head biting

[hfchristy]

My previously happy family of mixed ducklings, has suddenly started biting each others heads and necks this week.
They're 9 weeks old - is this normal adolescent hormone-driven behavior?
I've heard people talking about a particular drake in their flock and "his hens" not mixing with the others - how and when does this sort of separation happen? Would it involve head-biting? Or might head-biting be more likely as a way to tell an unwanted male to buzz off?

The two biggest offenders are a wee little bantam Australian Spotted drake and a pekin who's once-every-few-days clear as a bell "quack" had us thinking that she was a girl. But the rest of the time she just says a rather quiet "putt-putt-putt." Should I be rethinking my pronouns?
Tonight, when they went into their cages, the little guy got stuck on the wrong side of the door, and when I finally got him to go around and in with the others, the Pekin chomped down on his neck. He seems fine, but I pulled the Pekin out and put "her" in an adjoining cage. Next thing I know, other ducks are joining in on the attack, so I moved all the big ducks into one cage and the bantam and semi-bantams in the other. Turn my back for a minute, and the Pekin has the bantam by the head THROUGH the bars of the cage. I separate them, and moments later the bantam is trying to figure out how to get back into the big duck cage. Persistent (and dumb) little fellow.

Any duck-whisperers out there want to translate their behavior for me?

 

[Amiga]

Well, at nine weeks, there could be some hormone surges going on.

I have seen my ducks playing hop on top, and part of it involved grabbing some feathers on the neck or head with one's bill (then climbing up on top of the other duck).

But for the most part, the feather-grabbing is done quite gently, and it appears to be with the consent of the duck being hopped upon.

That said, I have read hair-raising tales on this forum of brutal head and neck biting, bare necks, ripped backs . . . . . and some are convinced it is all about dominance. I reckon it may be, in those situations. Happily, my girls just want to have fun, and no one has been hurt. I have worried a couple of times when they play this in their swim pan, and it is several seconds while the bottom duck's head is held underwater, and sometimes she makes a noise that comes out like a gurgle because she is under the surface. But this doesn't go on for more than several seconds, from anything I see.

 

[hfchristy]

To be honest, I freaked out instantly enough that there wasn't time to see whether it was going to be gentle. Maybe it would have been, but the size difference just seems to be a bit too much to let it play out.

So, this doesn't give me a hint about gender, then? darn it. I was hoping it might at least have a useful side effect.

 

[hfchristy]

Amiga - could rough head/neck biting do enough damage to look like a stroke?
I'm trying not to freak about it if it might just be feather pulling and other pre-mating experimentation, but since we're already dealing with the one probable-stroke that I've been posting about this week, I'm a nervous nellie. If that *could* have been spinal damage from the other ducks, I'll hate myself if it happens again because I didn't learn my lesson the first time!

 

[OldGuy43]

I'm seeing this behavior in our flock of Khaki Campbells, but only in the pond. They'll jump on one another and hold the head under the water. I may have lost a young duckling to this behavior due to drowning.

It's also possible that I gave a hen to MammaChicken thinking it was a drake. I originally thought it was mating behavior, but now I'm convinced it is a dominance act.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Bantams with large fowl isn't a good idea as the bantams can get hurt easily by the large ducks.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Amiga - could rough head/neck biting do enough damage to look like a stroke?
I'm trying not to freak about it if it might just be feather pulling and other pre-mating experimentation, but since we're already dealing with the one probable-stroke that I've been posting about this week, I'm a nervous nellie. If that *could* have been spinal damage from the other ducks, I'll hate myself if it happens again because I didn't learn my lesson the first time!

Large size ducks can pose a threat to bantam size ducks, I have seen others post here about keeping the 2 sizes separate.

 

[hfchristy]

The duck presumed to have had a stroke is a Welsh Harlequin, so if I were grouping them by size, she would have been in with the Pekin anyway. It probably really is a stroke, I just wondered since I hadn't seen this behavior before.
I do have them separated at night since this episode, but I can't afford to build a second outdoor pen just for a few ducks that I don't intend to keep anyway. Keeping my fingers crossed that things stay this way, but so far, when they have more space they leave each other alone.