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Miss Lydia said:
I would be careful letting young females with an adult drake some will leave them alone others won’t we see it often on here so you just never know. My Runners and Buffs were mating at 4 months old laying at 4.5 months. The girls were the ones to go after the drake not him after them.
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I have observed the same: The young ducks often run around the drakes, head-bobbing until i feel dizzy. And the drakes are more interested in the older ducks.
 
Luv Ducks said:
You are very welcome. I find it in the garden center at our store. They have several different types. Mine is strong with very small holes.
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I just need to find a way to support the netting in the larger open areas. This might has to wait until late fall, when i can cut down sycamore trees as poles and fence posts.
Also, that owl on top of the dux-run seems to help.
 
Luv Ducks said:
I also feel that it makes a difference if they were being raised by the Hen duck that they were born from rather than store bought or from an incubator. She would possibly be able to protect them, it would all depend on how rowdy the drakes are that you have.
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Again, it depends: Tweedledee Duck (the gray one) is so aggressive defensive that she has trampled her own duckling in order to scare me away. Last year Laura duck (her daughter) was limping for a couple of days after she stormed right over her to attack me because i was carrying a bucket…
With the orphan ducklings, there is always that human drake with them for the first outdoor sessions and he is very respected and obeyed. (He also controls the cat-food bribes!🤣)
Before any of the drakes even thought about messing with "my" ducklings i had already stared him down. I always win these stare battles.
 
WannaBeHillBilly said:
I just need to find a way to support the netting in the larger open areas. This might has to wait until late fall, when i can cut down sycamore trees as poles and fence posts.
Also, that owl on top of the dux-run seems to help.
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I used painter poles that I attached to 8 foot heavy T posts that I put in the ground with a heavy post hole driver. It was difficult to get the driver on top of the posts and drive them in though and my back will not do it again at this point. That worked well though as I would put heavy plastic bottles on top of the posts to keep the sharp ends from cutting the netting when the snow would fall on it. I did that to the ones that I did not have painter poles attached to. It doesn't look pretty but the ducks never complain as long as they are safe, lol.
 
WannaBeHillBilly said:
Indeed, a terrible incident and i don't want to defend the drake but…

We know very little about the circumstances:
  • How many young females are kept separate
  • What is the structure of the rest of the flock
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Frank with your setup you have a lot of land and places for the young ones to escape to if a drake were to go after them. If someone has them penned up in a smaller area I don't think they would have much of a chance if a drake was to get into them. I know my drakes even in my large pen could chase down my Hens and try to make their heads bald. They would have several Hens to choose from but unfortunately would only want one and try to mate her constantly. That is why most of mine have had to go down the road. This is why you usually see more drakes in the wild than hens because they have drowned so many of them over mating them. Just my thoughts Frank.
 
Luv Ducks said:
I used painter poles that I attached to 8 foot heavy T posts that I put in the ground with a heavy post hole driver. It was difficult to get the driver on top of the posts and drive them in though and my back will not do it again at this point. That worked well though as I would put heavy plastic bottles on top of the posts to keep the sharp ends from cutting the netting when the snow would fall on it. I did that to the ones that I did not have painter poles attached to. It doesn't look pretty but the ducks never complain as long as they are safe, lol.
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Holy Cow! 😲
I was not aware that these t-posts are available in eight foot length!
I have seen them in stores only in 4' length which is sufficient for fences but not to support any overhead structures. - So 8' t-posts plus a sycamore tree trunk attached sounds like the new plan.
Thank you very much!
 
Luv Ducks said:
Frank with your setup you have a lot of land and places for the young ones to escape to if a drake were to go after them. If someone has them penned up in a smaller area I don't think they would have much of a chance if a drake was to get into them. I know my drakes even in my large pen could chase down my Hens and try to make their heads bald. They would have several Hens to choose from but unfortunately would only want one and try to mate her constantly. That is why most of mine have had to go down the road. This is why you usually see more drakes in the wild than hens because they have drowned so many of them over mating them. Just my thoughts Frank.
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That's what i meant with "circumstances"…
And of course it all depends on the individual drake: Mayhem Drake here lives up to his name and the ducks avoid him where on the other hand Harry Duckhini attends his ducknagers when Sunny is busy elsewhere. Some drakes are just drakeholes…
 

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