My drake is a jerk

[Sarahsmile6172]

I had 4 chickens, a female Peking duck and a male Roen. Everything was fine. This group was raised together and free range on a fenced in half acre. Recently I added 2 lavender orpingtons and 2 Easter eggers, born around May. One day shortly after I discovered one of the lavenders had feathers plucked out and was hiding. I kept her separated until she seemed recovered then put her back in the flock. Two days later I found her dead and the chickens had eaten a hole in her. I have never had this happen and felt horrible. I then noticed the roen male CHASING the babies and biting them. I think he killed the lavender, then the chickens ate her Currently I have the ducks in the run and the babies with the other chickens and aside from what seems to be minor pecking everything is fine. As soon as I let the ducks out, all hell breaks loose and everyone turns on the babies. How do I get the ducks to stop trying to kill the babies?

 

[fowltemptress]

Separate the ducks and chickens into their own areas and their own coops.

 

[MyBabyHens]

I'm way late to this, but here.

separate them.

The Drake will attempt mating your hens. Chickens and ducks have different, well, "systems", and a drake could / will kill a chicken if you let them mate. My cayuga drake had 5 women and still pecked at the hens' tails because the duck girls' wouldn't give him the attention he wanted.

You might also want to see into getting a few more females for your drake after separation. The rule of thumb [ depending on the breed ] is 4-6 females to one drake.

 

[ChickenChick46]

I'm way late to this, but here.

separate them.

The Drake will attempt mating your hens. Chickens and ducks have different, well, "systems", and a drake could / will kill a chicken if you let them mate. My cayuga drake had 5 women and still pecked at the hens' tails because the duck girls' wouldn't give him the attention he wanted.

You might also want to see into getting a few more females for your drake after separation. The rule of thumb [ depending on the breed ] is 4-6 females to one drake.

Will ducks be happy with only females? This may seem like a dumb question, but I don't know anything about them. We're planning a pond on our property, and I would love to have ducks. But I don't really want to breed them, just want a small flock to watch and get a few eggs from. Could I keep about 5 to 6 females happily, with no male?

 

[MyBabyHens]

Will ducks be happy with only females? This may seem like a dumb question, but I don't know anything about them. We're planning a pond on our property, and I would love to have ducks. But I don't really want to breed them, just want a small flock to watch and get a few eggs from. Could I keep about 5 to 6 females happily, with no male?

Yup ! they'll be perfectly fine, especially if you get that pond for them. If you have facebook, look at TheDuckbills. I sold two of my appleyards to them a while ago, you could likely take some inspiration on their coop for your build. Keep in mind, your females might try to mate with each other, but nothing will happen. They're just "practicing"

 

[ChickenChick46]

Yup ! they'll be perfectly fine, especially if you get that pond for them. If you have facebook, look at TheDuckbills. I sold two of my appleyards to them a while ago, you could likely take some inspiration on their coop for your build. Keep in mind, your females might try to mate with each other, but nothing will happen. They're just "practicing"

Thank you! I really love them, but since I know I'll be breeding several different kinds of chickens, I don't want to add anything else, at least at first.

 

[The Moonshiner]

They're just "practicing"

Is that what we're calling it now days?

 

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

My drake is also a jerk. After careful side-by-side enclosures, I introduced my 14x 8-week-old runner ducklings to the older flock (one drake, four hens). Everything was fine at first, then my jerkface drake chased, pinned down, and then mated with one of the ducklings. I saw this all happen from the kitchen window...I just thought he was chasing her--I had no idea he was going to mate with her! Poor thing...luckily, she was unharmed. My drake now lives in a big coop inside my duck pen during the day. I lock him up with his ladies at night. I feel a little bad for him, but I can't let him hurt my ducklings. Honestly, I need to cull him, but my kids are giving me grief about it lol.

 

[MyBabyHens]

Is that what we're calling it now days?

LOL