The poultry drama continues.

[Smashlee83]

We had two drakes born in April of this year. After a raccoon got in (malfunctioning door) and swiped one of our boys, we got two new babies that were about 2 months old. One ended up being a boy so I returned him for an older duck that was already laying. The older duck Karen and the existing drake Olive are thick as thieves. They are in looove. It was perfect. The younger female I kept Simone followed around Karen and Olive and everything seemed fine. The older two started mating a few days ago. I came out yesterday to find little Simone had drowned in the stock tank. I can only assume that Olive did that trying to mate her. Now he's becoming a fiend. I just witnessed him go after 3 different chickens. What do I do? Will he eventually get over this or do I need to start separating? They all free range during the day.

 

[nuthatched]

I'm sorry for your losses.
You need to separate the Drake from the chickens, he can hurt or kill them trying to mate them. I think most drakes need 3-4 ducks that are his size.

 

[Tclloyd0812]

Agreed with @nuthatched. Drakes will try to mate with hens and can really hurt them. I'd separate Olive and Karen or rehome him.

 

[Isadora]

He definitely needs more girls and should not have access to the chickens. It's not something drakes typically grow out of, though spring is often noted as having more aggressive mating.

 

[Smashlee83]

He’s been separated and will be on his way to a new home with more ducks. Before he was separated though I noticed one of my hens acting funny and I saw that she had some blood around her vent. I’m assuming this is olives doing. Shes sitting on the best and has got some secretion from her vent. Not sure if that is norma when laying?

 

[Smashlee83]

Now my other dilemma... I jumped through hoops to get Olive some friends so he wouldn't be lonely. Once he goes to his new home, I will just be left with Karen. Do I need to get more females for her?

 

[Tclloyd0812]

He’s been separated and will be on his way to a new home with more ducks. Before he was separated though I noticed one of my hens acting funny and I saw that she had some blood around her vent. I’m assuming this is olives doing. Shes sitting on the best and has got some secretion from her vent. Not sure if that is norma when laying?

That doesn't look or sound too good.
I would assume it was Olive's doing since it's not usually normal for a hen to bleed from her vent. I would really keep a close eye on this hen and possibly separate her from the others. Chickens love pecking at other chickens when they're bleeding.

 

[Tclloyd0812]

Now my other dilemma... I jumped through hoops to get Olive some friends so he wouldn't be lonely. Once he goes to his new home, I will just be left with Karen. Do I need to get more females for her?

Yes, probably get more females. Only females unless you're going to separate the chickens and ducks.

 

[Smashlee83]

Yes, probably get more females. Only females unless you're going to separate the chickens and ducks.

My lesson is learned. I'll never get a male again.

 

[BlondieSoup]

I also learned the hard way, several years ago, that drakes may take a fast hormonal turn when they hit puberty around 6 months of age (one of mine was suddenly aggressive and killed my other sweet drake, who he was raised with, one night out of the blue with zero prior warning signs). Every year thereafter there is a mini hormonal surge at the beginning of spring, but not like that first hit at the onset of puberty. Or so a vet told me after the fact.