Introducing ducks again?

[PoultryGirly]

Could a mallard female live with my call duck pair, because she doesn't fight, nor the female call. The only ducks that start the fight are the male mallards and the others fight back.

 

[Frank Phinster]

Of course you can keep the mallard female with the call couple. One drake and two ducks should go well.

 

[PoultryGirly]

Well today we put the calls back with the mallards. At first the male mallard and the male call were pulling feathers but eventually they stopped. By the way, the fight was caused when the female call nibbled at the female mallards feathers and then the male mallard didn't like her messing with his girl so he nipped at he female call. Then the male call stuck up for the female call by starting a "fight". After that they went back to normal except some nudging, nibbling, and following. I probably will get rid of one male mallard, though. I hope this works out.

 

[Amiga]

I want to give you a pat on the back for hanging in there and trying to sort it out. It's not always easy and obvious to know what is really going on and how to address it.

Just remember the girls' lives depend on you making the right decisions. I don't want you to lose sleep, but just remind you - and you already know this - that you need to protect them. And even the drakes, who can be troublemakers, need protection, too.

 

[PoultryGirly]

So what woud you do, Amiga? Thanks

 

[Amiga]

Well, it sounded like you had the mallard drakes separated from the call and mallard female and call drake. Perhaps that can be how you do it when they are not being supervised.

I realize I don't know your schedule or the layout of your pen(s) and shelter(s). But that sounded good, at least until you make some adjustments to the flock membership.

 

[PoultryGirly]

Actually all 5 of them are together.

 

[Amiga]

If no one is harmed, you are fine. But just keep watch.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I don't want to alarm you any more than you already are and my experience is with Muscovy's only, but back when i first started with ducks and did not know beans about them, they just appeared in the river below our home, 3 drakes. found out later about dumping, I decided to adopt them oh they needed a home and someone to protect them, well I went and got 3 ducks to go with the 3 drakes, Big mistake, The girls chose one drake and that made the other 2 kind of 2nd and 3rd wheels, at this time they were still going back and forth to the river, I could not believe one day my husband and I were leaving to go some place and I looked down at the river and one of the drakes was beating the tar out of the other drake, since we had an appointment we couldn't stop but where they were we couldn't get to them anyway without walking down river, end of story, when we got home I did manage to climb through brambles and down steep cliffs to get the one drake back to my house, he died in the night and i know since I saw it with my own eyes this one drake killed him. Drakes will fight to the death, I don't know if all breeds are like this but Scovies are. I wouldn't take any chances in that the drakes may injure one another severely and or they will kill or injure one of your females. it isn't worth it. Sorry for the long story but I have 3 drakes now and 10 females and I have to separate my boys quite often during breeding season. And I will not let them abuse any of the girls, if they get too rough where someone is hurt they are separated.

 

[PoultryGirly]

Right now the calls are in the coop and the mallards are in the pen because the mallards wouldn't go up into the coop. They are again separated for the night. Would it be better if I sold one male mallard, so I would have a pair of calls and a pair of mallards?