Nasty Khaki-Campbell Drake to 1 Duck!

[angelasong13]

We are first time duck owners who purchased one khaki-campbell drake, one khaki-campbell duck and one aylesbury duck 5 days ago. We are unsure of the age as we purchased from a friend, and whilst the two ducks get along fine and the khaki-campbell drake and duck get along fine, the drake is extremely aggressive to the aylesbury duck.

She is balding massively on her head and upper neck, and he is constantly nipping her, chasing her out of the pond with a lowered neck and beak open, and her feathers are everywhere. Not only this but he is also constantly trying to mate with her, whilst he rarely mates with the khaki-campbell duck in comparison.

We want to know how to stop this behaviour because it will wear out the Aylesbury duck and she has become a bit of an outsider! At the moment they have a 6x4m fish pond and 4x4m run for the day time as well as a hutch for them to sleep in together at night, and during the day they are free to run around the garden if we are in the house. These are kept as pets and are both laying ducks, however have not been handled by previous owners so we aren't very hands-on and mostly leave them be.

Is there any way of calming the drake down, and can anyone explain why he favouritises one duck whilst is very nasty to the other? Is it their breeds? I know it's coming towards the end of mating season so maybe things will calm down a bit then but any information will be welcomed!

Thank you very much!

 

[DUCKOBSESSED]

I have not had first hand experience with this but I think it best to separate the drake from the ducks. It will give her time to heal and at the same time it could break his obsession with her. Could you divide the run with fence so he could see but not touch them? He would still need a protected place to sleep at night. Hope someone can help you more!

 

[angelasong13]

Yeah, I was considering that too. May have to put him in a smaller run we have, he will be quite confined but it'll only be for a short period of time to let her heal and encourage him to calm down a bit. Yes, he will be able to see them as we will put the small run within the existing one! Thanks for the help

 

[DUCKOBSESSED]

Your welcome.

 

[duckmama51]

I'm sorry I don't agree . His behavior is not going to calm down... He is a Drake and perfectly natural for him to want to mate ( which by the way is what he is trying to do) you would need to get at least 3 more females so he doesn't just go after the one he seems to favor. He is Nor nasty tho he is a healthy drake. You should never have one drake to 2 females really as they want to mate a lot. They usually do this behavior in water. I would divide the pen so he can see them or he will be depressed and lonely ducks don't do well solo. The other option is to rehome him which would be the Kindest option if u don't get more ducks. He can't be punished for what comes natural to him. I hope this helps