Rex Killed Lacey !! I Am Sooo Upset!

[headred]

So sorry for your loss. My DH says send the old drake to counseling. True though, my drake isn't being mean, just wants to mate the females. Ducks tolerate being dunked in the water, but I'm sure it would be rough on a chicken. I finally have ended up with one drake to five hens and that ratio seems to work, even though he has his favorite hen. Good luck!

 

[Chickie Mamma]

It could be possible she fell in.. but he has chased her before and Lacey liked to fly down from the roost and drink from the pool. She would walk around the rim. I think he just caught her this time. He only mates in the pool with his 2 ladies, so I think he caught her and tried mating her. I clean the kiddie pool mostly everyday if I don't go anywhere and as soon as the pool is clean, he parties! He doesn't even "recuperate" from the first mate to the second mate and he holds the girls for a while. I never thought they were that persistant to mate. I think my girls are happy when the pool is dirty, he won't mate on land. Weird... Does anyone know where I could find started female ducks? I would imagine they would not ship them because ducks require more water than chickens.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

It sounds like your hen simply drowned, chickens don't do well in water at all. I had chickens that walked the rim of a 5 gallon bucket to drink all the time, then one day I had one floating in it.

If they can drowned in a pail, then I know they can drowned in a pool.

Even if the drake did "drowned" the hen, it would be better to just tell the kids it was an accident and she just fell in. It's what I would say anyway.

I highly doubt that your drake dragged her into the water and drowned her while trying to breed. I don't doubt that a drake would try to breed a hen, I just doubt that he was the reason she was in the water. I'm sorry, but I think your chicken drowned on her own accord.

-Kim

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

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[Wolf-Kim]

I hope everything works itself out, I know it's hard to lose those birds that are dear to us.

I wouldn't eat the drake, he just seems to be acting like a normal drake, not an aggressive one at all. Now if he was attacking you or anybody else, I'd cook him up in a heartbeat because I don't tolerate animal on human violence. Pekins are bred for commercial use, so they are bred for that sex drive. That way commercial companies only have to keep minimal amount of drakes to cover their flock, it is the same reason many purebred commercial roosters tend to be fiesty, vigorous breeders. Getting more ducks will help, but if he isn't riding his girls bare or drawing blood or actually attacking the chickens, I wouldn't worry too much about it. More ducks means more fun though! I find my ducks very fun and addicting, I still can't believe I've accumulated 13 and rigging my refridgerbator to hatch duck eggs. Fun, fun!

-Kim