Duck's sudden aggression towards drake

[KikiDeAnime]

I was going to post this earlier but I decided that taking care of our drake was far more important and my questions could wait.

Earlier today when I went out to throw some peas out to the flock, I noticed that Duchess was attacking Colonel. I quickly separated them without getting injured myself and just thought that maybe they were fighting over some food or a bug. I came back inside before going back out to check their water containers and saw that Duchess was at it again but this time she managed to pull a feather off Colonel's left wing.

It's dark now, they're inside, and she still wants to go at him. I'm currently holding Colonel on my lap as I type this up. I had to separate them again as she went for his face this time.

What's causing this sudden aggression towards him??

 

[johntfs]

As I've noted before, I'm not the duck expert, but I'll ask some obvious questions. Does Duchess have any ducklings at this point? If she has ducklings (especially young(0-3 weeks) ones) are any of them hurt or missing? Does Duchess herself seem to have any injuries or otherwise appear to be ill in some way?

I'm coming at this from the idea that either she's ill in some way or that she was provoked in some way.

 

[KikiDeAnime]

As I've noted before, I'm not the duck expert, but I'll ask some obvious questions. Does Duchess have any ducklings at this point? If she has ducklings (especially young(0-3 weeks) ones) are any of them hurt or missing? Does Duchess herself seem to have any injuries or otherwise appear to be ill in some way?

I'm coming at this from the idea that either she's ill in some way or that she was provoked in some way.

No ducklings yet. Duchess hasn't even started laying yet. Duchess has no injuries and is perfectly healthy.

 

[johntfs]

I just remembered that you have your ducks living inside the house with you. Remind me of their current living setup. It could be that Duchess is frustrated by reduced living space or something. I remember that ducks can be quite territorial.

 

[Raenh]

How old are your ducks? @KikiDeAnime I don't remember, sorry...

And are you sure that colonel is the male and duchess female? The only reason I ask is because fancy and speedy got like that right before omg I need to rape everything in sight happened hormones. Fancy was very mean to speedy for a month or so, wouldn't let her eat or drink anything without his say so. It got to the point, that I had to stand guard for awhile just so she could eat in peace because even though I gave them the exact same thing in the same color bowls, he'd ditch his just so he could chow down on hers then IF he was satisfied it was the same, he'd let her eat...

It is probably just hormones or maybe a little bit of jealousy on her part if you've been giving him attention. I get that with my girls sometimes. When we lived at my mom's - sugar was still a baby and they didn't accept her into the coop, so she stayed with me until she got big enough to defend herself... one night it was storming out so I left my tent and all of us snuck inside, speedy went to sleep with me like she always did in the crook of my arm - sugar jumped her and started attacking because that was her spot apparently, but even when I moved speedy, she still tried to bite at her. Territorial, definitely.

Beedee does the same if I pick up one of the other girls now, only she knows better then to pick at them cause shes the youngest, she bites me instead when I do pick her up, kinda like fancy did if I ignored him when I came home. She calms down after a few bad pinches, and goes back to giving me baby kisses... crazy girls.

 

[KikiDeAnime]

How old are your ducks? @KikiDeAnime I don't remember, sorry...

And are you sure that colonel is the male and duchess female? The only reason I ask is because fancy and speedy got like that right before omg I need to rape everything in sight happened hormones. Fancy was very mean to speedy for a month or so, wouldn't let her eat or drink anything without his say so. It got to the point, that I had to stand guard for awhile just so she could eat in peace because even though I gave them the exact same thing in the same color bowls, he'd ditch his just so he could chow down on hers then IF he was satisfied it was the same, he'd let her eat...

It is probably just hormones or maybe a little bit of jealousy on her part if you've been giving him attention. I get that with my girls sometimes. When we lived at my mom's - sugar was still a baby and they didn't accept her into the coop, so she stayed with me until she got big enough to defend herself... one night it was storming out so I left my tent and all of us snuck inside, speedy went to sleep with me like she always did in the crook of my arm - sugar jumped her and started attacking because that was her spot apparently, but even when I moved speedy, she still tried to bite at her. Territorial, definitely.

Beedee does the same if I pick up one of the other girls now, only she knows better then to pick at them cause shes the youngest, she bites me instead when I do pick her up, kinda like fancy did if I ignored him when I came home. She calms down after a few bad pinches, and goes back to giving me baby kisses... crazy girls.

Both are around 8 months old. Colonel is most definitely a male as he has the curly drake feathers on his tail and looks like a drake as seen in my profile picture. And Duchess is most definitely a female as she quacks loudly.
Also, Colonel doesn't mount Duchess anymore and will probably start doing it again once spring rolls around.

 

[KikiDeAnime]

I just remembered that you have your ducks living inside the house with you. Remind me of their current living setup. It could be that Duchess is frustrated by reduced living space or something. I remember that ducks can be quite territorial.

They sleep in the bathtub but once morning rolls around, they take a quick bath and then go outside to walk around with the chickens.

 

[johntfs]

They sleep in the bathtub but once morning rolls around, they take a quick bath and then go outside to walk around with the chickens.

That could be it, then. They're stuck together all night long in a fairly small space. I'd kind of like other people to weigh in on this, because, again, all of my knowledge is second-hand and I'm just going on my best guess here. That said, if you have a good sized plastic storage bin or two, you might try making separate beds for them in your room or something so they aren't crowded together during the night.

 

[Raenh]

I don't know, I'm just guessing but when I had all nine - 6 muscovy females and the 3 quackers - my khaki campbell was male and my muscovy girls would pick on him when he WASN'T mounting anyone... maybe a pecking order thing because hes not being mister aggressive and dominating her.

 

[chickens really]

What breeds are the Ducks? Any pictures?