Introducing ducks again?

[PoultryGirly]

Hi. I have a pair of call ducks that I got about a year and a half ago. Several months after getting them, I got six mallard ducks but gave 2 away and one died, so now I have 3 mallards, which are 2 males and one female. The female call duck has had leg problems and I had to separate the pair of calls for about 2 weeks from the other ducks. For Christmas I got a small chicken coop with a run attached to it and I put the pair of calls in their a few days ago. Today I put the 3 mallards in there and the males were pulling the other males feathers and nudging the female call like they always did. Are they fighting or what? Redoing the pecking order? Wil they hurt each other? I separated the calls int the run and the mallards into the coop, but what should I do now?

 

[PoultryGirly]

Anyone???

 

[coonhoundmama87]

Sounds normal to me. They will work it out. As long as they aren't actually hurting eachother it's fine.

 

[Frank Phinster]

Keep them seperated. They won't ease up till molting time.
The mallard drakes will probably hurt the call drake, they will rip out his feathers and may give him such a rough time that he might limp for a while. Aditionally they will constantly rape the duck until you will need to save her. The mallard duck is also looking forward hard times with two active mallard drakes...The ratio 3:2 is very a very stressful one for the females...
Keep the calls seperated from the mallards and get another duck for the drakes. If you have pure mallards, they are monogamous and every drake will settle with one duck.
How big is your pen? I imagine that a pen attached to a small coop is not really big and may be too small for five ducks anyhow...

 

[PoultryGirly]

Yes, as soon as I saw them fighting I separated them just in case. I think I will try introducing them tomorrow when I can watch them. I think they should get along again since they did in the first place, maybe? I am thinking about getting rid of one of the male mallards and get some more females, but I'm not sure. And yes, they aren't really "fighting", but rather pulling and holding onto feathers.

 

[Frank Phinster]

It's mating season for ducks right now so drakes get more aggressive. Drakes which have gotten along for a while can easily start to quarrel now. They will get along again when they start to molt and their hormon level that causes aggression decreases. I have to seperate my couples every year to make sure that the ducks won't get molested too much and the drakes don't fight with each other. The feather pulling can change into real combat where the drakes try to force their opponent down on the ground, attack head and neck and sometimes beat him up with their wings. I've seen those things.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I keep my Calls separated from my other waterfowl. They were always getting stepped on and bullied by the other ducks. I would not keep your Mallard and Calls together.

~ Aspen

 

[PoultryGirly]

So I can never join them back again???

 

[Amiga]

Each flock is different, so I don't know if you can join them again. Also, flock dynamics change over time.

There are always exceptions, but I will share what I have read about. I only just got my first drake a few months ago, and so far everything is mellow.

As was written earlier, drakes can fight each other during mating season. And sometimes they just take a dislike to each other. Another concern is that with few females, drakes can kill ducks due to being overly rough, or more than one drake will try to mate a duck at the same time and smother or drown her. Sad to even think about, but your females are at risk, I feel.

So separating is a start.

Something I have seen work pretty well is a drake pen. Drakes are kept in a boys' club, away from the girls. If they are far enough away, their behavior is much better and they are not aggressive with each other, either. It's hormones.

Another idea is more females. It varies, but generally three females per male is a minimum healthy ratio. Some people say six females per male is better.

 

[Frank Phinster]

As was written earlier, drakes can fight each other during mating season. And sometimes they just take a dislike to each other. Another concern is that with few females, drakes can kill ducks due to being overly rough, or more than one drake will try to mate a duck at the same time and smother or drown her. Sad to even think about, but your females are at risk, I feel.

That is true, usually drakes fight a little and then keep quiet for a while, but sometimes it happens that two drakes just seem to hate each other and get into trouble every five minutes. Literally.

In urban areas where the ponds are often over populated, it is not uncommon for ducks to get raped to death by several drakes. In captivity the odds are similar, the ducks have not enough space to evade the drakes so the keeper has to make sure that his ducks are save. He may keep more ducks than drakes so the pressure is evenly spread among the females so they stay happy, or seperate the couples if there are as many drakes as there are ducks. I seperate my couples every year in late winter / early spring and let them together again in late spring / early summer.
The idea with the drake pen is also a good one, you could keept the mallard drakes seperated from the rest of the flock if you cannot get a female mallard fast enough or if you don't find a buyer for one of the drakes.