Mallard turning into a bully?

[chisumthespaniel]

My setup is this: I have a medium sized coop inside a large run. Birds get some access to outside the run, but only supervised because we have a huge predator problem. But, the run is large and has plenty of space for the birds in there. I have a rooster, three ducks, and five hens.

One of my ducks, the mallard, is older, about 3-4 years? He has never been a problem before. He previously lived with just one other duck, a female, but she passed. Now it is him alongside two female ducks and the chickens. He has taken a liking to one of the female ducks, and follows her around, pushing any other birds out of the way. The other female duck he used to get along with, but has apparently developed a distaste for and will chase off constantly.

For the chickens, he largely ignores them unless he feels like they are getting too close to "his" duck. But there is one nesting box inside the coop that all of the hens like to lay their eggs in. Little female duck has decided that she likes that box. So chickens can be in there, but if the little female duck wants to go in there, my mallard will follow her in and then reach up and yank the chicken out of the box and chase it out of the coop.

What gives? Could little female duck be wanting to nest? It's so strange that the other two females (the other one currently and the one that passed) never elicited this behavior from him, and he's never been a problem before so it's not like he's coming into maturity or anything like that. Has anyone else had this happen?

 

[Chicken poppy]

If it progresses, i would try seperating the ducks and chickens, not that you have to now, but it seems like the duck could get highly aggressive, and the rooster might start fighting him

 

[HollowOfWisps]

My setup is this: I have a medium sized coop inside a large run. Birds get some access to outside the run, but only supervised because we have a huge predator problem. But, the run is large and has plenty of space for the birds in there. I have a rooster, three ducks, and five hens.

One of my ducks, the mallard, is older, about 3-4 years? He has never been a problem before. He previously lived with just one other duck, a female, but she passed. Now it is him alongside two female ducks and the chickens. He has taken a liking to one of the female ducks, and follows her around, pushing any other birds out of the way. The other female duck he used to get along with, but has apparently developed a distaste for and will chase off constantly.

For the chickens, he largely ignores them unless he feels like they are getting too close to "his" duck. But there is one nesting box inside the coop that all of the hens like to lay their eggs in. Little female duck has decided that she likes that box. So chickens can be in there, but if the little female duck wants to go in there, my mallard will follow her in and then reach up and yank the chicken out of the box and chase it out of the coop.

What gives? Could little female duck be wanting to nest? It's so strange that the other two females (the other one currently and the one that passed) never elicited this behavior from him, and he's never been a problem before so it's not like he's coming into maturity or anything like that. Has anyone else had this happen?

It's not abnormal for a drakes behavior to change especially with different females being added and his mate dying. Drakes even without changing flock members will often become more aggressive with each new mating season/year. I noticed with my own drakes each breeding season they tend to get more feisty. Even my very docile drake that turned 3 can be a bully at times especially times of the year when hormones run high. I would be especially worried about your drake killing a chicken since they are contained in a coop/run most of the time and i would make sure that your other female ducks are not being chased away from food. I have a drake pen where my drakes are kept during mating season and in the off seasons any bullies.