Ducks dying

[Fferwm3]

So I have just started keeping ducks. I successfully hatched 9 last September. A week ago today I found one of my ducks dead (and half eaten) by the feeder. I keep my ducks with my chickens. It was a male so I thought maybe the males started fighting and then the chickens stred pecking him. Today I found one of my female ducks in the same place very weak and she died 30 minutes later. No obvious signs on what could be wrong?. Can ducks over eat? All other chickens and ducks seem healthy. Any ideas? Thank you.

 

[Jenbirdee]

So I have just started keeping ducks. I successfully hatched 9 last September. A week ago today I found one of my ducks dead (and half eaten) by the feeder. I keep my ducks with my chickens. It was a male so I thought maybe the males started fighting and then the chickens stred pecking him. Today I found one of my female ducks in the same place very weak and she died 30 minutes later. No obvious signs on what could be wrong?. Can ducks over eat? All other chickens and ducks seem healthy. Any ideas? Thank you.

what is in the feeder? anything under or around the feeder that could be toxic? Or deadly? poisonous plants, deadly spiders, snakes?
Perhaps coincidence that they were near the feeder.
How many drakes do you have? and how many hens?

 

[Fferwm3]

what is in the feeder? anything under or around the feeder that could be toxic? Or deadly? poisonous plants, deadly spiders, snakes?
Perhaps coincidence that they were near the feeder.
How many drakes do you have? and how many hens

 

[Fferwm3]

I keep them in an old stable over night and they are free range in the day. Nothing poisonous around the feeder. I have now 7 ducks. 3 males and 4 females and 14 chickens and 1 cockerel.
I feed the chickens and ducks together. I'm very new with ducks but have kept chickens for years.

 

[Jenbirdee]

i think the deaths are likely due to multiple drakes, the ratio should be one drake to 5 duck hens.
they are extremely sexually aggressive and gang up on females.
also separate them from your chickens because they try to mate with chicken hens and kill them too because drakes have penis that chicken hens cannot accomodate (roosters dont have penis)

 

[Miss Lydia]

If you can’t part with your drakes make a drake pen so your drakes are safe and the rest of your flock is safe. What breeds do you have it’s hard for me to think chickens could eat half of a drake unless you had a lot of chickens. Do you have rats? Other predators that could get into this stable? And yes ducks can choke if eating and don’t have a buckets of water deep enough to clean out their nares and get a good drink from .

 

[Fferwm3]

i think the deaths are likely due to multiple drakes, the ratio should be one drake to 5 duck hens.
they are extremely sexually aggressive and gang up on females.
also separate them from your chickens because they try to mate with chicken hens and kill them too because drakes have penis that chicken hens cannot accomodate (roosters dont have penis)

Okey, thank you! Thats very helpful!