Topic of the Week - Drakes and Drake Behaviour

[Indyshent]

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Pic by @NathanZee
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This week I would like to talk Drake 101. We all know ducks are absolutely delightful birds, but the males can be a bit of handful. Ducks owners, please tell me about your experiences and management practices when it comes to your drakes

- Sexual maturity and aggression.
- Human aggression and its meaning.
- Feeding and handling of young Drakes.
- What would be the ideal female to male ratio for a happy flock?



For a complete list of our Topic of the Week threads, see here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

I've kept several breeds and both of the usual species. Muscovies tend to be less rapacious, but are seasonally active (and very aggressive with each other in springtime). Muscovies are bigger and have gnarly claws, and they also fly and perch... so those claws and wings mean business when it comes to aggressive birds. Mallard-derived drakes are typically rapacious jerks, but I've never had to break up any fights with them. Muscovies tend to reach sexual maturity later, but as is typical for a lot of animals, the guys feel their oats sooner than the girls start laying.

I've never kept a human-aggressive drake, but I have kept a few that would nip me if provoked (being handled, especially when the bird was injured). I deal with shy or aggressive birds in the same ways, regardless of species. If it's shy, give it treats and don't chase it. If it's aggressive, football it or make it dinner.

Drakes can and certainly have injured girls--mature ducks or otherwise--and I've heard of some that crossed species to rape (and thus kill or severely injure) chicken hens. They can drown immature girls--even in shallow water. I've seen one duck partially blinded because of a drake trying to grab her head to mate her.

Ideal ratios depend entirely on the individual drake--just like with roosters. A friend had one Pekin drake with 70 ducks and still had 100% fertility. Some guys are happy with four or fewer ladies. In general, the more, the merrier when it comes to ducks vs drakes.

 

[Pyxis]

I've kept ducks for ten years now. My first ever ducks (and actually poultry) were two drakes I took in from my aunt because she had way too many drakes and her poor ducks were getting very beaten up thanks to all the amorous attention they were getting.

They were great pets. Never human aggressive, although not extremely friendly since they were raised by a broody. Not skittish, just preferred to keep a little distance.

They had no girls, so they took their hormones out on each other by chasing each other around and trying to pin each other down. If one of the males successfully pinned the other, he would 'breed' with the male that was pinned. They never injured each other this way, so I didn't consider it an issue. However, it is something to look out for in drake only flocks since if they get very aggressive with each other trying to do this or one male is significantly bigger than another, injuries could definitely occur.

From there, after one of the males passed away, I bought two pekin ducklings. I fell in love with them, and they were very friendly since I was very hands-on raising them. One turned out to be a drake and the other a duck. Since I now had a bad male to female ratio, I bought more ducklings, which turned out to be a trio of mallards - one drake and two ducks.

All of those drakes were human friendly and not the least bit aggressive towards humans. I chalk that up to me raising them with other ducks, and having females available to them - a lot of aggressive drake behavior is them looking at the human as a mate and trying to dominate them.

Anyways, nowadays I raise welsh harlequin ducks and Call ducks. For female to male ratio, three to four females per male tends to be the best in terms of egg fertility and females not getting overbred, but you can keep pairs if you have a drake that's not too hard on his girlfriend. I have a welsh harlequin drake and a pekin female that have happily lived as a pair for years, no other females for the drake, and they are both happy and healthy. You should never, however, have more drakes than females.

As far as breeding season goes, ducks like mallards and Calls have a defined breeding season, usually in the spring and summer. I believe muscovies do too, but I don't have experience with them so I can't really say.

Other breeds, however, have been bred for production - like pekins, runners, campbells, etc. Their breeding seasons are much longer. Mine will start laying and breeding in early Spring and can go right through to November. Generally after the males molt into eclipse plumage in the Fall things calm down, but if you keep a light in your coop to boost egg production, they may go right through winter breeding and laying. I have gotten fertile eggs in the dead of winter before, even with no light, so a drake will still mate with the ducks outside of 'breeding season'.

As for feeding drakes, they can eat the same thing their whole lives - a flock raiser feed is good, or a chick feed. Since they don't need the extra calcium that is packed into layer feed for laying birds, the extra calcium can actually be detrimental to them. This goes for males of other species too, like chickens. To avoid this, I feed all my birds a chick starter feed with oyster shell on the side - the females take the oyster shell as they need it, and males aren't ingesting lots of calcium that they don't need.

 

[casportpony]

 

[onaharley]

I am so happy for this thread....but I am so tired from making our new separation pen that I can barely keep my eyes open. I will give my experiences once I read through all this.....until then this hen is hitting the hay!!!

 

[Amiga]

I have only had experience with one drake.

Bean is a Buff Orpington. He arrived with his two ducks about five years ago. We initially introduced them into the Runner (mixed) flock with little problem. Then somewhere along the line, the Runners took issue with Bean mating Romy (female Buff). He would hop on Romy, then four or five Runners would tackle him. Romy, on the bottom of the heap, began running away from Bean, who kept chasing after Romy, with Runners on his tail...

I now keep Bean and his girls separate, Romy with the Runners. I have some smaller ducks in with the Runners also.

With his ducks, Bean is a good drake. He stays with them, does not overdo it, is never rough. After he does the deed, sometimes he will stomp his feet, stand up tall and belch. What a guy!

I am aware of drakes having phallus prostration sometimes, so I do make sure that he has put his equipment away by the end of the day, so to speak.

 

[MartinsPoultry]

Last year was my first year with ducks. My fiance bought me 3 Muscovy ducklings as time went on those three grew and we thought we had 2 drakes and 1 hen but it turned out to be 2 hens and 1 drake, by the time of finding this out James my fiance bought another Muscovy hen, so now our ratio was 3-1 which was perfectly fine for us to start out with.
But low and behold our Drake was not a nice bird at all, he was people and animal aggressive from the time he was a hatchling to his last breath. He did sire 1 drake who for now is the sweetest male I have out of all of my ducks.

I am getting bird aggressive drakes from my quacking ducks, Muscovy's are well Muscovy's females air scream and trill at the watering hole but that's the norm.
My Rouen's, Ancona's, Runner's, Khaki's, and Cayuga have nearly all gone hormonally stupid, attacking each other and other birds within my flock which is merged right now for winter with the exception of my extra drakes and roosters. James and I had to this year build a Male coop and run to separate all of the extra males we got from TSC and local breeders, which currently has 16 Drakes and 6 Roosters.
We started off this year with 4 different breeds of quacking ducks and 2 Muscovy.
Each time we bought it was almost an even 4 ducklings, some a little more. Our Khaki's came from 2 different places that is why we have 6 of them. As for our Cayuga's we drove 2 hours away to get them for our single hatched Muscovy drake for him to grow up with since his entire clutch died.
Out of the ducks we have, we have 27 most of them are all Drakes. We want to keep 1 male per female of that same breed for breeding purebreds next year, we have all but the Muscovy drake apart from everyone due to how rowdy they are.

All of the boys get Layer feed, cracked corn, grit and veggie/grass clippings as their staple feed. The girls get the same but with oyster or crushed egg shells.

Drakes
3 Rouen,
4 Indian Runners
2 Ancona,
1 Ancona x Pekin, Huge
1 Cayuga,
4 Khaki Campbell, 1 drake walks weird been that way since he was a hatchling but it does not affect him at all. Instead of him walking with his head straight he holds it to the side and looks out of one eye to see where he is going giving him a sort of a wobble.
1 Muscovy
Total drakes 17

Hens
1 Rouen
1 Cayuga
1 Ancona
2 Khaki Campbells
5 Muscovy
Total hens 10

 

[matt14132]

Don, my drake is a very sweet boy. He is an ancona drake and he has 2 beautiful pekin girls to choose from. They were raised together since day one. He follows his ladies around and I catch the ladies flattening out their backs for him in the pool and he will climb on and do his business. He is shyer than his girlyfriends though, always the last one to take food from my hand, he lets the others go first.

I also have 5 BEI ducks that get along very well right now. They are still too young for me to sex, but I hope that the behavior stays this way and that I wont have to deal with any aggression in the future.

 

[Ravynscroft]

I have a lot of ducks.... A LOT, lol... and a lot of drakes... until recently I had Rouens, Rouen mixes and Calls, now I just have Calls(and 1 single large mixed duck that swears she is a Call, lol)...

The absolute best influence I have found for raising a good, respectful and calmer drake is mature ducks... they will keep young drakes in check, knock them down a peg or 2 when needed, and teach them to respect their girls... I cannot express how much this affects how a drake turns out... young drakes raised with just ducks their own age tend to get away with bully tactics once their hormones kick in, which turns into a habit and becomes an ingrained bad habit that is hard to break... nipping that in the bud and avoiding those habits to run rampant and unchecked is crucial... having a duck correct them rather than a human is also key... and that avoids confrontations between the drake and human later on...

As for human aggressive drakes, I have had zero... not one, ever... rarely have I even had an aggressive cock bird either, and 90% of those were ones I hadn't raised myself, actually... I handle my ducklings, but I don't pick them up all the time... mostly I let them come to me, nibble, bill, climb and let them go on their way when they're ready... I do pick them up occasionally, just so they learn sometimes I need to pick them up, and that picking them up doesn't mean I am going to eat them, lol... whenever possible, I absolutely do not handle any of them while they are molting... molting is uncomfortable and can make them irritable on its own, and handling them can just aggravate an already stressful situation... once they are fully feathered and hit their 'teens', I let them have their space... they tend to act like stubborn and irrational teenagers at that age, best to give it as little attention as possible and ride out their first rush of hormones... once they become mature, their adult personalities start emerging and some become more social and friendly while others tend to prefer their own space... whichever they prefer, I respect that and act accordingly... it works out and makes for a better relationship all around... as the drakes figure out their places, I usually let them work out their conflicts... most are resolved with minimal scuffle, a few pulled feathers... if it escalates into an all-out brawl, then I will intervene, but only then... and that has been a rare occasion... usually the alpha ducks keep it from getting to that point anyways...

For feeding, I try to give Flock Raiser with oyster shell on the side when I can, but sometimes they all get Layer Feed... if I separate out a group of just drakes, they always just get Flock Raiser, no need for any extra calcium... I free feed mine during the day and do not leave food out at night... they free range as well and take full advantage of that benefit... treats are given rarely... most times just scattered around for whoever wants them, but sometimes offered in hand... some will come up and take treats directly from my hand and some won't... I respect their wishes either way... I manage my flock with a trust bond that goes both ways and this has been exceptionally successful for me...

As for an ideal male/female ratio for a happy flock? There isn't one... the ideal ratio is exactly what works for each flock... what works in one, may not work in another... there is no 'one true way'...

Some do well with a single drake and several females... some do well in just pairs... some do well with multiple drakes and multiple females... watch and listen to your flock and you will learn what works best for yours... as I have for my own...

 

[BantyChooks]

I have a lot of ducks.... A LOT, lol... and a lot of drakes... until recently I had Rouens, Rouen mixes and Calls, now I just have Calls(and 1 single large mixed duck that swears she is a Call, lol)...

The absolute best influence I have found for raising a good, respectful and calmer drake is mature ducks... they will keep young drakes in check, knock them down a peg or 2 when needed, and teach them to respect their girls... I cannot express how much this affects how a drake turns out... young drakes raised with just ducks their own age tend to get away with bully tactics once their hormones kick in, which turns into a habit and becomes an ingrained bad habit that is hard to break... nipping that in the bud and avoiding those habits to run rampant and unchecked is crucial... having a duck correct them rather than a human is also key... and that avoids confrontations between the drake and human later on...

As for human aggressive drakes, I have had zero... not one, ever... rarely have I even had an aggressive cock bird either, and 90% of those were ones I hadn't raised myself, actually... I handle my ducklings, but I don't pick them up all the time... mostly I let them come to me, nibble, bill, climb and let them go on their way when they're ready... I do pick them up occasionally, just so they learn sometimes I need to pick them up, and that picking them up doesn't mean I am going to eat them, lol... whenever possible, I absolutely do not handle any of them while they are molting... molting is uncomfortable and can make them irritable on its own, and handling them can just aggravate an already stressful situation... once they are fully feathered and hit their 'teens', I let them have their space... they tend to act like stubborn and irrational teenagers at that age, best to give it as little attention as possible and ride out their first rush of hormones... once they become mature, their adult personalities start emerging and some become more social and friendly while others tend to prefer their own space... whichever they prefer, I respect that and act accordingly... it works out and makes for a better relationship all around... as the drakes figure out their places, I usually let them work out their conflicts... most are resolved with minimal scuffle, a few pulled feathers... if it escalates into an all-out brawl, then I will intervene, but only then... and that has been a rare occasion... usually the alpha ducks keep it from getting to that point anyways...

For feeding, I try to give Flock Raiser with oyster shell on the side when I can, but sometimes they all get Layer Feed... if I separate out a group of just drakes, they always just get Flock Raiser, no need for any extra calcium... I free feed mine during the day and do not leave food out at night... they free range as well and take full advantage of that benefit... treats are given rarely... most times just scattered around for whoever wants them, but sometimes offered in hand... some will come up and take treats directly from my hand and some won't... I respect their wishes either way... I manage my flock with a trust bond that goes both ways and this has been exceptionally successful for me...

As for an ideal male/female ratio for a happy flock? There isn't one... the ideal ratio is exactly what works for each flock... what works in one, may not work in another... there is no 'one true way'...

Some do well with a single drake and several females... some do well in just pairs... some do well with multiple drakes and multiple females... watch and listen to your flock and you will learn what works best for yours... as I have for my own...

 

[Widlast]

I have 15 mature Runner ducks. 2 drakes, 13 ducks. The penciled drake Randy (named him that because he IS) is constantly busy chasing the girls around and mating. I've incubated 21 little ducklings from the eggs and every single one of them is his. The other drake, a Cumberland blue, just doesn't seem to have grasped his purpose yet. Haven't seen him make any attempt at mating yet. Both boys are friendly and curious, they're not terribly skittish and will walk up to the fence to see what you're up to. Holderread recommends a 5/1 duck/drake ratio for Runners. I feed them the Dumore pelleted fowl food I get form Tractor Supply. They seem to like it well enough.