HELP!!!! ducks fighting-Has anyone had this problem?

[hereachick]

Hi - Has anyone out there had this problem. I have 4 ducks - 2 male,2 female.They have lived together since they were born.As of yesterday the 2 males are fighting and one is brutally pulling out the others feathers and won't let him near any of the others or in the pool.They fought for nearly the whole day I thought they might kill each other.The one who is weaker now is bleeding alittle from his neck and spends his time in a corner with the chickens afraid to go anywhere near the other male.The other one will charge him and fight with him if he comes anywhere near the others.Is this normal? Why did they start fighting? Is there anything I can do to stop this behavior?

 

[MissPrissy]

At one year old(?) they are at breeding age and males (drakes) are highly aggressive especially this time of the year. You can pen them in their own pens as mating pairs or you are oing to have to get rid of one male and leave one with the females. The one that is spending time huddled will chickens will eventually realize the dominant male is not going to share the females and he will most likely start mating your hens. It can be brutal and fatal in the end.

Get the ducks in their own pens or get rid of one of the males.

 

[hereachick]

Thanks! I was afraid of that. I guess I'll have to seperate them into pairs in their own pens because I don't want to part with any of my ducks! Would geting more females help to solve this or is that just adding more problems?

 

[MissPrissy]

It would benefit the females to get 2 more females. Give the 2 older hens to the dominant drake. Get 2 new females for the other drake. If you can't do that sort them in pairs.

 

[greyfields]

It's mating rage they're going through right now. But, I wouldn't worry too much. "Duck Fights" aren't that violent and I have yet to see a drake actually injured except for pulled feathers. They are sorting out their pecking order.

I have a gang of 5 drakes who like to gang tackle and 'mate' two other drakes from a different sub-flock. I would intervene if they could actually hurt eachother. But, they just sort of ineptly pinch eachother and fall down a lot.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Mine are fighting but I have all males. I guess I need to get some females huh?

 

[hereachick]

Hi - Thanks! I have seperated the ducks into different areas on opposite corners of the pen (had the areas next to each other but they still grabbed each other thru the fencing trying to pull the otjer thru). We also made a seperation for them with chicken wire and a heavy plastic sheeting part way up for inside the coop.The males still seem to see each other thru the chicken wire and grab at each other thru the fence (so we figured with the plastic they couldn't see each other) so far it's worked. It's really quite wierd but, interesting to watch,they're relentless.
In each new area we have a male and a female ( I hope we have the right female with the right male,can't really tell the females apart now) and each area has it's own swimming pool.They seem happy enough and their far enough apart so they can't reach each other.We didn't put a top on the areas but, so far no one's tried to fly out.Altho, last night one of the females did manage to somehow get onto the dominant males side of the coop. And guess what? You guys were right, both females laid their eggs there!
How long will this mating season go on for? Will they start again in the fall? If I were to get 2 more females what age should they be? Should they be about the age of these ducks or younger? Will they start this fighting again even with new female ducks? If I get more females I don't want the dominant duck next time to take over all 4 females LOL!!!!!
Thanks again for your help! We only starting raising ducks last fall and have been hitting all kinds of new stuff this yr as they grow and mature.

 

[MissPrissy]

If you got 2 more ducks get them as near to their age as you can. You don't want a female too young being relentlessly bred by the lone male.

 

[Bisqit&Gravy]

How I missed this earlier, I don't know. My drakes are fighting too. I'm still deciding on getting lots of females. How long does this mating rage phrase last? Will it get any better?

 

[MissPrissy]

Perhaps this answers your question -

In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love ... -Alfred, Lord Tennyson