Harassing male...will he mellow out.

[CayugaJana]

Don’t you wish there was some mechanism to spank them every time they tried to mistreat another duck?! It wouldn’t be long before they left them alone.

 

[PirateGirl]

Don’t you wish there was some mechanism to spank them every time they tried to mistreat another duck?! It wouldn’t be long before they left them alone.

If I'm in the garden I will sometimes blast him with the hose, but I think he kinda likes it

 

[austroberta]

I might try that, because everyone seems really unhappy and confused by the arrangement.

Funny thing is everyone was just fine over the fall/beginning of winter. It was just in the past 2 weeks that I saw Fiori was avoiding Abi like the plague. She is the oldest of the ducks, along with Anise, so she used to be really integrated in the flock.

I did notice that Abi tried to mate with her and after that one time, she never allowed him to do it again....then the harassment started. I also noticed that she is somewhat estranged from her original duck mate, Anise. (They were raised with each other since they were ducklings.) A few weeks ago I saw both of them get in each other's grills and start beak butting. Do ducks get catty too?

 

[austroberta]

To be quite honest, I'd like to re-home him, but I'm finding that's it's harder than I thought. Sometimes, when I'm really mad at his antics, I tell him 'There's a nice Chinese restaurant down the street and if you don't behave, I'm taking you there.' Then I feel really ashamed, since I'm a vegetarian.

 

[austroberta]

If I'm in the garden I will sometimes blast him with the hose, but I think he kinda likes it

OMG! Thanks for the laugh!! I needed it this morning!

 

[austroberta]

Don’t you wish there was some mechanism to spank them every time they tried to mistreat another duck?! It wouldn’t be long before they left them alone.

Yes, that's me! I'm not a believer in corporal punishment, but he's almost making me a believer!

 

[onaharley]

To be quite honest, I'd like to re-home him, but I'm finding that's it's harder than I thought. Sometimes, when I'm really mad at his antics, I tell him 'There's a nice Chinese restaurant down the street and if you don't behave, I'm taking you there.' Then I feel really ashamed, since I'm a vegetarian.

 

[AmyJane725]

To be quite honest, I'd like to re-home him, but I'm finding that's it's harder than I thought. Sometimes, when I'm really mad at his antics, I tell him 'There's a nice Chinese restaurant down the street and if you don't behave, I'm taking you there.' Then I feel really ashamed, since I'm a vegetarian.

The shame because you're a vegetarian really made this a gut buster. (And I admire you by the way. I don't ever cook meat for myself, but if it's already made I still eat it. I aspire to kick the habit completely someday.)

Not trying to be snarky, truly asking here. What is the point of keeping a male duck? With chickens the roosters protect the flock, finds good food for the girls, breaks up fights between the hens and help keep any of the hens from wandering off when free ranging. Of course he fertilizes the eggs as well, but clearly he has plenty of other functions.
All I ever hear is how the male ducks sexually harass the females all the time. Do the males do any of the things that male chickens do?

 

[austroberta]

The shame because you're a vegetarian really made this a gut buster. (And I admire you by the way. I don't ever cook meat for myself, but if it's already made I still eat it. I aspire to kick the habit completely someday.)

Not trying to be snarky, truly asking here. What is the point of keeping a male duck? With chickens the roosters protect the flock, finds good food for the girls, breaks up fights between the hens and help keep any of the hens from wandering off when free ranging. Of course he fertilizes the eggs as well, but clearly he has plenty of other functions.
All I ever hear is how the male ducks sexually harass the females all the time. Do the males do any of the things that male chickens do?

Getting Abi, the drake, was a bit of a long story. We ordered a 2 female runner ducks and a female welsh harlequin duck from our local feed store (when they place their order for ducks, they just tack on our request.) When we went to pick up the ducks, we only got the runners and no welsh harlequin. I'm funny about raising 2 ducklings (what if one of them dies?!) so I always like to raise 3. We picked up a duck from the stock they had and he turned out to be a drake. Grooooannnnnn. I would never inflict this chaos upon myself on purpose. He's been a pain in the rear from the beginning. Now that he is jeopardizing the health of one of my runner ducks, I just want him gone. He's starting to try and bite me, so now I REALLY want him gone.

So yes, I absolutely agree with you, unless you're a sado-masochistic with a martyr complex, I can't really see the point of keeping a drake.

 

[AmyJane725]

So yes, I absolutely agree with you, unless you're a sado-masochistic with a martyr complex, I can't really see the point of keeping a drake.

Ok, that's kind of the feeling I got. I hear so many people talking about sending their boys to "duck jail" because they're so rapey. I just don't see what good it does to put the poor girls through that unless a person is dead set on having ducklings. At least (some) roosters have redeeming qualities. Many people with a rooster acting like a drake turn him into rooster stew. If it were me he'd be long gone. I wouldn't personally kill him, but I wouldn't really care what happened to him after I gave him away. I know it's just how they are, but it doesn't make it any less unpleasant for the girls, and I don't tolerate that.