New female flock member

[Tiny Moose Acres]

Hello. I have 3 established ducks (1 male chocolate runner, and 2 females, chocolate runner and a buff/mallard cross). 2 weeks ago I added a black sweedish female to the mix after her mate was killed by a fox. My drake will not stop chasing her and picking out her feathers. She is now missing most of her flight feathers (thanks to the drake) and of course is still recovering from the trauma of the fox attack and moving to a new home.

How do I stop the drake from attacking and chasing her all day in their run and all night in their coop. The drake did not exhibit this type of behavior when I added the buff/mallard to the mix last year.

Some things I have tried are separating the drake by leaving him in the coop/night run and letting the girls out together. I was outside with them all day today and when I saw the drake exhibit the behavior I would push his body and head to the ground to exhibit my dominance

Any other suggestions and ideas are welcome. While I treat the new ducks injuries and plucked feathers.

 

[NatJ]

Some things I have tried are separating the drake by leaving him in the coop/night run and letting the girls out together. I was outside with them all day today and when I saw the drake exhibit the behavior I would push his body and head to the ground to exhibit my dominance

I would separate them in a way that lets them see each other. So maybe put the drake in a wire dog crate, or divide their pen with a piece of wire mesh.

If the new female is doing fine with the other females, you could put all the females together and the drake alone. If some females pick on the new one, put those females in with the drake for now, so the new one is not getting picked on.

How do I stop the drake from attacking and chasing her all day in their run and all night in their coop. The drake did not exhibit this type of behavior when I added the buff/mallard to the mix last year.

Sometimes just putting a new bird in the pen works fine (like your experience last year), but sometimes it does not (what happened this year.) Letting them get to know each other through a divider can be a way to introduce them when things are not going well.

The drake might be over-excited because she is new, or he might be trying to drive her away because she is timid and stressed. Either one can be helped by separation that still lets them see each other. He gets used to her so she is not so new and exciting, and she gets to settle in and be less stressed, so she can act more normally (which could make him act more normally too.)

@Miss Lydia is there anything else that should be recommended?

 

[Miss Lydia]

This works for me and @cheezenkwackers has experience with this working too.

 

[Jenbirdee]

yes we call it drake jail lol
divide the coop at night too (which works by using a dog crate or large cage of sorts in there for drake)
at least he wont be alone but can still see everyone
eventually hopefully he chills out

 

[Tiny Moose Acres]

yes we call it drake jail lol
divide the coop at night too (which works by using a dog crate or large cage of sorts in there for drake)
at least he wont be alone but can still see everyone
eventually hopefully he chills out

Yes he has been in drake jail off and on all day today. Unfortunately my coop is not large enough to separate at night (enlarging the coop is a next year project), but he did allow her to be near him and the other girls after the sun went down.

Thank you for the suggestions. I appreciate any expertise.

 

[Tiny Moose Acres]

I would separate them in a way that lets them see each other. So maybe put the drake in a wire dog crate, or divide their pen with a piece of wire mesh.

If the new female is doing fine with the other females, you could put all the females together and the drake alone. If some females pick on the new one, put those females in with the drake for now, so the new one is not getting picked on.



Sometimes just putting a new bird in the pen works fine (like your experience last year), but sometimes it does not (what happened this year.) Letting them get to know each other through a divider can be a way to introduce them when things are not going well.

The drake might be over-excited because she is new, or he might be trying to drive her away because she is timid and stressed. Either one can be helped by separation that still lets them see each other. He gets used to her so she is not so new and exciting, and she gets to settle in and be less stressed, so she can act more normally (which could make him act more normally too.)

@Miss Lydia is there anything else that should be recommended?

This new bird is definitely more timid than the one from last year. The one from last year had 10 flock members that she had to compete with and was more aggressive when it came to protecting herself and getting food and water. The new bird was a bonded pair that didn't have to fight for anything she needed, so she definitely doesn't fight back and runs away.

Sounds like the drake will be in jail frequently until he is nicer and gets used to seeing her with his other girls.

 

[Tiny Moose Acres]

With winter approaching soon in Colorado should I be concerned if all her feathers have not grown back by then? I know they go through a molt around this time but the darn drake has literally torn out her feathers.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This new bird is definitely more timid than the one from last year. The one from last year had 10 flock members that she had to compete with and was more aggressive when it came to protecting herself and getting food and water. The new bird was a bonded pair that didn't have to fight for anything she needed, so she definitely doesn't fight back and runs away.

Sounds like the drake will be in jail frequently until he is nicer and gets used to seeing her with his other girls.

I keep a couple of dog crates in the coop, one for anyone who is being a jerk [females included] right now my other one is being used for 2 10 week old Runners who were hatched here but are being integrated into the Runner, Buff Flock instead of where they have been since hatched by my Muscovy. Crates work great.