ducks fighting

[AmeraucanaHank]

hi,
I have all drakes and at first they were fine and never fought on the pond but now that i moved them in for the winter they are pulling on they keep nipping each other!!! WHY?!?!?!

 

[sourland]

'Bullying' in all drake flocks is generally drakes trying to breed the weakest individual. This can result in injury/death.

 

[Quatie]

I put the bullied drake with the females and they just bullied him to! why?

Females can be bullies too. It will take time for him to integrate with your new females. With females, they will settle down and accept him. I would put him in a small crate at night in their coop for a week. After that, the first night will be rough in the coop, but they usually settle down a lot after that. Make sure you have multiple water and food sources for him so they can't control all the water.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Most likely I def would not put 4 females in with these guys. Drakes need at least 4 females each to keep over breeding from happening.
We need @thumper650 to comment he keeps an all drake flock and gives good advise on how to do it.

 

[AmeraucanaHank]

I got the female ducks today! Tonight they are going to be in a different pen than the drakes, but in a couple of days i will slowly introduce them.

 

[sowNreap]

'Bullying' in all drake flocks is generally drakes trying to breed the weakest individual. This can result in injury/death.

Oh, thinking back there was a drake that did appear to be trying to mate with the bullied one. It didn't look like the usual take down type of being on the back holding him down.

My friend who was the wing clipper, even said it appeared he was trying to mate with him. That was right after we clipped the bullied ones wings and carried him back to my yard. As soon as we put him inside the fence 2 drakes cornered him up against the fence. One appeared to be trying to mate and the other I think was trying to get him off though not sure really what he was doing.

Since the bullied one had that fight to a draw I haven't seen any trying to mate with him. I don't actually think it was the bully that tried to do that though. Well he could have been a bully too & I just didn't see him doing it. But those 2 get along ok now.

 

[thumper650]

Most likely I def would not put 4 females in with these guys. Drakes need at least 4 females each to keep over breeding from happening.
We need @thumper650 to comment he keeps an all drake flock and gives good advise on how to do it.

Drakes are so kooky! My drake flock recently has been a little nippy, which is rare in winter. Due to a broody kahki last summer I have my pekin boy and girl living with 2 young drakes. So far so good, but I know hormones will kick in in spring and they’ll have to be separated.

I use dog pen panels, so I can move them around and try different situations. It’s more work, but I don’t want to give anyone up.

As mentioned, space is a factor. Mine are better when they can get away from an aggressor.

 

[ruthhope]

How old are your ducks? I have three drakes that were Los Tres Amigos until the Holidays when my two muscovy drakes started fighting [lots of wing flapping and raised feet but no feathers pulled and no blood lost] and both started bullying [mean -- biting and pulling out wing and tail feathers] the third duck, a pekin drake, who had been Boss Duck

Mine are all rescues but they have been together since September without incident. It has just occurred to me that Boss Duck was an easter duckling and was virtually adult when I got him. The muscovies were July ducklings and likely cool about Boss Duck [who is not mean] while they were juvenile. However, their adult hormones probably kicked in December accounting for their change in behavior. I wonder if it is adult hormones that is the problem with your drakes?

At the moment, Boss Duck is out free ranging during the day with the other drakes, but he is skittish and stays alert and ready to flee -- completely lost his mojo. He also goes into the coop to eat and sleep at night -- he really wants to sleep in there. But he is immediately set upon by the other two and comes shooting back out to me. So I have him sleeping in my house for now. Its very difficult for poor little Boss Duck who is only half the size of the meanie muscovies!

 

[Quatie]

i have 4 drakes for sure and 1 duck that don't know.i guess their space did shrink a lot.

How big is there current space? When you have to confine them more, they don't have as much space to get away and avoid scuffles. Even when I temporarily shrink my area to do yard work, my females will get a more annoyed.

Hormones can also definitely play a part in their fighting. If they are fighting because of hormones, they may potentially not stop.

i am getting 4 female ducks tomorrow will this make them fight more?

I agree with @Miss Lydia, and I would not put the drakes and females together. If I were going to, I would just put one drake with them at a time. I doubt they will fight anymore than they do now. You already have 1 female for them to fight over. But if I have learned anything with ducks, it is always possible.

Also realize you will need to slowly integrate the new females with your current one. The new females may bully the lone female at first and potentially fight if you don't do it slowly. It takes a couple weeks to integrate new members to a flock, and potentially even longer depending on the ducks.

 

[AmeraucanaHank]

thank you all who wrote back it helped me a LOT.