Help Duck attacking my chickens

[jriekeman]

Hello Everyone,

I have two pekin ducks that I got with my 4 chickens in May of 2011. It turned out later on that my ducks are a drake and a hen. They have been with the chickens since day one when I got them but lately the drake has started to attack one of my chickens. Its getting so bad that she is now bald on most of her back and neck.

Ive tried seperating the ducks and chickens in the coop and run but he always seems to be able to get back to her and attack her some more. Im at my wits end on what to do. I know the obvious choice is to get rid of the drake but I dont want the duck hen to be lonely.



Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Darklingstorm]

I too had the same problem and the only solution is to separate them or get rid of him. He has found that one of your hens is beautiful and is trying to mate with her.
Just take the time and build a completely separate run and coop for the ducks.
Mine share a fence with the chickens but can not get to them, nor do I let them free range together either.

 

[EmAbTo48]

Ahh poor chicken, can you build a seperate run/coop for the ducks? And in the mean time maybe put 2 of your chickens (the one being attacked and another) in a smaller coop/run?

 

[sourland]

Realistically the only solutions are to either get rid of the drake or separate the ducks from the chickens. If this goes on long enough he will either kill or seriously injure the hen. What you describe is most likely misplaced breeding behavior, and drakes are anatomically 'different' from roosters. Drakes breeding chicken hens leads to the possibility of cloacal prolapse, infection, pelvic injuries ---

 

[jriekeman]

Normally I would build another coop but we live in NW Iowa and its way to cold for me to be outside building another coop at this time. We have been seperating them by putting her in a crate during the day. (when I say crate I mean one big enough to have a doberman in) and then him in it at night so she can roost. However that is not a great way to spend their life until spring. If I get rid of the drake would the duck hen be okay with the chickens or would she be too lonely? She does lay by the crate at night when hes locked up.

 

[EmAbTo48]

She will be lonely maybe its best to find a new home for both? And if you really want ducks get some females.

 

[Foodaholic75]

Sounds like my story.. I had 2 ducks(male Pekin and female) that grew up with my chicken hens. My drake started mating with my favorite hen, she was on the smallest of the bunch. She could never get away, he would wait for her to jump out of the coop every morning and he'd pull out her neck feathers, he'd chase her around the all day, I felt so horrible. I tried to separate them but they were so used to free ranging in the yard already. Well sad to say my chicken died and I'm guessing it was probably from him, as all my others have never been sick or had a problem. I regret NOT separating them. I now have a separate outdoor pen for the ducks. I dont close it all the time but their pool and food is there and they seem to be happy. It seems when ducks grow up with the chickens as babies they get slightly confused..

 

[Darklingstorm]

Normally I would build another coop but we live in NW Iowa and its way to cold for me to be outside building another coop at this time. We have been seperating them by putting her in a crate during the day. (when I say crate I mean one big enough to have a doberman in) and then him in it at night so she can roost. However that is not a great way to spend their life until spring. If I get rid of the drake would the duck hen be okay with the chickens or would she be too lonely? She does lay by the crate at night when hes locked up.

Just leave the drake in the crate. You can also put the duck in with him. If you take the bottom off it and secure it the ground then they will be able to enjoy the ground. Give them lots of "entertainment" greens. A simple cover over it, like a tarp made into a tent will keep them safe from high winds and snow/ice.
They might not like being "cooped" up but it beats going into the stew pot.

 

[pensacolachick]

Found my olandsk dwarf dead... wondering if my drake killed her.

 

[pensacolachick]

Found my olandsk dwarf dead... wondering if my drake killed her.

He is a year old. He was just reintroduced to chickens about two weeks ago. He has started to show a lot of male behaviors as in biting me and chasing me and trying to mate me and my dogs. There are no other ducks with him. He is a Rouen duck. He has recently been housed with a severe splay legged olandsk dwarf and has been nice to her- they only house together at night and chicken does not get free range as he does per day. Im just wondering if he could have killed my dwarf or what. She had a huge patch of feathers missing from her back and only a few feathers scattered around her.