Two duck flocks will not combine, HELP!

[Sasa]

I have 2 flocks of Runners and Runner crosses, one has 3 drakes and 4 hens, the other has one drake and 4 hens. Combining them is a good idea and should be a no-brainer, right? WRONG. The hens are all happy together of course, it's the drakes that are the problem. The Buff/White drakes do not like the Lavender drake and vice-versa. Winter will be SO much simpler if all the ducks can be in one night pen plus that would be a 2 hen to 1 drake ratio and much more balanced. I would re-home some drakes but 2 of them have been "claimed" by one of my geese, she adores them and they "mate" with her... plus, too many people eat them or keep them in small, dirt pens with a dirty playpool or even no pool at all. I love my ducks and I want them to be happy. I did have a great home for the smaller flock but the people have a Muscovy drake so that would not work at all.

Does anyone have any suggestions for getting them to live together? Do I just let them work it out? (which is hard on the hens because the drakes keep terrorizing them by "claiming" them over and over). Do I keep just the drakes together until they get over themselves and become their own flock of 4 drakes? or will the 3 that are pals now gang up on the lone Lavender guy?

In the photo see the flock of 7 in the foreground with the buff/white drake about to run off the flock of 5 that are near the playpool.

 

[FireTigeris]

are they hurting each other ?

Can you group the males and females together for awhile?

Not sure, if they are not hurting each other I'd leave it.

 

[Sasa]

The drakes squabble and pull out feathers but no injury is happening, I feel sorry for the poor hens because they get ganged up on by the drakes wanting to mate with them in order to claim them as theirs. The hens all end up really freaked out. I was thinking of putting the 2 most dominant drakes in with the geese, (they're the ones who love the one goose anyway), and putting the rest of the ducks together so it's only a 1 on 1 thing with the 2 other drakes, and then adding them back in when the rest are okay with each other. It would be so great if they could become a unified flock.

 

[FireTigeris]

Do you need the goose lovers for breeding? could they live with their goose? Really your plan sounds fine

 

[Sasa]

Oh good, thank you. No one is allowed to breed here, I have enough. I'm always pulling eggs and giving them to the dogs because I don't eat them. I had the accidental Call/Runner babies 6 weeks ago and they're so beautiful now but that's it. I hope. Normally they're all together all day but they have an acre, 2 stock tanks and 2 playpools, so the 2 flocks keep themselves apart. The geese hang out with everyone. Yes, I can keep the 2 Runner drakes with the geese for now, that's what I'll do.