Drakes fighting

[Corinne23]

I have 2 drakes a khaki chambell and a pekin. I have 3 hens possibly 4 but we’re not sure on the 1. 3 are pekins 1 is a khaki. The 2 khakis are a year and a half and my pekins are all about 6 months old. My 2 drakes have been fighting here and there. My khaki is almost always starting especially when my Pekin drake is trying to mate. Well today it was really bad they were in the outside enclosure and I had to crawl in and drag my khaki out and he is now missing all of his wing feathers and can’t fly, the pekin was sitting on him and ripping out his feathers and going for his throat. I currently have my khaki drake and hen locked in the coop and my pekins are in the outside enclosure which is safe and nothing can get in. I don’t know what to do to resolve this but I also can’t have them killing each other and attacking each other especially when we are not home which is almost of the day. Any advice is greatly appreciated I don’t want to have to get rid of either of my drakes.

 

[Callender Girl]

Although it usually only happens in the spring and early summer when hormones are at their highest, I sometimes have to physically separate my two runner drakes. One of them, and it varies depending on who is the most aggressive, ends up in "duck jail," a fenced-in, small, converted dog house.

But I have never had problems to the extent that you are facing. Your poor khaki! I hope he's doing okay.

 

[BelovedBirds]

I have 2 drakes a khaki chambell and a pekin. I have 3 hens possibly 4 but we’re not sure on the 1. 3 are pekins 1 is a khaki. The 2 khakis are a year and a half and my pekins are all about 6 months old. My 2 drakes have been fighting here and there. My khaki is almost always starting especially when my Pekin drake is trying to mate. Well today it was really bad they were in the outside enclosure and I had to crawl in and drag my khaki out and he is now missing all of his wing feathers and can’t fly, the pekin was sitting on him and ripping out his feathers and going for his throat. I currently have my khaki drake and hen locked in the coop and my pekins are in the outside enclosure which is safe and nothing can get in. I don’t know what to do to resolve this but I also can’t have them killing each other and attacking each other especially when we are not home which is almost of the day. Any advice is greatly appreciated I don’t want to have to get rid of either of my drakes.

If these birds are all together you dont only need to worry about the drakes, but also the hens. If you're out of ratio, multiple drakes can breed a hen, or overbreed the entire group, even to the point of accidently drowning them, or leaving them seriously injured.
The correct ratio is 1 drake to every 3-6 hens. This will help to keep them from fighting, and reduce the risk of the girls being hurt badly.
You can also use multiple kiddie pools, one per drake, as water can bring out those mating hormones and can cause fighting if there is only one body of water that has to be shared. (unless you have a large pond/lake).

 

[Corinne23]

If these birds are all together you dont only need to worry about the drakes, but also the hens. If you're out of ratio, multiple drakes can breed a hen, or overbreed the entire group, even to the point of accidently drowning them, or leaving them seriously injured.
The correct ratio is 1 drake to every 3-6 hens. This will help to keep them from fighting, and reduce the risk of the girls being hurt badly.
You can also use multiple kiddie pools, one per drake, as water can bring out those mating hormones and can cause fighting if there is only one body of water that has to be shared. (unless you have a large pond/lake).

I have multiple kiddie pools set up my khaki still starts with my Pekin. I wanted to get more hens but my Pekin hens and drake got so big I don’t really have room in the coop or outside enclosure for more hens. We also let them free roam when we are home but I went back to work so they haven’t been free roaming as much as they did all summer

 

[Miss Lydia]

Keep your KC's separated from your Pekins till cool weather starts. Hopefully, by then hormones will be low. Anyway you can split your run using fencing so KC's are on one side Pekins on the other. Temporaily? Also large dog crate inside the coop can keep one drake or both KC's overnight. I keep a large dog crate set up in my coop for trouble makers. They get time out overnight.

 

[Corinne23]

Keep your KC's separated from your Pekins till cool weather starts. Hopefully, by then hormones will be low. Anyway you can split your run using fencing so KC's are on one side Pekins on the other. Temporaily? Also large dog crate inside the coop can keep one drake or both KC's overnight. I keep a large dog crate set up in my coop for trouble makers. They get time out overnight.

Thank you! I have a large dog crate from when I started introducing the pekins to the flock. I will set it up tonight none of them are very happy right now about being separated my KC are at the fence and my pekins are at the other side all complaining to each other I hope this is going to teach them a lesson

 

[Miss Lydia]

I take it this way, the drakes can't help themselves it's in their DNA to fight so one drake is dominant to spread his genes around. It's up to us to keep the peace and keep everyone safe. Hopefully, once the weather starts cooling off hormones will be cooling off too.
I have my Runners, Buffs and goose separated from my Muscovy because my Runner drake is not nice to the Muscovy females.

 

[Corinne23]

I take it this way, the drakes can't help themselves it's in their DNA to fight so one drake is dominant to spread his genes around. It's up to us to keep the peace and keep everyone safe. Hopefully, once the weather starts cooling off hormones will be cooling off too.
I have my Runners, Buffs and goose separated from my Muscovy because my Runner drake is not nice to the Muscovy females.

I hope they stop fighting. Thankfully if they don’t my husband can bring one of the drakes to his job so we won’t have to go through find him a new home and there are other hens their

 

[Canadian Wind]

Okay, now I'm curious. What kind of job does your husband have that he can bring a duck to, and where do I sign up?

 

[Corinne23]

Okay, now I'm curious. What kind of job does your husband have that he can bring a duck to, and where do I sign up?

Lol he works at a state park and they have chickens, hens, peacocks, and pheasants. He talked to his bosses today about the possibility of having to bring one of the drakes there and since they don’t have any drakes they said he could bring him their if it came down to it. The ducks at his job are the reason we actually got our first 2 my son fell so in love with them my husband came home with our khakis for my sons birthday. And this has been a journey and learning experience