The drakes keep killing the female ducks.. what should i do?

[Krazyquilts]

Hi

Raising poultry is not just about hatching eggs and feeding and watering them and mucking them out. It is also about understanding their behaviour and keeping them safe, not just from predators but each other. There are difficult decisions that are part of the responsibility of raising them. You are clearly aware of the problem here and yet you seem to be repeatedly exposing the females to injury and abuse and sadly death, because you seem unwilling to part with the males. If you care so much about the males, rehome the females and just keep a bachelor flock but please don't just assume that this situation is going to sort itself out. Those young drakes are rampant because of their hormones and that will not change overnight or even over the period of several months. They also compete with each other for mating, so the same female will get mated repeatedly by one after the next, sometimes with 2 drakes on top of her at once, no wonder one has been killed.
Please bite the bullet and make the decision which you know in your heart is necessary ie. get rid of the boys before they subject your other female(s) to a similarly sad fate. 

Yes, yes, yes!

And what @eggbert420 said:

get more females or lose some males.

@lovelyducklings, You have to ask yourself what is harder: getting rid of some males, either by rehoming them or sending them to freezer camp, or finding another dead or dying female whose death was easily preventable. You could get more females, I guess, but since a good drake-to-female ratio is at least 3-4 females per drake, that means you would need to get a lot of females. Especially since your drakes are proven killers.

 

[lovelyducklings]

Hi

Raising poultry is not just about hatching eggs and feeding and watering them and mucking them out. It is also about understanding their behaviour and keeping them safe, not just from predators but each other. There are difficult decisions that are part of the responsibility of raising them. You are clearly aware of the problem here and yet you seem to be repeatedly exposing the females to injury and abuse and sadly death, because you seem unwilling to part with the males. If you care so much about the males, rehome the females and just keep a bachelor flock but please don't just assume that this situation is going to sort itself out. Those young drakes are rampant because of their hormones and that will not change overnight or even over the period of several months. They also compete with each other for mating, so the same female will get mated repeatedly by one after the next, sometimes with 2 drakes on top of her at once, no wonder one has been killed.
Please bite the bullet and make the decision which you know in your heart is necessary ie. get rid of the boys before they subject your other female(s) to a similarly sad fate. 

thank you for your advice. i had come here first to see if there were any other solutions, this has just recently started. i wish it were easy for me to rehome the males, although i am still young in and high school. i will try my best to find someone who would like to take them in, until then ill protect the females.

 

[lovelyducklings]

Yes, yes, yes!

And what @eggbert420 said:
@lovelyducklings, You have to ask yourself what is harder: getting rid of some males, either by rehoming them or sending them to freezer camp, or finding another dead or dying female whose death was easily preventable. You could get more females, I guess, but since a good drake-to-female ratio is at least 3-4 females per drake, that means you would need to get a lot of females. Especially since your drakes are proven killers.

i would love to find them another home, though i don't know of anyone who owns ducks or would like to, so i'll have to look. sadly i'm still in high school so i don't have many connections to people. this just recently started happening so i'm new to it, i came here to see if there were any other solutions i could've tried before sending them off. thank you for your words!

 

[Krazyquilts]

There is a thread here on for Animals in need of free rehoming. You might try posting in the Florida thread. I've seen people use Craigslist too but if you really want them to go a home and not a stewpot, I'd try that as a last resort.

I'm sorry you have to go through this. I only have one drake for now because I'm trying to hold getting more ducks until after we move but since I want to breed rare breed ducks, I'm sure I'll have quite a few drakes in the future and the thought of the drakes drowning a female or mating her to death worries me a lot.

 

[Quackems]

Lovely Ducklings ... There's a terrific animal rehoming site called rescueme.org and it includes a farm animals section. You could safely post your drakes for adoption after starting a free account and include cute drake pix and even video clips. I would definitely recommend that route because rescueme.org attracts responsible people looking to acquire companion only animals. You can even request that prospective adopters fill out an adoption application and do personal farm/yard checks to help determine who is the best match for your beloved drakes.

 

[Quackems]

Your very welcome...Management and knowledge goes a long way with raising Happy Ducks.....


Best wishes..

I have a lot to learn about ducks and so little time, as I currently have 2 brooder boxes full of 2 week and 1 week old mail order ducklings in our guest room. They are so adorable and personable and we are currently building an outdoor sanctuary for them with indoor housing and an outdoor man-made pond. Thankfully my boyfriend is a GC so I am making sure that he predator proofs the whole shebang. I would greatly appreciate any advice and suggestions along our way to becoming duckling parents. It will be exciting as well as challenging as we watch these quack babies grow up and hopefully help to provide them with an entertaining, joyful and above all, safe life.

 

[chickens really]

Your very welcome...Management and knowledge goes a long way with raising Happy Ducks.....


Best wishes..

I have a lot to learn about ducks and so little time, as I currently have 2 brooder boxes full of 2 week and 1 week old mail order ducklings in our guest room. They are so adorable and personable and we are currently building an outdoor sanctuary for them with indoor housing and an outdoor man-made pond. Thankfully my boyfriend is a GC so I am making sure that he predator proofs the whole shebang. I would greatly appreciate any advice and suggestions along our way to becoming duckling parents. It will be exciting as well as challenging as we watch these quack babies grow up and hopefully help to provide them with an entertaining, joyful and above all, safe life.

You will do great.......Ducks are lots of fun....Very entertaining...
When you have questions ? Their are lots of great helpers here to answer all your Duck questions......

Enjoy those Ducks!


Cheers!

 

[lovelyducklings]

Lovely Ducklings ... There's a terrific animal rehoming site called rescueme.org and it includes a farm animals section. You could safely post your drakes for adoption after starting a free account and include cute drake pix and even video clips. I would definitely recommend that route because rescueme.org attracts responsible people looking to acquire companion only animals. You can even request that prospective adopters fill out an adoption application and do personal farm/yard checks to help determine who is the best match for your beloved drakes.

thank you so much!

 

[Quackems]

Anytime, LD!! Please let us know how it works out and if you get your drakes placed into loving homes.

 

[klakak]

Is there a good drake to hen ratio for a large amount of ducks in a large pen together? Also, at what age do the hormones start kicking in for the drakes? Thanks