Ducks with leg problems!

[Miss Lydia]

I think keeping the drakes and roo penned together isn't a good idea but free ranging they should be okay together as long as your drakes don't think your hens are free game and try to mate with them when they get older. My rooster rules the roost with even my big Muscovy drake and he is game/game bantam so not a large roo at all Only bird he'll back down to are my 2 geese.
I'd be more concerned about the roo maybe pecking one of your boys in the eyes that could be serious.

 

[GumBranchChick]

Okay that’s weird, bc that was my Exact concern! They give him space, but he moves faster than they do.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Boy my roo in his younger days he is 8yrs now was a lot more feisty than now he would take on anything even my gander didn't last but he never backed down easy. Now he in in charge of the yard except for the geese. Thankfully he has never injured anyone including us that is why he is 8yrs old. lol

Hopefully your roo will back off once he realizes your drakes pose no harm to him or his hens, but he may still always try to protect them. You just never know how a roo is going to act with other birds.

My 2 tiny OEGB roos sleep inside with all my Muscovy ducks and all the other chickens they give much respect to anything larger than them.

Your going to see some changes with your drakes once hormones hit they will try and dominate each other or they may zero in on just one, You'll have to keep an eye on situations as they arise. Hormones can make them do strange things. That is when you'll have to watch your chickens[hens]

 

[DwayneNLiz]

No worries on this right? I don’t want to keep chasing the poor thing, he’s already been through enough getting molested by my rooster.

i dont think your rooster will hurt the ducks at all BUT if the ducks were to try to have their way with any of your chickens their (the ducks boys) anatomy can kill your chickens
chickens have evolved and lost their man-parts, but ducks on the other hand still have theirs and it is generally longer than their bode and is curly and barbed (think corkscrew)
so i would be more worried about the boy ducks molesting the other birds

 

[GumBranchChick]

All of that makes me want to pen them separately before anyone starts pushing the boundaries. They don’t interact anyway. The girls are afraid of them, & the rooster would hurt them for sure if they bothered his women. That’s the only time he has ever come after me. But his spurs are filed on the tips because he was hurting the girls, so he can't hurt me either.
So there is no concern with the duck who has ruffled wing feathers? Again, I’m not positive he was the rooster victim but I just assumed. These little dudes are not easy to catch & they are very crafty at getting away!

 

[DwayneNLiz]

i have no concerns for him

 

[GumBranchChick]

i have no concerns for him

Thank you!! I didn’t think so either, but I’m so new to this that I’d rather ask a bunch of stupid questions than not ask one right question.

 

[Miss Lydia]

The only reason I mentioned about the roo possibly injuring an eye last year a member had one of her ducks get pecked in the eye by her roo. So it can happen.

 

[GumBranchChick]

I believe it. Last time I had to separate my roo from his girls, when I put them back together he got so over zealous that I think he got close to one of the girl’s eyes bc she wasn’t paying attention & moved at the last second.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Those drakes and roos can be over zealous [lil stinkers].
How is it going with them all?