Fighting Ducks

Palinor

Songster
Sep 10, 2017
139
109
147
Columbia, CA
We picked four ducklings out back int he spring and ended up with two male mallards and one female runner and one male runner. They all got along fine until today when one of the male mallards kept attacking the male runner. I tried to split them up but they would waddle away and then get back at it. Now the male runner is kept out of the group and if he gets close the mallard chases him away. I don't know what to do. They're the first ducks I've ever had. p.s they're pets, we are not eating them or killing them
 
Sorry you're having trouble. You definitely need more females, three males to one female is just not going to work out. The poor female is going to end up run down and possibly injured from all the males trying to mate with her all the time. At the very least you need pairs - one female per male. Better yet would be three to four females for every male. That may mean you pick your favorite male and rehome the other two, or that may mean you end up with a lot more ducks than you originally planned on, but one way or the other you'll need to fix the ratio or find the female a new home and keep only drakes.

For now, you might try separating the mallard from the rest for a little bit and seeing if the other two will tolerate the runner male if the instigator is removed. You can try reintroducing the mallard after a few days and hopefully when he rejoins the flock everything will go smoothly.

Otherwise, you may need to either separate them permanently, or rehome one of them.
 
Pyxis gave great advice...

Myself, I would separate the male and female runners together and the 2 mallard drakes together... permanently, unless you get more females... without a drastic change, they will continue to fight if kept all together...

This was exactly what i was thinking!

My only other thought from what has already been said is to rehome the female, and keep a flock of drakes. They usually fight less when there isn't a female around.
 
This was exactly what i was thinking!

My only other thought from what has already been said is to rehome the female, and keep a flock of drakes. They usually fight less when there isn't a female around.

That's a great idea too! :highfive:

I know many that keep drake flocks and they do just fine... as long as eggs aren't a priority and them being pets and pest patrol, it's a good alternative... :)
 
@Palinor :hugs

You have some good advice to consider. I will echo that the female must be protected...actually, each of them must be kept safe. You will need to separate them and watch them carefully. I have ducks that are not allowed to be together without my supervision because of conflict. It takes a little extra thought and time, but I love them all. Please keep us posted!

And many thanks for the great responses ♥️
 

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