Male ducks....

[Memgold121]

So about a week ago one of my younger drakes started attacking my older drake. He is the smallest male we have. Last year we hatched our first 3 duck eggs and got 2 more males and one female. So we now have a total of 5 females to 4 males. The younger male I believe ripped out most of the older drakes feathers. I believe they were fighting over females
He has a bald spot at the base of his neck and his feathers under his wings are missing. And he was very lethargic.. He was in pretty rough shape. Ill have a picture down below. He has been inside for about 1 week. He has been doing better, although still missing his feathers. I'm nervous about putting him back with the rest of the flock. Any advice on that topic would be wonderful. Any one know if his feathers will grow back? Also, if I should be giving him anything or just time? All those feathers underneath his wings were missing as well. He was also very congested and had clear fluid from his nostrils. That has since went away. He has been doing this weird huffing(?) sound though when he gets stressed.. not sure if that's related to congestion or if it's just what he does. Any input would he wonderful

 

[KaleIAm]

Sorry to hear about your drake not feeling well.

My ducks sometimes make a deep breathing /huffing / Darth Vader noise when they are stressed. I think it is them trying to hiss or scare me away from giving them medicine. Other BYC members have also reported this. That might be what you are hearing, if he is only doing it when stressed and it stops immediately when the stress is gone. You could post a video and I could tell you if that's what I hear.

His feathers should grow back. I would just give him time to heal and appropriate nutrition. I would consider putting him outside with a barrier, so he can see his friends but the drakes can't hurt him, when he is healed enough to go outdoors.

Your main issue, in my opinion, is that you have too many drakes to female ducks. Optimally, for 5 female ducks you would want 1 male duck. With your ratio, especially in the spring when the hormones are elevated, the drakes fight over the females. Not only that, having so many drakes is dangerous for the females. The drakes can injure and even kill the females overmating them.

Some people have success getting a lot more females for their drakes. Others rehome all their males or all their females. Others rehome all but one male. Other people keep two separate flocks, preferably keeping the drakes far away from the female ducks.

 

[Memgold121]

Ok yeah I think that's what I'm hearing thanks that makes me feel better intergrating him with the flock again. We had this issue last spring so we got more femals soo I may try to rehome the 2 males if it doesn't go well. Problem is no one wants male ducks around here lol. I'm not rly equipped equipped have 2 flocks I just don't have the money for another enclousure. I may try that at first but we only have one duck house and predators are high at night in my area so that would only work for the day. The two drakes were fine being housed all winter and suddenly there turning into real jerks which I dont put up with in my flock. I just want any and all options before I decide what 2 do with those 2 drakes. I think they are over mating our one white pekin mix. She has some feathers missing by her wing area and I caught them gang mating her a couple times that I had to break up :/
Thanks for your input!!!

 

[KaleIAm]

Ok yeah I think that's what I'm hearing thanks that makes me feel better intergrating him with the flock again. We had this issue last spring so we got more femals soo I may try to rehome the 2 males if it doesn't go well. Problem is no one wants male ducks around here lol. I'm not rly equipped equipped have 2 flocks I just don't have the money for another enclousure. I may try that at first but we only have one duck house and predators are high at night in my area so that would only work for the day. The two drakes were fine being housed all winter and suddenly there turning into real jerks which I dont put up with in my flock. I just want any and all options before I decide what 2 do with those 2 drakes. I think they are over mating our one white pekin mix. She has some feathers missing by her wing area and I caught them gang mating her a couple times that I had to break up :/
Thanks for your input!!!

You are welcome. Good luck with your drakes, I hope everything works out for you!