Please help! Drakes are being mean to another

[HollyNoelle]

hello! I’m pretty new to ducks. I adopted several. Mostly drakes. Two Campbell drakes are 6 months and 3 drakes (Rouen/pekin mix) are about 3 months old.

The two Campbell drakes keep chasing around one of the Rouen/pekin drakes. They leave the other ones alone but chase just one in particular. Why? And how can I stop it, if it’s bad thing?

 

[guardianoftheflock]

They are establishing a pecking order. Do you have any females?

 

[guardianoftheflock]

They may be fighting over the females. If they keep at it, you may have to separate them. Obviously the olders are picking on the youngers. Uhgg.. guys! They're always fighting over the ladies. LOL!

 

[PirateGirl]

Your 6 month olds are hitting sexual maturity for the first time in their lives and their hormones are changing so their behavior is changing and they are crazy! Once they ALL hit maturity, things will change once again and their true personalities and flock dynamics will shake out. You may need to keep them separate until the younger birds are at least 6 months old. Hopefully then, they can all play nice. Thank you for taking a chance and trying to make a drake flock work! Drakes need love too. I have one, which is more than a lot of people and figure I can feed one free loader if it saves a life and keeps my girls happy.

 

[Miss Lydia]

 

[HollyNoelle]

They are establishing a pecking order. Do you have any females?

Will they eventually stop?

Yeah I do have two females, they’re also young (3 months). I planned on making a separate coop for just them. Just thought I’d have a little more time to figure out the setup because the 5 Rouen/pekin mix are only 3 months. The one that is being chased is white and looks pekin. It is the only one the Campbell’s will chase.

It just started a few days ago. It’s not all the time but it’s still kind of concerning me. I don’t want the white one to get stressed out because of it.

 

[HollyNoelle]

Your 6 month olds are hitting sexual maturity for the first time in their lives and their hormones are changing so their behavior is changing and they are crazy! Once they ALL hit maturity, things will change once again and their true personalities and flock dynamics will shake out. You may need to keep them separate until the younger birds are at least 6 months old. Hopefully then, they can all play nice. Thank you for taking a chance and trying to make a drake flock work! Drakes need love too. I have one, which is more than a lot of people and figure I can feed one free loader if it saves a life and keeps my girls happy.

Great perspective! Didn’t think of that. They’re probably going through a lot of hormonal changes (the two Campbells). My Campbell’s did this when I first introduced the 5 Rouen/pekins. It lasted like a week. Maybe they’re just reestablishing order. I love my drakes ! I hope it was works out for them all.

 

[CrystaBub]

Thank you for taking a chance and trying to make a drake flock work! Drakes need love too. I have one, which is more than a lot of people and figure I can feed one free loader if it saves a life and keeps my girls happy.

Well said!!!