Flock of drakes - please help

[DuckinConfused]

Hi there, we inherited this flock of drakes (5 khaki Campbell crosses and 2 muscovy) and they were fine together until recently.

The muscovy drakes are no bother. They're happy doing their own thing. But the Campbells are being a little troublesome.

One in particular is being bullied quite harshly by the others. A different drake was being singled out previously but they sorted out their pecking order and it all calmed down until around March.

Since then this one drake just cannot catch a break and despite trying different methods of distraction and stimulation, they will not leave him alone.

I don't know what to do. I'm worried if we separate him, they'll just replace him by picking on another drake. But I can't keep letting him be bullied so harshly. Some days they peck at the back of his neck quite mercilessly.

I hope it it was just that Spring was in the air, but we're now in Summer and they show no signs of stopping.

Any help would be truly welcome!!

Thank you!

 

[ruthhope]

Hi there, we inherited this flock of drakes (5 khaki Campbell crosses and 2 muscovy) and they were fine together until recently.

The muscovy drakes are no bother. They're happy doing their own thing. But the Campbells are being a little troublesome.

One in particular is being bullied quite harshly by the others. A different drake was being singled out previously but they sorted out their pecking order and it all calmed down until around March.

Since then this one drake just cannot catch a break and despite trying different methods of distraction and stimulation, they will not leave him alone.

I don't know what to do. I'm worried if we separate him, they'll just replace him by picking on another drake. But I can't keep letting him be bullied so harshly. Some days they peck at the back of his neck quite mercilessly.

I hope it it was just that Spring was in the air, but we're now in Summer and they show no signs of stopping.

Any help would be truly welcome!!

Thank you!

I have a flock of squabbly drakes. Last year, my original drake, Daffy, was bullied from about this time for 3 or more months. It was during a molt. He had to have an individual compartment made in the pen at night. He quickly got the hang of going into the pen first at night and did not hang out with the others during the day. I was worried sick about him and even took him on a road trip rather than leave him being bullied by the others. He is now back to being alpha male, and no one messes with him.

I strongly advise making a separate compartment in your coop for your boy. Or using a dogcrate for him to sleep in. That personal space at night where the others cannot bully him, can make a big difference.
It may be that your drake is under the weather for some reason and once he recovers his moxy he will nolonger be bullied.

This year a different drake is suffering from one terrorsl who is only half his size: a 14lb muscovy being bullied by a 7lb pekin! The pekin sleeps in a dog crate so none of the muscovy can bite him at night. The bullied muscovy sleeps atop the dogcrate where he enjoys an elevated roost. Sometimes he stays in the coop all day, but he mostly comes out and takes himself behind my shed to sit atop the compost pile. That boy likes heights!! He is perfectly capable of standing on the terror of a pekin: he just closes to stay away from him.

I have a hose at hand and if there is any bullying on the way in to the coop at night or the way out in the morning, the miscreant gets hosed down. That works for my boys as, except for Daffy, they don't like water.

Good luck!

 

[DuckinConfused]

I have a flock of squabbly drakes. Last year, my original drake, Daffy, was bullied from about this time for 3 or more months. It was during a molt. He had to have an individual compartment made in the pen at night. He quickly got the hang of going into the pen first at night and did not hang out with the others during the day. I was worried sick about him and even took him on a road trip rather than leave him being bullied by the others. He is now back to being alpha male, and no one messes with him.

I strongly advise making a separate compartment in your coop for your boy. Or using a dogcrate for him to sleep in. That personal space at night where the others cannot bully him, can make a big difference.
It may be that your drake is under the weather for some reason and once he recovers his moxy he will nolonger be bullied.

This year a different drake is suffering from one terrorsl who is only half his size: a 14lb muscovy being bullied by a 7lb pekin! The pekin sleeps in a dog crate so none of the muscovy can bite him at night. The bullied muscovy sleeps atop the dogcrate where he enjoys an elevated roost. Sometimes he stays in the coop all day, but he mostly comes out and takes himself behind my shed to sit atop the compost pile. That boy likes heights!! He is perfectly capable of standing on the terror of a pekin: he just closes to stay away from him.

I have a hose at hand and if there is any bullying on the way in to the coop at night or the way out in the morning, the miscreant gets hosed down. That works for my boys as, except for Daffy, they don't like water.

Good luck!

That's really helpful! Thank you!

 

[KathiQuacks]

I had an all-drake flock briefly. They split themselves into 3 groups of 2. 1 drake was getting harassed daily, so much so him and his friend avoided my pond and hung out in the coop as much as possible. I added an elevated section to the coop that they could hop up to and not have to see each other at night, and that helped a lot.

Even so, the 1 drake started getting a massive bald patch on his neck and chest, so I separated him and his friend with a fence so he’d be safe.. Despite the separation, he continued to have feathers pulled?! I watched and realized that, when the drakes would argue through the fence, his friend couldn’t fight with the other drakes, and so he’d take out his frustration on my 1 drake instead.. yes, he was now being harassed by his friend.

I finally took him inside and set him up with a mirror while I searched for a new home for him. Found a lovely lady who’s hen just lost her drake and was looking for a new mate. I’m sure the poor guy is much happier now.

Afterwards, they became groups of 2 and 3. I can’t quite remember what happened, but I know it wasn’t as hectic as before. This was in July / August, however, and I didn’t keep them long enough to know how they would’ve acted in spring.