My ducks turned mean

[gonefishin1st]

So I have had a few ducks in my flock, two Cayuga's (male and female) and one Khaki Campbell (male), for about two years. They have always got along quite well but just recently the ducks started jumping on the chickens completely and ripping their feathers out. They are quite aggressive and the chickens have become frightened of them and will give them a very wide berth, to the point they will not go near the food or water if the ducks are near by. I really like the ducks and would like to hang on to them. Does anyone have any ideas as to how to work this problem?

Thanks for the help! (Sorry, pictures still to come)

gonefishin1st

 

[VeryHappyHens]

So I have had a few ducks in my flock, two Cayuga's (male and female) and one Khaki Campbell (male), for about two years. They have always got along quite well but just recently the ducks started jumping on the chickens completely and ripping their feathers out. They are quite aggressive and the chickens have become frightened of them and will give them a very wide berth, to the point they will not go near the food or water if the ducks are near by. I really like the ducks and would like to hang on to them. Does anyone have any ideas as to how to work this problem?

Thanks for the help! (Sorry, pictures still to come)

gonefishin1st

Make a separate pen and separate the boys.

 

[sourland]

With increasing day light period, hormone levels are increasing. 2 drakes and 1 duck hen is a very poor gender ratio. It is likely that your drakes are trying to breed the chicken hens. Drakes have penises - roosters do not. Drakes breeding chicken hens can injure/kill them. Once the behavior has started it generally does not go away. It may be necessary to separate them to protect the chicken hens.

 

[SolarDuck]

I agree with them, you need to separate the drakes completely so they don't hurt your chickens as soon as possible, or rehome them. If you want to separate your ducks and chickens and you put the girl duck with the boy ducks they will over mate her, so you can keep her with the chickens for now, but she will be lonely without any other ducks so it would be a good idea to get another duck hen to be friends with her, or get about 5 more duck hens if you want to put them all with the 2 drakes.

 

[gonefishin1st]

Make a separate pen and separate the boys.

The girl is just as aggressive. Will she back off if the boys are separated?

 

[VeryHappyHens]

The girl is just as aggressive. Will she back off if the boys are separated?

No the boys will kill her with over breeding you need 5 female ducks per drake. The female can not be lonely ether so find a female friend for her and make another pen. You sure shes not aggressive and just doing the pecking order? To the chickens.

 

[SolarDuck]

The girl is just as aggressive. Will she back off if the boys are separated?

She probably won't back off but she can't do damage to them in the same way a drake can, drakes have penisis penisis can't go into chickens you need to separate them to protect your chickens you just kind of have to.

 

[gonefishin1st]

I used to have another female as well but she up and disappeared without a trace this fall. I think the neighbors dog might have gotten her. I will look into a new pen and a couple more ducks. Really appreciate the advice, thank you!

gonefishin1st

 

[gonefishin1st]

No the boys will kill her with over breeding you need 5 female ducks per drake. The female can not be lonely ether so find a female friend for her and make another pen. You sure shes not aggressive and just doing the pecking order? To the chickens.

It's possible, she usually only grabs at their tail feathers or pushes them out of the way. I am building some new goat pens and a new chicken area for meat birds this spring as soon as the ground thaws a bit (hard as rock right now) and can easily add a duck enclosure as well. Once again, thank you for the advice!

gonefishin1st

 

[VeryHappyHens]

It's possible, she usually only grabs at their tail feathers or pushes them out of the way. I am building some new goat pens and a new chicken area for meat birds this spring as soon as the ground thaws a bit (hard as rock right now) and can easily add a duck enclosure as well. Once again, thank you for the advice!

gonefishin1st

Im pretty sure the female duck is not being aggresive to the chickens and just doing the pecking order.