Female to Male Ratio/Fighting Males/Lots of ?"s

[Sillydreamer]

I started out with one male (pekin) and one female (?) and all was peaceful, I acquired to ducklings in the spring. I prayed they were girls, but they are very much males (2 bully Roeuns). The two rescued boys have reached maturity in that last week and the fighting has been the most vicous I have ever seen it. So, I went and bought two mature female Muscovy's and introduced them two days ago. The bullys have been on lockdown during the day while I am at work. When I get home I let them out to swim, get acquainted with the new girls, and to run around. They eventually end up fighting with the other male.

I don't know what to do with them.
Should I buy more females and give them more options; are they not interested in the Moscovy's because they are a different breed, or just because they are new.

We are adding more fence to make the enclosure twice as big allowing them more space, because I thought that may help. I have never had ducks battle it out this bad. They are just mean to my big pekin male. He can hold his own, but I would like to bring peace back to my little barnyard before a duck or chicken gets seriously hurt.

Will they eventually calm down after they battle for who is going to be King? I have always had ducks, chickens and goats and they have lived together peacefully, the two little bad boys enter the picture and it has been a chaos all week. Any suggestions?

 

[jdywntr]

You would need MANY more females to accomodate the 3 males. It will probably be best to permanently seperate or rehome them. I have 4 drakes and 3 ducks at one point. They were all raised together and 1 drake was the top duck by far. He would chase the others around the yard sometimes hanging on to their neck feathers. I sold him as part of a trio and he is doing the same thing with the new owners drake.
They may eventually came down enough to live together but 3:1 is dangerous for your girl.

 

[Sillydreamer]

Well, after I added the two female Muscovy's I now have 3 Drakes and 3 Ducks. I can add more females. We have a Mucovey Breeder that lives within 2 miles of our home. I have plenty of space I can add more Ducks. I could add 4 more easily. Rehoming is NOT an option; I learned my lesson the hard way with rehoming a goat (sad story). The rule at our place is if we bring it home we keep it till it dies from natural causes

. My biggest concern is will they eventually stop fighting; has anyone had an experience where 2 or more Drakes just under any circumstances could NOT ever get along. I will be purchasing more females on the way home from work.

 

[jdywntr]

After I sold all of my females, my two remaining runner drakes became good buddies. I think the problem will be that you have females for them to fight over.

I forgot that you had said that you bought more hens. They should start to come around to the new hens regardless of breed. I think to a drake, any duck will do.

I like you policy of keeping whatever you bring home. A larger area will probably help. They may just need to work out who is top drake though they may always fight some.

 

[Sillydreamer]

It's definitly all about the girl(s).

I hope they start showing some interest in the new girls soon. They all got along splendidly until they hit "puberty".