Separating ducks from abusive drake

[Beaglegal]

My drake decided this spring he no longer liked 2 of my ducks and started trying to ostracize them. The behavior escalated until they both went broody on the same nest. They hatched and raised 1 duckling between them who happens to be male. I tried to reintegrate them after the duckling was bigger but he kept beating on one of the mothers. I separated her and the duckling to another area. There is a chicken yard between the 2 duck yard. They were upset at at first but have adapted pretty quickly. The drake then began to beat on the second mother. Last week I brought her over to join the other to and she won’t stop obsessively trying to get back. She’s not eating that great and she losing more feathers. She gets along with the other 2 but spends all day trying to squeeze through the fence to get back. Once she escaped and got back over to the drake and he chased her back out. She doesn’t seem to get that he doesn’t want her. The other female ducks ignore her now, no one over there is her friend now. I’m just not sure how to help her adjust and worry she is going to drop dead from stress

 

[Miss Lydia]

When I had to separate my gander from his mate a Muscovy duck so he'd accept a goose as his mate. Long story so I won't go into it but I said all of that to say this. Put up some kind of solid barrier. I used landscaping cloth that way the duck can't see the others and will hopefully settle down. Landscaping material is easy to use and can be reused if needed. I used cloths pins to hold the material onto the fence but tie wraps would work too. Just poke a small hole into the material.

 

[Beaglegal]

When I had to separate my gander from his mate a Muscovy duck so he'd accept a goose as his mate. Long story so I won't go into it but I said all of that to say this. Put up some kind of solid barrier. I used landscaping cloth that way the duck can't see the others and will hopefully settle down. Landscaping material is easy to use and can be reused if needed. I used cloths pins to hold the material onto the fence but tie wraps would work too. Just poke a small hole into the material.

Does it matter if the can still hear each other? That’s a good idea.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Well since Muscovy don't make much noise that wasn't a problem here. But it is sure worth trying.

 

[Beaglegal]

Well since Muscovy don't make much noise that wasn't a problem here. But it is sure worth trying.

makes me wish we had muscovies suddenly. But yes I’m going to try it tonight.

 

[Beaglegal]

Well since Muscovy don't make much noise that wasn't a problem here. But it is sure worth trying.

The things we do for those sassy creatures

 

[Beaglegal]

So far it seems to be working. They are hanging out near the fence line still, but the one duck is resting with the others. I’ve moved their pool over there and they swim. I also put the food over there yesterday and she ate more. There is a small gap area that she was watching through yesterday but not often and I will cover it up. I used 3 large tarps, 2 canvas drop cloths, and 5 moving blankets to cover the whole fence line but I was able to find enough stuff on hand so there was no need to buy anything. My favorite kind of project!

the other thing that’s helping is my new baby drake is now fully grown ad his voice is changing so he has started being more bossy with the gals. I’ve watched him lead my distressed duck to the pool to get her to drink several times