new here, ducks fighting, need advice

[debydonut]

Hi everyone, am new here and looking forward to picking up lots of tips We have 3 call ducks about 7 months old. 2 males and 1 female. They are now mating but one male in particular is attacking the female, pulling her chest feathers and biting and pecking her. She in understandably not happy, the other male doesnt seem so bad altho they are both mating her. We are not sure what to do, we are separating them in day but we only have the one coop/pen so bit stuck at night with what to do and having previously lost small flocks to foxes they need to be locked in at night. Should we get rid on the one male, or get 1 more female, or is this just nature being nature and let them sort it, altho I think she may end up injured at this rate. All advice is much appreciated. Thank you

 

[sourland]

This sort of behavior may very well injure the hen. If they were mine, I would get rid of the aggressive drake. I sure would not want to propagate his genes.

 

[debydonut]

thank you, thinks thats what we gonna have to do sadly. Just hope the single pair settle well when he goes

 

[sourland]

When he is gone, both will give a sigh of relief. The remaining drake because there is no longer any competition and the hen because - well you know.

 

[Amiga]

Just want to share sourland's advice. I am a softie, but a brutal troublesome drake has to go someplace else. And I would get her away from both of them at night, even if you need to put her in a dog crate next to your bed for a night or two, until you remove the other drake, if it takes that long.

 

[mschlumb]

Kind of Repeating what has been said but, Definitely get rid of the worse of the two drakes. I have seen females that have lost an eye because of drakes fighting over her. I have also seen drakes drown a female trying to breed her when they're on the pond.

 

[Valntyn]

Adding my agreement about getting rid of the aggressive drake. We started with two drakes and a duck... added two ducks to fix the gender ratio, but our aggie drake stayed aggie, so out he went. You could just see and FEEL the difference in the flock after that. No stress among them. No stress from me. It's a tough decision sometimes, but you'll thank yourself later. Good luck.