My female duck is getting her feathers ripped out from my male duck

[ameliabirch]

Hi! My female and male duck have a great relationship! They seem to get along well and are always excited to be together. The only bad thing is that when they mate, the male duck rips out the female ducks feathers on her neck so she bleeds a lot. If anyone has suggestions on how to cover up her neck so he can’t bite it or anything please let me know! It’s getting bad and as a duck mom i feel really bad ):

 

[SweetLittleChicks]

Hi! My female and male duck have a great relationship! They seem to get along well and are always excited to be together. The only bad thing is that when they mate, the male duck rips out the female ducks feathers on her neck so she bleeds a lot. If anyone has suggestions on how to cover up her neck so he can’t bite it or anything please let me know! It’s getting bad and as a duck mom i feel really bad ):

separte the female for a while and take the male away but MAINLEY let the female heal or canblisum in ur flock can happen not only dose it happen to chicken but i known ducks go canabil

 

[KaleIAm]

Are they your only ducks? Sometimes adding more females can help with overmating.

Do they only mate in/near water? Can you temporarily take away swimming water to see if that helps?

You could separate them, with a see through barrier if you don't have other ducks. I've heard some BYC members saying this works and others saying their birds were miserable. Mine paced anxiously along the fence all day for months.

 

[ameliabirch]

Are they your only ducks? Sometimes adding more females can help with overmating.

Do they only mate in/near water? Can you temporarily take away swimming water to see if that helps?

You could separate them, with a see through barrier if you don't have other ducks. I've heard some BYC members saying this works and others saying their birds were miserable. Mine paced anxiously along the fence all day for months.

Th

Are they your only ducks? Sometimes adding more females can help with overmating.

Do they only mate in/near water? Can you temporarily take away swimming water to see if that helps?

You could separate them, with a see through barrier if you don't have other ducks. I've heard some BYC members saying this works and others saying their birds were miserable. Mine paced anxiously along the fence all day for months.
[/QUTheyre the only d

Are they your only ducks? Sometimes adding more females can help with overmating.

Do they only mate in/near water? Can you temporarily take away swimming water to see if that helps?

You could separate them, with a see through barrier if you don't have other ducks. I've heard some BYC members saying this works and others saying their birds were miserable. Mine paced anxiously along the fence all day for months.

I only have two ducks. They both stay in a pen overnight and the house that is attached to the pen when it’s cold outside. There’s no way of separating them on cold nights when they have to sleep in the house. I could separate them in the pen but they’re not in there often because during the day I let them roam around my yard. I’ve noticed that they don’t just mate in water. They often do it in the kiddie pool I have outside but I noticed just today that they didn’t mate in water.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

is it possible to get more ducks? you could adopt one female and one male. keep the males together and then the females together to avoid fighting and overmating

 

[KaleIAm]

Th


I only have two ducks. They both stay in a pen overnight and the house that is attached to the pen when it’s cold outside. There’s no way of separating them on cold nights when they have to sleep in the house. I could separate them in the pen but they’re not in there often because during the day I let them roam around my yard. I’ve noticed that they don’t just mate in water. They often do it in the kiddie pool I have outside but I noticed just today that they didn’t mate in water.

Unfortunately overmating can be a common problem. The typical recommendation seems to be increasing the number of females to spread the love around. Sometimes that still doesn't work perfectly because a drake can have a favorite female, or the female can have a favorite drake. Sorry I don't have a sure fix for you.

Personally I would take steps, even drastic ones, to intervene. Drakes can accidentally seriously hurt or kill their female partners by overmating.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I have five females and one male and still one female was getting picked on and bloodied. I put coconut oil which had been melted mixed with a few drops of tea tree oil and lavender oil on her scabbed (not open) wound. She hated it but not only did it seem to speed healing but he hasn’t bothered her since. It could just be a coincidence since it is fall and my male always calms down then but still, I don’t think it could hurt.

 

[ameliabirch]

I have five females and one male and still one female was getting picked on and bloodied. I put coconut oil which had been melted mixed with a few drops of tea tree oil and lavender oil on her scabbed (not open) wound. She hated it but not only did it seem to speed healing but he hasn’t bothered her since. It could just be a coincidence since it is fall and my male always calms down then but still, I don’t think it could hurt.

Right now she has open wounds but once they scan over I’ll definitely try that. Right now I’m using neosporen. I was thinking of putting a large bandaid on the back of her head/neck so he can’t bite her anymore. I don’t know if that’s a bad idea tho.

 

[Canadian pekin]

I have five females and one male and still one female was getting picked on and bloodied. I put coconut oil which had been melted mixed with a few drops of tea tree oil and lavender oil on her scabbed (not open) wound. She hated it but not only did it seem to speed healing but he hasn’t bothered her since. It could just be a coincidence since it is fall and my male always calms down then but still, I don’t think it could hurt.

I am having the same issue! I have 1 male pekin and four females. They have always gotten along but now the male is being aggressive to her and pulling her feathers out and chasing her! She seems to want to sit on her eggs too! We are keeping the male away from her but not sure what else to do. Did your sauve work? Any ideas to help the female would be appreciated. This is our first flock of ducks and loving them.

 

[PirateGirl]

We are heading into peak duck mating season. Feather damage is normal, however if there is blood it’s too much. You will need to separate them. It could be a few hours a day or 24 hours a day for a few weeks. You’ll just have to try and see how it goes.