How to handle a pair of rowdy drakes

Posted by Megan Towe on April 28, 2010 at 4:04pm

I am very sad this afternoon.

 

Last evening, I found one of my female hens dead in the coop. My flock of ducks and chickens have been housed daily due to overseeding of their run and are provided supervised outside play time to ensure they don't destroy what is finally growing. 

 

My assumption is, since she was a fat, healthy and happy hen, the boys must have been fighting over her and she may have received the misdirected "frustrations" of one or both of them. I think they may have gotten territorial in the coop. Has anyone seen this occur in their flock of ducks?

 

I pride myself on how well behaved the flock members are and how well they treat each other. The girls are always welcoming to new members and I rarely ever see the peace disrupted. I also have never needed to separate the boys in the past. At all.

 

 

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Replies

  • Liz & Dan April 30, 2010 at 3:25pm
    I've seen Karl's ducks fight and calling it 'not gental squabbles' is a huge understatement! His ducks fought hard - full on knock down, drag out, rip feathers apart fight! Nothing short of physically pulling them apart stopped the fighting for pretty much all of Spring. The males got along alright until mating season hit, then the hormones took over and there was no stopping them. It has taken Karl's remaining male a year to return to full glossy feather condition. You didn't mention how many of each species and sex you have and how long they have been together. Rachel ended up giving up her two ducks to Karl to gain peace in her coop, as her ducks were constantly harassing the chickens, and those were two female ducks, no males involved! After observing my hens and his ducks, I've decided that I wouldn't attempt to keep them together, they are so different in the way they behave towards each other. I'm so sorry for your loss, I would be heartbroken losing one of my lovely ladies!
    • Megan Towe > Liz & Dan April 30, 2010 at 7:45pm
      I have a very wide variety of breeds. Jake, Bruiser and Bubbles have been together since Nov 2008. The others have been added between March 2009-July 2009, so the group definately has not been together for all that long. The boys have taken to getting ontop of the females on the ground and not bothering to wait until they are in the water. The problem is occuring when one male interrupts the "romance" happening with the other male and the chosen female.

      I am just disappointed at the thought of having to separate them. I just love my boys to peices and they deserve to enjoy female company. The relationships and bonds that have formed between the group are too precious to break because of this.

      Jake- campbell female, coming three this summer
      Bruiser- blind campbell male, older
      Bubbles- campbell female, 2-3 years
      Domino- magpie female, 2-3 years
      Moneypenny- pekin female, 2-3
      James- runner male, 2-3 years
      Doris- runner female, coming 1 year this summer
      Mama- buff female
  • David Mericle, Karl Barton April 28, 2010 at 4:19pm
    The males will become territorial! i had two males at one point, and they have the run of the back yard. they often would have squabbles and they are not gentle squabble I did have to separate them a couple of times.
    I have heard stories from a large hatchery (which I do get lots of info from) that male Muscovy's can and have killed female chickens trying to mate them... on accident. They are just so much bigger than the chickens and the mating is not a gentle practice....
    A recommendation from the hatchery is as long as there is a large enough space they are fine to put together but in a coop situation is not ideal
    How old are the males?
    I now have a ratio of 6-1 female - male
    • Megan Towe > David Mericle, Karl Barton April 28, 2010 at 4:30pm
      I have not experienced this level of aggression up until this point. Normally, they have access to 600 square foot area which includes the coop and are quite content.

      The males are of an unknown age. Both were rescues. One is a male Runner and the other is a blind Campbell. My best guess is 2 or 3 years for the Runner, and probably closer to 5 or 6 for the Campbell.

      I am aware that I should have a minimum radtio of 1:4, but I don't want to lose the group dynamic if I only had 1 male.
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