Questions about Drake and Dominance

[3bird]

I have a Muscovy drake and a Runner drake my Muscovy never ever looks at the Runner and Buff females but when my Runner drake turned 1 he sure noticed the Muscovy females and would run them down and mate with them often no injury just like to mate with them, then this year his 2nd year he now just goes after 1 of the Muscovy females he runs her down stands on her then gets off and walks away talking to himself and his girls like look what I just did. That's it of course Hope doesn't like for him to do this but she is the only one of my Muscovys that won't stand up to my Runner. The others will now fight back. When he use to go after all the scovy girls and I was out there I would push him off with my foot or scoop him up. Now that I know he isn't hurting her I just leave them alone. Duck dynamics is very strange but I don't interfere unless some one is getting hurt.

"he runs her down stands on her then gets off and walks away talking to himself and his girls like look what I just did" This is exactly what we are seeing. She shows no signs of injury, and her feathers actually look better than some others with whom he actually mates. Still, I don't want it to escalate to the point where she gets hurt. It's interesting that the rest of ours don't really fight back at all, and he mates with several of them. I'm super interested in duck psychology Like I wonder if they "learn". They sure know what their food bowl looks like. They sure know where the mealworms will be after they are put in for the night. It seems that intervening might help Angus to learn...but alas, the dominance/sex instinct is strong in this one.

 

[Conan]

I will try to clarify
During non breeding time, peace reigns. The hens all liked their half brother well enough as a member of their group, but he was never in charge and they did not approve of him as a mate. He would have to chase them down and get all rapey, as ducks are want to do. Then he stopped really mating with them and started just stomping on them and ripping at their feathers. Then he took things a little too far and that is why he ended up dog food.
He and the other drake would occasionally spar, but nothing serious. Kirk, the Welsh drake, has a couple girls that are his. They accept him as their mate and don't run from him or fight him off. The others aren't entirely stoked on him, but he does his business quickly and moves on to the pond to clean himself off.
I would just keep an eye on the situation, which sounds exactly like what you are doing. Are you wanting to hatch some of your own ducklings out in the future? Is that the reason for the drake?

 

[CayugaJana]

I would say she’s not his favorite. Does he ever run her off?

What do you think would happen if you separated them off from the rest of the flock for awhile. Maybe he would realize she’s not so bad. But I’m sure you’d have to supervise to see how they interact by themselves.

 

[3bird]

I will try to clarify
During non breeding time, peace reigns. The hens all liked their half brother well enough as a member of their group, but he was never in charge and they did not approve of him as a mate. He would have to chase them down and get all rapey, as ducks are want to do. Then he stopped really mating with them and started just stomping on them and ripping at their feathers. Then he took things a little too far and that is why he ended up dog food.
He and the other drake would occasionally spar, but nothing serious. Kirk, the Welsh drake, has a couple girls that are his. They accept him as their mate and don't run from him or fight him off. The others aren't entirely stoked on him, but he does his business quickly and moves on to the pond to clean himself off.
I would just keep an eye on the situation, which sounds exactly like what you are doing. Are you wanting to hatch some of your own ducklings out in the future? Is that the reason for the drake?

One of our issues--this being our first year with ducks--is to figure out when the heck breeding season is. We've been told "July-ish," but others have said "year-round". We will keep an eye on the situation.

Regarding the drake and why, we would like to hatch our own ducklings at some point, and Angus is a handsome boy. We also appreciate the flock behaviour with a male present.

Thanks again!

 

[3bird]

I would say she’s not his favorite. Does he ever run her off?

What do you think would happen if you separated them off from the rest of the flock for awhile. Maybe he would realize she’s not so bad. But I’m sure you’d have to supervise to see how they interact by themselves.

He does run her off pretty consistently, but then they'll all be foraging together with no problem. They all sleep together most of the time too.

 

[3bird]

And just because every thread is better with pictures, this is Goose:

...and here is our handsome boy Angus:

 

[Miss Lydia]

They both are gorgeous.

What's funny here is our Muscovy drake is defiantly in charge even of the geese now that their breeding season is over, I have even seen Snoop our Runner drake mate one of the scovy females right in front of Opie and he just stood there. So as long as my girls are all looking good no injuries no feathers ripped out I let them work out their own differences. They all really do well together. I would never tolerate a drake that willfully abused the girls though, thankfully I have never had one like that.

 

[Conan]

One of our issues--this being our first year with ducks--is to figure out when the heck breeding season is. We've been told "July-ish," but others have said "year-round". We will keep an eye on the situation.

Regarding the drake and why, we would like to hatch our own ducklings at some point, and Angus is a handsome boy. We also appreciate the flock behaviour with a male present.

Thanks again!

I am pretty darn new to ducks myself - only had them for about five years, so I feel ya! Overall, I find them much easier to care for once you've got a good setup and they are much hardier than chickens. I personally think that they are much cuter as well I recently acquired two day old call ducklings and boy, will I never be without them again! Now, they are some neat little critters!
As far as breeding season goes... July is when my ducks start chilling out a little bit after the high volume rape season of Spring! Starts getting a little warm for such lurid activities. Winter is a nice break for the girls (from both laying and being bred) but as soon as the days lengthen and warm up a little, the frenzy begins. It continues through Summer, but not nearly as much as in the true Spring.
Your birds are lovely - I'll bet they will sort themselves soon enough!

 

[CayugaJana]

And just because every thread is better with pictures, this is Goose:

...and here is our handsome boy Angus:

They are both so beautiful!