Harassing male...will he mellow out.

[onaharley]

Here you go! The door that has the single duck locked up is a swinging door. It will swing open to the entrance door, therefore creating another lock up pen. When the door is closed, Miss Bill the hen, is free to come and go. When the door is opened, it locks up Miss Bill and allows Mr Ted to free range. At night Mr Ted is locked up and Miss Bill gets all that space. Enterance door gets locked for the night.

 

[CayugaJana]

What about clipping his wings pretty short. It doesn’t hurt them. It’s pretty similar to cutting our fingernails. It makes to to where he can’t chase the girls near as much. And seemed to help last summer with mine. Although he did spend time in jail.

 

[CayugaJana]

When there is no male around, my females get along really well. But as soon as he comes back, the high school clicks start back up.

 

[austroberta]

Here you go! The door that has the single duck locked up is a swinging door. It will swing open to the entrance door, therefore creating another lock up pen. When the door is closed, Miss Bill the hen, is free to come and go. When the door is opened, it locks up Miss Bill and allows Mr Ted to free range. At night Mr Ted is locked up and Miss Bill gets all that space. Enterance door gets locked for the night.
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Wow! Now that is a cool set-up.
Does your drake get bored being in there all day and was he very unhappy when you initially put him in there? My drake is very unhappy being by himself, although I must say Fiori, (the one who is being harassed) was breathing a sigh of relief. Abi(the drake) is not much of a forager, so I don't think he's mainly interested in the free ranging. He does, however, like the company of the ladies.

Did your drake settle into the new routine quickly, or did it take a while?

 

[austroberta]

What about clipping his wings pretty short. It doesn’t hurt them. It’s pretty similar to cutting our fingernails. It makes to to where he can’t chase the girls near as much. And seemed to help last summer with mine. Although he did spend time in jail.

I could try that, but how would that work? He doesn't have to go far to chase Fiori (the one who is being harassed), since they usually hang out so closely together.

 

[onaharley]

Wow! Now that is a cool set-up.
Does your drake get bored being in there all day and was he very unhappy when you initially put him in there? My drake is very unhappy being by himself, although I must say Fiori, (the one who is being harassed) was breathing a sigh of relief. Abi(the drake) is not much of a forager, so I don't think he's mainly interested in the free ranging. He does, however, like the company of the ladies.

Did your drake settle into the new routine quickly, or did it take a while?

Thank you!! At 1st it was harder on me then them. I started slow doing a locked up every 3rd day. I'm sure he is bored in there but it's what needs to be done. He gets his exercise in there though, he paces back and forth trying to figure out how to get out. All the gals don't leave his side when he is locked up but are free to come and go as they wish. When he free range and has the option to do what he wants, he doesn't. He's right there waiting for me to mess up and let everyone together.

Just make sure wherever you do lock him, he has something soft under his feet. You don't want them walking on abrasive grounds as possible bumblefoot could happen.

 

[austroberta]

Thank you!! At 1st it was harder on me then them. I started slow doing a locked up every 3rd day. I'm sure he is bored in there but it's what needs to be done. He gets his exercise in there though, he paces back and forth trying to figure out how to get out. All the gals don't leave his side when he is locked up but are free to come and go as they wish. When he free range and has the option to do what he wants, he doesn't. He's right there waiting for me to mess up and let everyone together.

Just make sure wherever you do lock him, he has something soft under his feet. You don't want them walking on abrasive grounds as possible bumblefoot could happen.

Did he stop eating at first when he was in there? Abi doesn't seem too be eating his treats or his food. The ducks have never been big on the duck food, but they had the free ranging outside. The pen that I have is under construction as far as bugs, slugs and worms are concerned, so while he can forage, he's not going to find much. I hope he eventually settles into his new situation.

Also, did your harassed duck bounce back? Mine still seems a little confused. She used to be an active forager, in fact she was my best forager, but I think all that chasing around made her more concerned about her surroundings than her foraging. She spends most of her time just standing there, looking around. When I give her treats, she still does that looking around to make sure Abi isn't going to chase her away.

 

[onaharley]

Did he stop eating at first when he was in there? Abi doesn't seem too be eating his treats or his food. The ducks have never been big on the duck food, but they had the free ranging outside. The pen that I have is under construction as far as bugs, slugs and worms are concerned, so while he can forage, he's not going to find much. I hope he eventually settles into his new situation.

Also, did your harassed duck bounce back? Mine still seems a little confused. She used to be an active forager, in fact she was my best forager, but I think all that chasing around made her more concerned about her surroundings than her foraging. She spends most of her time just standing there, looking around. When I give her treats, she still does that looking around to make sure Abi isn't going to chase her away.

When I am in the pen cleaning the other side he will eat but if I’m not there and the hens are out, he is more consumed with how to get out. Everyday at some point everyone gets to free range.

When the he picks on is with the hens, she is just fine.

It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s what I have to do. Once spring gets here and I will try to have the whole flock together, if the problem is there after that, someone will get rehomed. Whether it’s the male or the one hen he doesn’t like.

 

[onaharley]

Did he stop eating at first when he was in there? Abi doesn't seem too be eating his treats or his food. The ducks have never been big on the duck food, but they had the free ranging outside. The pen that I have is under construction as far as bugs, slugs and worms are concerned, so while he can forage, he's not going to find much. I hope he eventually settles into his new situation.

Also, did your harassed duck bounce back? Mine still seems a little confused. She used to be an active forager, in fact she was my best forager, but I think all that chasing around made her more concerned about her surroundings than her foraging. She spends most of her time just standing there, looking around. When I give her treats, she still does that looking around to make sure Abi isn't going to chase her away.

When I am in the pen cleaning the other side he will eat but if I’m not there and the hens are out, he is more consumed with how to get out. Everyday at some point everyone gets to free range.

When the hen he picks on is with the other hens, she is just fine.

It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s what I have to do. Once spring gets here and I will try to have the whole flock together, if the problem is there after that, someone will get rehomed. Whether it’s the male or the one hen he doesn’t like.

 

[PirateGirl]

Apologies if I am repeating as I have not read all responses.

I agree that you should separate the male. This will give your girl time to build a good bond with the rest of the flock. Give it a week, try putting them back together. See what happens. If it's the same, separate them for another week, then try again. Hopefully soon she will be seen as part of the flock of girls as a whole, as in the girls fully accept her as one of them, and then the drake treats them all the same. It may or may not work, but it's worth trying. My drake definitely had one girl he singled out, once he grabbed her by the wing and I thought for sure he would break it as she tried to get away. I separated him for awhile, but now she is just one of the girls to him and they all live together again. Once in awhile she still gets picked on, but it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be. Good luck!