Well, That Was a Mistake............

[mominoz]

I read where people let their birds "sort out " the "pecking order". For the first 2 years , there was no problem with letting my runner drakes and their girls out together. They do have separate night quarters and day runs separated by fence and chicken wire. I let them out last week, so they could bug hunt and noticed a sumo fight between my two drakes so I separated them and alternated letting them out to bug hunt in the yard.
Well today I decide to try out the 'let them sort it out". it worked for my ganders

I saw a bit of wrestling, but when I checked them they were peaceable. I did have to put hay out and heard goose honking ...... This evening I went to put them up and my penciled drake has missing feathers along his neck. And he and the grey drake were fussing with each other as I tried to put them up. So either they overdid it or the geese may have.(I do have a broody goose, They all love in adjacent quarters.
Just for others benefit , don't do what I did!

or ,it could be, that I need to tweak

And/or wait some more time and make sure they are "out of " breeding season. And they were lunging at their fence that separates their night quarters...which I hadn't seen before , guess they haven't sorted it out yet.

I have new babies coming and brooding, so I hope I can figure out management of flocks, as I will have runners, Hookbills and saxonies. And a few mini-ducks, but they have separate coops.
I have 4 geese too, and a group of goslings ordered too, so I have to figure out mangement, other than eating all the drakes and ganders!
Probably explains why we domesticate animals, to keep the easiest to manage

 

[duckbrained]

Every year 2 of my drakes are picking on the other one and it alternates from year to year as to which one is getting picked on and which 2 are doing the picking.