Sickly duck at local produce store...

[cluckcluckluke]

Quote:
Wait, the big one without any red bobbles on it's face is that Reece?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Wait, the big one without any red bobbles on it's face is that Reece?

I'm pretty sure that is Reece, hoping Sampy chimes in for sure though.

 

[Nuggetirl]

That's definitely Reese, you can match him to the original shelter duck photo.
So, the duck on the far left, in the back, closest to the blue water bucket is Reece/Rose. Originally thought female, now male.

the other two (gray in front, black on right) are the scovies from the guy.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Quote:

That's definitely Reese, you can match him to the original shelter duck photo.
So, the duck on the far left, in the back, closest to the blue water bucket is Reece/Rose. Originally thought female, now male.

the other two (gray in front, black on right) are the scovies from the guy.

Oh ok. This makes sense now hahah.
It threw me off because of how little he has in the way of facial features.

 

[subhanalah]

Oh ok. This makes sense now hahah.
It threw me off because of how little he has in the way of facial features.

he could be a french muscovy cross. They are slightly bigger and more beautiful.

 

[SampyArctica]

Hey guys! So sorry I haven't been able to get on as much recently, we won't have the internet connected at our new place for another two weeks apparently.

Yes - the duck that had been standing closest to the bowl on the far left was Reece/'Rose', the shelter duck. He went back to the shelter the day after we discovered his male parts, so he's not part of the 'flock' anymore. However, we have been having a problem with Whistles' aggression. We're still keeping the girls and Whistles separated since we only have the two girls at the moment and we're not wanting to keep them together long until we have about five to six girls (it's increased now that we've seen how small scovy females actually are!) but we have been attempting to let them have half an hour here and there of physical interaction to give them the chance to socialise without a barrier...only, Whistles has only attempted to get on top of one once and it was a half-hearted attempt at that. They either ignore each other completely, of if the girls get too close to him, he will attack them.

Now, I've heard stories about how violent drakes can get with females when mating, but it doesn't seem like he's too interested in mating. He's just being violent. He'll have one of their wings in his mouth and be tugging hard on their feathers to the point where they cry out, today he pulled one of the girls out of the pool by her tail...the instant anything like that happens, we immediately put him back in his coop and the girls back in theirs to calm them down in a more 'familiar' place to them and we don't allow them to interact again for a few days as I'm sure the girls end up bruised and sore. But I feel so terrible for having him so strongly imprinted on us, although we couldn't help it at the time. We've attempted to distance ourselves - like I've mentioned in previous posts, I never used to pick him up or cuddle him too much until he started forcing himself into my lap about two weeks ago. But since the first time we became violent with the girls, that's not allowed to happen anymore. My partner has been the one mostly tending to them now as I was the one who Whistles had imprinted on the most and at our new property, the coop isn't near the house and so we've cut the amount of interaction with them down to maybe half. We've only allowed them to be out of their coops and together four times now, and they were fine the first time, the second time they were fine for the first 20 minutes (well, they were ignoring each other) and then I think one got too close to him and he pulled at their feathers, the third time he ended up with one of their wings in his mouth and the fourth (today) he actually pulled one of the girls (not the one whose wing he had, so he's not picking on an individual but both) out of the pool by her tail. It seems to be getting progressively worse and we're not sure if we should let everybody cool off for a few weeks and try introducing them again when we have more girls while also distancing ourselves or what. And it hurts, because I love him to absolute pieces and we've been through a lot with him and I really, really want him to have duck friends and his own flock, but then I can't stand the girls being attacked like this. So I don't know what to do.

We disciplined him right from the get go of hormonal behaviour towards us and we can get him under control and calm in no time and he's fine with us. But...obviously the girls aren't going to be trying to dominate him any time soon...

 

[subhanalah]

I think they just need to live together, but not be able to touch/get to each other so they grow attached to each other.

 

[veronicasmom]

This is a tough time of year to try to introduce drakes to hens. Hormones are running rampant. I found that with my flock. When I would bring in a female in spring or early summer, he was relentless. And my drake is a pretty nice boy. But if I brought a new girl home at another time of year, once he established himself with her, he was fine. Of course, we have a total of 9 counting him now, but this was also when we had lesser numbers. And most of the time, even in the spring, it looked worse than it was. But I did keep and eye on on them. It bothered me a lot to see him "picking" on the new one, but I realize that is what they do and they will work it out. Unless your drake is a lot larger than your hens, I think you will be ok. My drake is a runner, so he is not overwhelming, even to the smaller breed ducks. And I certainly don't worry about the Muscovies, they could clobber him if they wanted to.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This is a tough time of year to try to introduce drakes to hens. Hormones are running rampant. I found that with my flock. When I would bring in a female in spring or early summer, he was relentless. And my drake is a pretty nice boy. But if I brought a new girl home at another time of year, once he established himself with her, he was fine. Of course, we have a total of 9 counting him now, but this was also when we had lesser numbers. And most of the time, even in the spring, it looked worse than it was. But I did keep and eye on on them. It bothered me a lot to see him "picking" on the new one, but I realize that is what they do and they will work it out. Unless your drake is a lot larger than your hens, I think you will be ok. My drake is a runner, so he is not overwhelming, even to the smaller breed ducks. And I certainly don't worry about the Muscovies, they could clobber him if they wanted to.

I agree with vm, they are going to have to work it out and yes drakes are rough on their girls but he needs to establish himself as their dominant role model and you keep interfering in it. As long as he isn't "really hurting them" I'd let them be together. It's like he has a flock and he doesn't so he is frustrated. Drake /duck behavior is rough and there are times when I step in but most of the time I let them work it out, 4 ducks and Whistle is a nice number.

 

[vehve]

I was a lurker on this thread, but hadn't caught up on it for a while. Seems like you've settled into your new lodgings nicely, and that the little fellow is doing a lot better than the did at the beginning of this thread. It appears you managed to cure the bumblefoot, but I had to chime in regarding the comment that @subhanalah made about Vetericyn. It's an amazing product, we've used it on our dogs whenever they get cuts, and I managed to burn my hand last weekend (drunken midsummer-celebration sauna mishap), and wound was fine until yesterday, but now the nerves seem to be becoming active again and it's also gotten a bit infected. I started using Vetericyn on it yesterday (Yes, yes, only approved for animal use), and today the wound has shrunken to half it's size. Amazing stuff. Another good veterinary product that I like to misuse on myself, is Vetramil, a honey and herb based ointment.

Hopefully your flock will put aside their differences soon, good luck!