Our duck is mounting our chicken

[Shorty22366]

I believe that a drake can harm a hen because he actually has a penis and penetrates her but a rooster can't hurt a female duck because he doesn't actually penetrate her. So you could keep female ducks with chickens but not recommended to keep a drake with hens.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Sorry, I will exit this thread as I can't keep my gander off my ducks, I have nothing to contribute to the OP. Good luck and I hope no one is injured.

 

[chickens really]

Yes..Drakes breed anything..Mine has bred my Dog, rubber boots and the mud flaps on my sons Blazer..Sexually active Drakes are terrible..

 

[WVduckchick]

@TheAmundsons you won't likely get a consensus on what to do. So I'll just say every flock is different. I think you will need to try different things to find a happy position.

My ducks and chickens generally ignore each other. But I do have a few chickens that like to pester my ducks. I have yet to see any mating going on across them, but that isn't to say it hasn't been tried or that it hasn't happened. Luckily I haven't seen any injuries from it, if it has happened.

I think there is also a case of "size matters". My bantam chickens and my Call ducks seem to avoid each other and have decided to co-exist with no issues. But I have seen "arguments" between my call ducks and my Marans. The Marans are much larger than the calls and could definitely cause issues, so I don't let them out together anymore. Space/your setup could also have an effect on their behaviors. Giving them some room to claim as their own could help them coexist.

 

[TheAmundsons]

Sorry for not responding sooner, work has been busy! All our birds are in a coop with a 18x30 run, and they free range AT LEAST 5 hours a day, and all day on the weekends. Our birds are all 18-21 weeks, I believe this drake is 21 weeks. I’m kind of confused, because up until yesterday, he was definitely the bottom of the pecking order of the 13 birds. We have never seen him show any signs of dominance/aggression/interest in anything.

We do have a dog kennel that I considered putting the ducks in, but they would be in there with the dogs during the day. The dogs haven’t shown any signs of aggression toward the birds (they actually play together) but I wouldn’t trust them being locked up together. I appreciate all the suggestions...I don’t want to get rid of them, but that may be our best option at the moment.

 

[casportpony]

and they free range AT LEAST 5 hours a day

Does he mate the chickens while free ranging?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I’m in the same catagory as WVduckchick I have chickens ducks and geese they are all together on half acre fenced never has my drakes or gander or roosters tried to mate anything not living and neither of my drakes have ever messed with my chickens other than pulling feathers out if one got to close .my drakes mate their females ,now my gander will mate with a duck if one gets into the pool with him but he rarely gets that chance. I don’t think we can lump all birds into one category they are all different I think if a drake has enough females he will mate them and the whole flock has ample room to stay out of each other’s way.

 

[TSOWOATNKC]

It seems like ducks brooded with chickens can be a bit confused about what type of fowl they are.

If I had to form a theory, I’d guess that ducks and chickens of the same age, but not brooded together are less likely to mate cross species. It happens in animals all the time; puppy raised by cat thinks it’s a cat...and so on and so forth.

I get that it’s easier to put them all together, but my guess is it can make things more complicated later.

I’d definitely get more females, or rehome/send to freezer camp at least one drake.

I understand they’re pets to many, but they’re also animals that have instincts and an inability to reason. Sexual frustration isn’t fun for anyone, and I imagine it’s even my frustrating for animals that don’t understand the concept of self control.

 

[Flockandfowl46]

Fortunately I have 6 acres for my flock so I don't have anymore problems and also I got more females which helped a whole lot after I bonded my drake to a new lot of females the chicken love stopped so I guess I was lucky and this drake was on the bottom of the pecking order until he got him some girls I still have him and he's never done it again

If you truly want to keep your drake it takes time and a commitment to the work involved even if it entails keeping your drake separated with a buddy permanently

 

[TheAmundsons]

@casportpony we have only noticed it once (yesterday), right when we let them out to free range. I'm not sure where we would get more females that aren't babies.