Strange mating behavior question

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

I asked about this before but I cannot find the thread, my ducks are frisky when they come out in the morning, the drake tries to mate with the hens, the hens with each other ETC , when i change the pool water they cant wait and try to do so on dry land. More than once now when a pekin is being mated be it by the drake or another hen the Rouens will go after her vent as it becomes exposed. Plucking at it , its all quite alarming and theres a lot of noise from all involved. Each time I have witnessed it i happen to be holding a hose and a good blast to the whole group seems to break things up.
I thought it was a one off thing, but it doesn't seem to be.
What is going on and what should i be doing about it?
Otherwise everyone seems to get along well.

 

[sourland]

Ducks, especially young hormonally driven teenagers, are oversexed and hormone driven. Kind of like people.

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

Ducks, especially young hormonally driven teenagers, are oversexed and hormone driven. Kind of like people.

I guess im rather more alarmed by the attacking of the vent than the hens mating

 

[Mimi13]

I am going to hope no real harm can come of that as there is no way we can catch things like this every time it happens. My drake’s corkscrew has gotten bit at least once. He immediately took to running.

Have you noticed any blood after this? Is it just the Rouens attacking the Pekins?

BTW, I don’t figure there’s anything we can do about the girls thinking they’re a drake. Mine do it too. All.The.Time!

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

Again today, my poor pekin. Screeching and bubbling as one Rouen (hen) holds her head under and the other tears at her vent, this time i was washing syrup jugs and wasn’t right next to them. Its sure strange. My drake is definitely less aggressive than the hens. It doesn't seem to happen all the time, they get along great otherwise, and they seem only to mate when they come out in the morning, the rest of the day is just sleeping, floating or foraging.

 

[Mimi13]

Again today, my poor pekin. Screeching and bubbling as one Rouen (hen) holds her head under and the other tears at her vent, this time i was washing syrup jugs and wasn’t right next to them. Its sure strange. My drake is definitely less aggressive than the hens. It doesn't seem to happen all the time, they get along great otherwise, and they seem only to mate when they come out in the morning, the rest of the day is just sleeping, floating or foraging.

The females seem to be sexually aggressive in the teen years IMHO. Most likely will be that way during mating season as they age as well.

I would definitely remove her for safety reasons.

Let’s see if we can summon some experts.

@Isaac 0
@Miss Lydia
@WVduckchick
@WannaBeHillBilly

 

[Isaac 0]

This is normal behavior, at least In my experience, oftentimes when the drake is mating, the other hens will come over and cheer the drake on, and also hold the hens head under. I've witnessed this type of behavior in Geese and chickens as well.

It is hormones, and regardless of their age, even though they may do it more when they're younger, they'll likely do it each mating season. Not much you can do besides breaking up the fights or getting rid of the problem hens.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

As long as no blood is drawn from the vent area i would not worry.
I assume your ducks have just matured? - Young ducks are made completely crazy by the first shot of hormones, ducks and drakes alike. I remember last year watching my old drake Limpy on top of one of my white layers and the three young drakes watching closely what was going on in the vent area.
I would be more worried about your ducks going bald on their necks during the upcoming cold season.