Rooster not protecting hens from Muscovy Drake

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
Your birds are all young, and it's not going well at all! These birds were raised together, and apparently your drake thinks he can breed your pullets. The cockerel can't fix this, especially as he's so young too.
Drakes are NOT meant to mate with hens or pullets, and will damage them, so at least this drake needs to be gone.
Separate digs for the ducks and chickens will be best, ASAP.
Mary

 

[Isaac 0]

I think it would be a wise choice on your part, before damage is done to the chickens, to either rehome the drake or build a new pen so the chickens and ducks are separate, although if you do the latter, there is a likely chance you'll still need more females for the drake as trios sometimes don't work.

 

[Brittjoyful]

Did you raise the drake from a duckling, or buy him as an adult? I bought my drake as a adult, and at first he was aggressive towards the chickens, but I corrected the behavior. The ones I raised from ducklings, who were raised around chickens, don't have a problem with them.

We got him and the other 2 girls when they were about 2 months old. We have had them for about 2-3 months and haven’t had any issues, everyone minded their own business. Now the drake seems to be more pushy and I’m worried his sex drive is just too much for the girls and he’s going to become aggressive. This is just what im thinking but I have absolutely no experience with ducks so Im really at a loss!
Kali (our kaki Campbell) used to flirt with the drake but now she just runs away from him and tries not to get in the water just so the drake won’t mount her. Is that normal?

 

[HappyDuckie]

We got him and the other 2 girls when they were about 2 months old. We have had them for about 2-3 months and haven’t had any issues, everyone minded their own business. Now the drake seems to be more pushy and I’m worried his sex drive is just too much for the girls and he’s going to become aggressive. This is just what im thinking but I have absolutely no experience with ducks so Im really at a loss!
Kali (our kaki Campbell) used to flirt with the drake but now she just runs away from him and tries not to get in the water just so the drake won’t mount her. Is that normal?

Yes, it is normal. The males sexually mature faster than the girls. Getting another female duck may help, and as Isaac said, separating them or getting rid of the drake would be wise.

 

[Brittjoyful]

Welcome!
Your birds are all young, and it's not going well at all! These birds were raised together, and apparently your drake thinks he can breed your pullets. The cockerel can't fix this, especially as he's so young too.
Drakes are NOT meant to mate with hens or pullets, and will damage them, so at least this drake needs to be gone.
Separate digs for the ducks and chickens will be best, ASAP.
Mary

Thank you so much! That’s what I was worried about. I saw that the rooster would keep him away from the hens so I was counting on that but I realized this morning that isn’t what is happening! Thank you so much for your insight!!!

 

[Trisseh]

I free range my mixed flock together under supervision. I have pullets, cockerels, duck hens of various ages, and drakes also of various ages. I also have mixed sizes of birds in each group. They get along fine as a whole when out, but I do occasionally have to correct behaviour from the one drake in particular. They are separated by species (and further with the drakes separated from the others) when I’m not home or at night, with no issues.
In my experience, most of the time the drakes will be the winner in a confrontation between drake and cockerel, at least in my group. The drake I have issues with was raised exclusively with chickens (not by meand definitely cannot be trusted around them without supervision- he sees them as HIS hens. My other drakes (all raised by me, with the chickens) show no interest whatsoever in the chickens other than to chase them away from the water, but I still don’t feel comfortable leaving them together unsupervised.

I would never expect my cockerels to protect the pullets from the drakes, particularly a large and intimidating Muscovy. (My problem child is a mule and has the Muscovy size.)

it may be better to have separate spaces for the species or at least separate free ranging times if you are unable to be present and intervene when necessary.

 

[Brittjoyful]

Yes, it is normal. The males sexually mature faster than the girls. Getting another female duck may help, and as Isaac said, separating them or getting rid of the drake would be wise.

Ok thank you so much!!! I really appreciate the help! I wanted to get advice and more insight before I did anything!

 

[2 many chickens]

Separate your ducks and chickens. A drake can seriously injure your chicken hens.

 

[HappyDuckie]

Ok thank you so much!!! I really appreciate the help! I wanted to get advice and more insight before I did anything!

No problem. I hope you take action soon. As stated above, the drakes can hurt the hens/pullets. They can be seriously inured if not killed.

 

[Brittjoyful]

I free range my mixed flock together under supervision. I have pullets, cockerels, duck hens of various ages, and drakes also of various ages. I also have mixed sizes of birds in each group. They get along fine as a whole when out, but I do occasionally have to correct behaviour from the one drake in particular. They are separated by species (and further with the drakes separated from the others) when I’m not home or at night, with no issues.
In my experience, most of the time the drakes will be the winner in a confrontation between drake and cockerel, at least in my group. The drake I have issues with was raised exclusively with chickens (not by meand definitely cannot be trusted around them without supervision- he sees them as HIS hens. My other drakes (all raised by me, with the chickens) show no interest whatsoever in the chickens other than to chase them away from the water, but I still don’t feel comfortable leaving them together unsupervised.

I would never expect my cockerels to protect the pullets from the drakes, particularly a large and intimidating Muscovy. (My problem child is a mule and has the Muscovy size.)

it may be better to have separate spaces for the species or at least separate free ranging times if you are unable to be present and intervene when necessary.

That’s good to know! I saw online that the Rooster would protect the hens but our drake sure is getting big! there is so much information out there you can’t trust everything in the internet, I’m glad I joined this page for more accurate information!!!