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?!?!?!

 

[Quatie]

How many drakes do you have and how big is there area? If their area has shrunk a lot, they may not have enough room to spread out.

 

[AmeraucanaHank]

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

 

[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!

 

[AmeraucanaHank]

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!

I got day-old ducklings from tractor supple in late August: so those are my khaki campbell and pekin and my ??? breed drakes. and the one that a friend gave me i do not know how old he is(the others fight him the most).

 

[ruthhope]

It sounds to me like your August ducklings are now getting male hormones kicking in just like my two muscovy drakes. They have to work it out between themselves

My advice is that you keep an eye on the unknown variety that is being picked on the most. That duck is going to be bottom of the pecking order but shouldn't be injured as a result of that. Look out for feathers pulled from wings and tails and damage round the eyes. You would need to separate any duck/drake that is getting injured.

This happens with feral ducks too. A local wildlife rehabber and I just last weekend relocated a female pekin from where she had been abandoned over the Holidays on a pond at my library. That pond already had 6 pekins living there -- abandoned one by one over the previous year. Plus, recently 4 wild muskovy drakes had flown in. The newly abandoned duck was being really badly bullied and had lost her flight feathers and tail feathers. We had thought that she was a drake who was being bullied because he was competition with the other drakes, but it became obvious that she was female when the muscovies forced mating on her. We relocated her to a large pond on private land that has a wide variety of ducks living there -- domestic, wild, and migratory as well as geese. The land owner feeds the ducks in the morning and provides safe coops and stalls for brooding ducks to nest in. The bullied duck was accepted straight away and has settled down. I cannot rehome my bullied Pekin as he survived a raccoon attack as a duckling and has a damaged bill. I have to hand feed him from a deep narrow cup to help him get his food. He can chew on leaves on plants but has great difficulty picking up pellets or crumbles from the bowl in my coop. You may feel obliged to rehome yours if it is badly bullied, but that might shift the bullying to the next one up the pecking order. So its definitely best if the ducks can work it out between themselves

 

[Banana01]

When my drakes dont have enough hens they fight. They look like dragons fighting. I have never seen all drakes alone, except when the hens go broody, then the drakes start molesting the chicken hens.

 

[AmeraucanaHank]

It sounds to me like your August ducklings are now getting male hormones kicking in just like my two muscovy drakes. They have to work it out between themselves

My advice is that you keep an eye on the unknown variety that is being picked on the most. That duck is going to be bottom of the pecking order but shouldn't be injured as a result of that. Look out for feathers pulled from wings and tails and damage round the eyes. You would need to separate any duck/drake that is getting injured.

This happens with feral ducks too. A local wildlife rehabber and I just last weekend relocated a female pekin from where she had been abandoned over the Holidays on a pond at my library. That pond already had 6 pekins living there -- abandoned one by one over the previous year. Plus, recently 4 wild muskovy drakes had flown in. The newly abandoned duck was being really badly bullied and had lost her flight feathers and tail feathers. We had thought that she was a drake who was being bullied because he was competition with the other drakes, but it became obvious that she was female when the muscovies forced mating on her. We relocated her to a large pond on private land that has a wide variety of ducks living there -- domestic, wild, and migratory as well as geese. The land owner feeds the ducks in the morning and provides safe coops and stalls for brooding ducks to nest in. The bullied duck was accepted straight away and has settled down. I cannot rehome my bullied Pekin as he survived a raccoon attack as a duckling and has a damaged bill. I have to hand feed him from a deep narrow cup to help him get his food. He can chew on leaves on plants but has great difficulty picking up pellets or crumbles from the bowl in my coop. You may feel obliged to rehome yours if it is badly bullied, but that might shift the bullying to the next one up the pecking order. So its definitely best if the ducks can work it out between themselves

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

 

[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.

 

[ruthhope]

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

I don't know whether it will increase the fighting, but the ducks will be a great risk of being hurt by over-mating. They need to be kept separate from the drakes, even when out free ranging if they free range in warmer months.

You might be able to keep the unknown drake that is being bullied with your 4 new females. That would resolve the issue of him being bullied and he would have a nice hareem of 4 new ducks!