Over breeding caused injury on hen

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Excellent. Do keep a careful watch to make sure she is not picked at any further tho. And keep the remaining drakes away, or else you will be right back in the same boat.

 

[Haunted55]

Excellent. Do keep a careful watch to make sure she is not picked at any further tho. And keep the remaining drakes away, or else you will be right back in the same boat.

Ditto. I will say that the second year is a bit easier with the drakes, not much, but some. The answer is to have a decent rate of females to drakes. My flock of Pekins is now down to 1 duck to 1 drake, with the total being 10 all together. It's working for me, even though the numbers aren't what is recommended. Right now they are still breeding and laying and so far squabbles but no real fighting.

 

[MarysAviaryHeartAndZoo]

This happened to two of my girls, granted they were not injured as bad. I spend time with all of my ducks on a daily basis. I noticed two of my girl's eyes were torn! One had frothy- bubbles over one eye. I immediately took them inside and placed them in two separate bath tubs. I let my fiance' check them out (he's a Veterinarian) and he provided me with cortisone eye drops. I then started them on Tylosan Antibiotics after two days. They did a complete turn around within three days. i think the Tylosan really helped, because it is excreted through the eye ducts. They have been in the tub for four days now and are 90% better! I decided not to put blankets or any extra objects in the tub, because these can harbor microorganisms. They got fresh water 3x daily, plenty of food and a good rinsing twice a day.

Now I need some advise...

Should I keep all my hens in the duck house until mating season is over?? We have

1: female Khaki Campbell, whom has a nest and has FINALLY become broody
1: female Welsh Harlequin (not broody yet, but is laying about every other day)
1: Jumbo female Pekin, who is showing some injury on the back of her neck and eye.

We have 4 female Mallards that fly away from all the drake rapist.
Lastly, we have 6 males ( 4 pekin drakes and two very unruly rapist Khaki Campbells that are less than a year old).

Would it be ok to move Butterscotch's nest and eggs (broody khaki campbell) into the duck house? It is currently located by our flower bed near the lake.

Should I also move the other two hens into the duck house to prevent future injuries??

Thank you in advance for any advise!!

 

[nayeli]

Your ratio depends entirely on the drakes and how aggressive they are. I read someone who had a "good ratio" they had like 5 hens to a drake and one was still getting picked and injured because she was the drakes "favorite" and there was one that they wouldn't touch. So just watch them and look for signs!

 

[Amiga]

I would make a drake pen, and closely supervise. This may cause problems with the drakes . . . But my primary goal would be to protect the ducks (females).