting the ducks up into different groups changes the dynamic and things calm down. Due to the fact it's a personality issue, I cannot offer much more than that - I have seen flock dynamics improve when people do this - pair up a couple, separate out a drake, divide into two flocks . . . .

 

[butch1309]

hey guys I have a similar problem. I have 2 mallards n 6 buff chicks in the same pen. the ducks like to get the chickens tail feathers all wet n like chew on them. any idea why? they were raised together and fine until now. they are 10 weeks old. thanks