Introducing drakes to one another

[ethelandfred]

After much searching we finally found my drake a friend after his mate passed. Fred is a 4 year old Cayuga, his mate was a black Swedish of the same age.

His new drake friend is a 3-4 month old Rouen who is actually close in size.

I've had Fred since he was a few months old but he's never been around other male ducks as far as I know (we found him alone in the city) and only had the one female friend.

Problem is he's being dominant and trying to mate with the new duck.

They are separate for the time being, we split their indoor pen down the middle with chicken wire.

The new drake is in our outdoor chainlink pen and Fred is wandering and investigating.

Problem is Fred keeps grabbing at the new ducks neck through the outdoor pen.

Any advice on introductions and what to do or don't do would be very much appreciated! I realize it'll be an adjustment obviously but I want it to go as smoothly as possible.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Time is the best recipe here. Let the 2 live side by side for a while especially since the one you just got is still young. and Fred is at hormonal level right now which means he will pretty much want to mate with anything in feathers. So the Young Rouen will have to stay away from the side of the fencing to keep Fred from grabbing him hopefully he'll learn this quick.

 

[ethelandfred]

Time is the best recipe here. Let the 2 live side by side for a while especially since the one you just got is still young. and Fred is at hormonal level right now which means he will pretty much want to mate with anything in feathers. So the Young Rouen will have to stay away from the side of the fencing to keep Fred from grabbing him hopefully he'll learn this quick.

I figured time was probably the best procedure.

Unfortunately the timing of everything kind of sucked, we lost our female, couldn't find another male for he longest time and now Fred's all testorone and dominance like you mentioned :/

We are actually going to put chicken wire around the bottom of the chain link to prevent unwanted grabbing for the time being.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Maybe come Sept things will have settled down some with hormones then they can be together and become buddies before next season. You could always after a time let them out together with some treats tossed out and be there to break up at nonsense from Fred.

Keep us updated on how it's all going.

 

[chickens really]

I remember your other Post about Fred.....
Waiting is a great idea...When you do put them together their will be the usual neck tying and the dominant Drake will hold the younger one down in submission and breed him...I just introduced a mature Call Drake to my other Call Drake and it took about two days free ranging for them to become used to each other...Now they even sleep close to each other in the run....All you can do is keep trying!...
Congrats on finding Fred a friend!

 

[ethelandfred]

I remember your other Post about Fred.....
Waiting is a great idea...When you do put them together their will be the usual neck tying and the dominant Drake will hold the younger one down in submission and breed him...I just introduced a mature Call Drake to my other Call Drake and it took about two days free ranging for them to become used to each other...Now they even sleep close to each other in the run....All you can do is keep trying!...
Congrats on finding Fred a friend!

Thanks! Barney is our new guys name

We have already come miles ahead of yesterday too! No more grabbing through the fence and they are dabbling in the grass right next to each other.

I noticed when Fred wanders off, Barney will stand to attention and attempt to follow him and quack like "come back!" or "don't leave me behind!".

I think the night inside with the chicken wire separation (look but no touch) really worked wonders. Last night I checked on them a few times and they were sleeping together, or as close as possible through the chicken wire separator.

I'm so happy! I know it'll still be a process obviously but I was shocked at how far they've come just overnight.

Fred seems much happier and he's not harassing our cats anymore - thank goodness!

 

[sourland]

'Fred' is a mature drake who is accustomed to sexual activity, and I am concerned that he will never accept 'Barney' as just a friend.

 

[chickens really]

'Fred' is a mature drake who is accustomed to sexual activity, and I am concerned that he will never accept 'Barney' as just a friend.

Not true....Zero Hens...zero competition ...It works with just Drakes...

 

[sourland]

Not true....Zero Hens...zero competition ...It works with just Drakes...

Not true, zero hens, zero hens to breed so they move on to the next weak individual. All drake flocks raised together work sometimes, and sometimes they don't. Frequently the weakest individual will be gang bred by the others in the flock. When we make blanket statements regarding animal/bird behavior, we set ourselves up to be seriously wrong. When dealing with living things, nothing is 100 %.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Thanks! Barney is our new guys name

We have already come miles ahead of yesterday too! No more grabbing through the fence and they are dabbling in the grass right next to each other.

I noticed when Fred wanders off, Barney will stand to attention and attempt to follow him and quack like "come back!" or "don't leave me behind!".

I think the night inside with the chicken wire separation (look but no touch) really worked wonders. Last night I checked on them a few times and they were sleeping together, or as close as possible through the chicken wire separator.

I'm so happy! I know it'll still be a process obviously but I was shocked at how far they've come just overnight.

Fred seems much happier and he's not harassing our cats anymore - thank goodness!

Good progress... but, please do keep in mind what Sour said...

Not true, zero hens, zero hens to breed so they move on to the next weak individual. All drake flocks raised together work sometimes, and sometimes they don't. Frequently the weakest individual will be gang bred by the others in the flock. When we make blanket statements regarding animal/bird behavior, we set ourselves up to be seriously wrong. When dealing with living things, nothing is 100 %.

Too true... they may live together peacefully, but if Fred's sex drive gets out of hand, he *could potentially* breed Barney into a prolapse...

Just keep your eyes on them and if Barney looks a little wore out, separate quickly...