We have had 20 Runners for a couple of years--they breed and raise some babies which we thin out but they are pretty self-sufficient and don't beat each other up much during breeding season. We have 3 Pekin girls, 1 Pekin drake and 1 Rouen drake, all 6 months old. The Rouen drake is pretty low key, breeds the girls when he can but since the pekin ladies are bigger and the runners are much faster, he can't be anything but a gentleman or they run away. The Pekin drake is huge and he is a bully--if he sees another drake breeding, he beats up on him and then breeds the girl no matter how much he beats up on her in process. I expected that more from the high-strung runners with their stamina and the fairly high ratio of males to females we have (they are very happy and peaceful with each drake having 2 or 3 ladies of their own). He tore up one of the girls necks and injured her eye yesterday. I have chickens also and if he were a 6 month old rooster doing this, he would be curried chicken in short order. Do the pekin drakes mellow out as they get older or do they remain degenerates like roosters? If he needs to go to freezer camp, how would you go about feeding him up for a couple of weeks? He has been free range up until his arrest and booking for assault yesterday so he is not terribly fat at the moment. TIA for any insight!
