what do I do? I need help/Advice

[mamaduck1616]

So I posted the other day about one muscovy hen (oreo) attacking another hen (daisy) and the drake over mating her.

Well today I was outside by the ducks pen and saw my other hen mama come out and chase down daisy pull feathers and one spot on her wing is now bleeding. Mama and Daisy were raised together and kept in the house when they were ducklings for a while the previous owner told me due to the bad winter last year. And they were inseparable up until mama went broody.

Daisy is not aggressive and shes also not sitting a nest. I have a few questions:

1. Since theres been two nests daisy was sitting one on and off before oreo went broody (mama was already on her nest). Could this be why they are attacking her? I havent seen her go after either of the hens or the drake nor have I seen her try to sit either nest.

2. What should I do for the wound? I dont want it to get infected or maggots.

3. I am almost finished with the brooder house for mamas and ducklings when born can I put her in there alone? Im afraid if I put Donald in hell mate her to death. The house and run are connected to their current house and run so they will see each other but cant get to each other. Will they reject her when I try to reintroduce her to the flock?

4. If I cant resolve this issue my mom said shell take Daisy and put her in with her chickens so I know shes safe happy and well cared for and I can visit her. She would be the only duck. Will she be ok being the only duck because shell have a flock to be in? Or should she be given to someone with ducks?

5. Will the two broody ducks start attacking each other or each others ducklings if put in the same brooder? There nests are literally side by side they are touching as they are sitting on their nests and I havent witnessed them attacking each other and neither have an wounds.

Thanks in advance. Sorry post is so long im just worried sick about my poor Daisy girl.

 

[Buck Oakes]

So I posted the other day about one muscovy hen (oreo) attacking another hen (daisy) and the drake over mating her.

Well today I was outside by the ducks pen and saw my other hen mama come out and chase down daisy pull feathers and one spot on her wing is now bleeding. Mama and Daisy were raised together and kept in the house when they were ducklings for a while the previous owner told me due to the bad winter last year. And they were inseparable up until mama went broody.

Daisy is not aggressive and shes also not sitting a nest. I have a few questions:

1. Since theres been two nests daisy was sitting one on and off before oreo went broody (mama was already on her nest). Could this be why they are attacking her? I havent seen her go after either of the hens or the drake nor have I seen her try to sit either nest.

2. What should I do for the wound? I dont want it to get infected or maggots.

3. I am almost finished with the brooder house for mamas and ducklings when born can I put her in there alone? Im afraid if I put Donald in hell mate her to death. The house and run are connected to their current house and run so they will see each other but cant get to each other. Will they reject her when I try to reintroduce her to the flock?

4. If I cant resolve this issue my mom said shell take Daisy and put her in with her chickens so I know shes safe happy and well cared for and I can visit her. She would be the only duck. Will she be ok being the only duck because shell have a flock to be in? Or should she be given to someone with ducks?

5. Will the two broody ducks start attacking each other or each others ducklings if put in the same brooder? There nests are literally side by side they are touching as they are sitting on their nests and I havent witnessed them attacking each other and neither have an wounds.

Thanks in advance. Sorry post is so long im just worried sick about my poor Daisy girl.

1. Yes i could be from her already being on a nest, or it could be because daisy tried to lay in her nest and she wasn't going to have it, or just dominance
2. just put some hydrogen peroxide on it, it should go away
3. actually one mother, could adopt the other ones babies there fore it could workout, preferably the younger mother adopting the older babies, the mom with the older babies might attack the younger ones since she wants her own to survive and other babies will be competition. definetly don't put any broody female with a drake, for some reason hey want to mate with broodies more than non broody females. keep them safe
4. no muscovies are socially bound to each other after all this drama blows over they should be best friends again.
5. if they are getting along now then they might share nests eventually and responsibility for the babies, but it all depends on how they react with each other

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Multiple moms makes for tricky situations. It's hard to say. Best thing is to watch. As you've seen already, once they go broody, they behave differently. As far as flock dynamics, as long as they can see each other, they should be fine and you probly will not need to go thru that reintroduction stuff. But, I had a drake attack my best mom after she'd gone broody. They were not separated at all, she was just in a corner where he didn't see her for a few weeks. And she got a nasty wing tear from him. I just used a few Epsom salt soaks, and it healed quickly. I personally would not use Hydrogen Peroxide, since it kills healthy tissue too. You can get blue kote, avoid the red kote; I've read that can aggravate the pecking on the wound. Especially with chickens. Your girl duck will likely be perfectly fine in a flock of chickens, except the chickens might not want her to get the bedding all soggy and wet. Fly strike can happen anytime a fly could potentially get into a wound. Check in with The Natural Chicken Keeping Thread for a great knowledge base on wound healing. If you are really worried, you might have to bring your girl inside to heal up awhile. Keep the others from injuring her further.

 

[mamaduck1616]

Thank you two! Sorry it took so long to respond we spent the weekend finishing our brooder houses for the mamas and ducklings.

For Daisy I had cleaned her with the peroxide. I havent seen either of the broody hens attack her all weekend so im hoping the fighting has stopped. I guess Donald is loosing interest in Daisy as well because he hasnt been mating her constantly like he was.

As for the two sitting hens and their new pen we have made preperations to house each seperately if need be once the ducklings hatch. We have two houses set up with a big run that can be divided if it has to.

Thank you for the help!

I have a few more questions I havent been getting any eggs from Daisy. Is this normal? Has she stopped laying because the other two are broody? She was sitting one nest of eggs on and off until Oreo randomly went broody and took her nest. Could she be laying her egg in the nests and thats why my hens are attacking her?

 

[Buck Oakes]

its possible, i mean it could just be her technique, lay eggs in the other females nests so she won't have to worry about it.