Harvey my duck

[Renda]

I adopted this duck which I named Harvey, I had 2 chickens at the time a Gold Laced Wyndote and a New Hampshire Red. They are free range. On Sunday I found my my Wyndote dead with a wrung neck. The only other animal that was outside with her was the duck and my new hampshire. Also Harvey has become VERY protective of the new hampshire and follows me all over the yard. Has anyone else ever heard of a duck killing a almost full grown chicken? She was 4 months old?

 

[FenDruadin]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Drakes *can* kill chicken hens, and sometimes do by accident because they're trying so hard to breed with them, and they're not really made for each other... Had you noticed strong mating behavior between them prior to the incident? Why do you think her neck was wrung? Usually, death occurs from prolonged trauma, not a single incident, but I wouldn't rule it out.

I am so sorry for your trouble, and I hope it wasn't the drake. Regardless, you should probably strongly consider getting some duck hens to satisfy your drake's needs and protect the chickens from damage. Their bodies are not built to accept drake parts.

 

[Renda]

Thank you for responding..I've been searching for an answer to this all week. Her neck was bent and her head was bent in an odd direction. He had been trying to "breed" with them a couple of weeks ago and he always went after the wyndote. He is a rescue duck and at one time he lived with another drake duck and 1 red hen. The hen and the other drake were killed by coyotes or raccoon. I adopted him bc he just wandered the yards in the neighborhood and was going out in the road. Plus the people who were renting the house weren't even his owners. He had been abandon by the previous renters. So I wondered if he is protective of the red bc he used to live with one. maybe I'm reading into this more than I should. I have mentioned to my husband that we should get a hen duck for Harvey so now I'll look into it more. Thank you again!!!