HELP!!!! ducks fighting-Has anyone had this problem?

[csrdrunner]

I saw this today with my ducks, one males is picking on another male, I have 5 males and 5 females. I have never had ducks before so this was rather disturbing to see. Should I close the door to their house and not let them in tonight???

 

[1234duck]

From what I gather you should separate them if their fighting. It's not a good thing for them to fight it could get serious one could get really injured. I think most of the posts/people are having problems with the drakes trying to "mate each other", that's what mine are doing. My 2 hens are broodie right now so I kinda have them away from the drakes. ~I even seen the Golden Cascade drake straddling the side of the pool/trying to mate the pool...

~Julie~

 

[csrdrunner]

Two days ago my males started also doing this (my first time to have ducks, 5 males, 5 females), I have a small lake with an island surrounded by cattails, I have thought of taking the dominate male with one female and placing them on the island. As of yet they do not show much interest in the lake (think my ducks are really chickens), maybe they can build their lives there.
Please let me know if you think this will work.
I am new to this site so I hope I can find any replies, thanks so much.

 

[1234duck]

I'd like to say Welcome to BYC.. I am still learning also & I can't think of a better place to get some real good advice this site is very helpful. I don't have the exact answer I'm sure someone will be along soon to help. But you do need to separate the trouble maker so they don't get hurt. I had one duck/drake start this then the one he was getting started to get my other drake but the other drake is my big baby (his name is lucky & only 18 weeks old) so I penned both drakes up i separate pens for a while. ~In my case these drakes aren't really fighting each other, they are trying to mate each other. I think you might need 2 hens for that 1 drake. Not sure.... The island sounds great, that might work. Good luck, ~Julie~

 

[csrdrunner]

Hi! 1234,

Thanks for your quick reply, will see what I can do over the weekend. Strange how they are during the day, then they all go in their house at night!!! I will keep you posted ARGH! animals are fun but strange and difficult, guess I will learn in time. I have seen the term "drake or drakes" used several times. I am assuming that means males, is that correct? Learning one day at a time.

 

[1234duck]

Hi csrdrunner, yes the males are drakes & the females are hens. }}}I'm still learning also. My ducks were acting like that during the daytime & at night. Now that they are penned up separately (instead of free ranging on the front yard) there's a little more peace & quiet. lol That was strange how a lot of posts(people posting in the forum) were about drakes fighting/mating each other. I think they needed a COLD shower. lol Hope things work out for you, keep us posted. Good luck, ~Julie~

 

[csrdrunner]

Thanks for the info on the drakes. What a riot about them needing a cold shower, toooo funny.
Mine are free range all the time, I am quite surprised about them all going in on their own at night.
Good luck with your ducks.

 

[GrannyCarol]

When I raise ducklings, I keep in mind that I cannot have too many drakes at the end of the summer. I plan ahead who to put in "freezer camp". Although I really enjoy my ducks, I owe it to them to take good care of them and not to keep more than I can take care of or protect, even from each other. I've only had one drake to drake fight draw blood - the more aggressive boy went to "freezer camp" too, I won't have a drake that aggressive, I have too many ducks for that and most of them aren't that bad.

I do keep a large pen of "boys" that get along during spring and summer, they get out when the main lot come in. I have three drakes in it now, sweet big boys that I will use next year for breeding. I have about 20 adult ducks and way too many ducklings at the moment. I have 4 smaller drakes that run with the hens (when I am not separating out for breeding in the spring) and, right now, one of the Saxony drakes is running with the crowd too. I don't even count my little pure Mallard guy - he's too small to bother the girls much and too quick for the bigger drakes to bother him! My three older smaller drakes are bonded to each other as "best buddies" and get along great all the time. One of my larger drakes is a bit aggressive, I used him this spring, will probably next spring, but he's in the "boy pen" the rest of the time.

I always seem to be juggling ducks!

 

[Kibblesnbits148]

Maybe someone can help me?
About a month ago my grandma and I bought 5 ducks from a poultry auction in town. Things are going great and we are sure at least 3 of them are mallards. They still have their fuzz, but they look to have full grown feathers on their tails. (Not sure if this is helpful, just throwing it out there!) They really aren't very old at all, they even still have their egg tooths, but it seems our youngest member tends to peck at the others and starts fights alot! The fights are only started or provoked by him, but it usually tends to result in the whole flock fighting with each other. I once witnessed the youngest peck at one of the others and when the other tried to escape, the youngest caught him and pinned his neck to the ground and just continued to peck roughly at his neck! Even if this is breeding season, I don't really think they are old enough yet to breed and none of them seem to try. We would like to stop the problem before they get bigger and could possibly actually hurt each other. The youngest is really our only problem.
We are very new duck owners, so any help would be appreciated! We would prefer not to get rid of our youngest, but we will if we have to.

 

[1234duck]

Kibblesnbits148... If you need help to identify what kind of ducks you have you can post pictures of them. The people on the forum can be a lot of help.}}just a thought... How old are the ducks? Do you have any hens? or are they all drakes? Regardless, your right you need to fix the problem ASAP so someone don't get hurt. You need to separate the problem duck from the rest while you decide on whats best. Maybe you need some hens the same age. Eventually you should get some hens so when older/bigger the don't start fighting or trying to mate each other. Good luck, & Welcome to BYC, ~Julie~