Bleeding duck

[bjwil]

I have two Pekin ducks, a male and a female. Last week, I noticed a large splotch of fresh blood in the snow. Thought it might be my female, so I caught her, flipped her over, but didn’t see any signs of blood. Couldn’t even find her vent. Today I found some new fresh blood, although not as much as before, just a few drops. But it’s in the duck house so I know it’s one of them. She is still laying, but not daily like she has in the past. I’m wondering if the drake is injuring her. He’s pretty energetic with her. If that is the situation, would it help for me to get another female? Otherwise, I’m having a hard time tracking where this blood is coming from. She is not showing any outward signs of discomfort.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Yes the Drake may be injuring her so yes get a couple more females - the recommended ratio for Drakes to hens is one to 3-5

I would bring her in and put her in a bathtub of lukewarm water let her clean herself up and then search carefully for the source of blood. Then take a few pictures and post them here please.

 

[bjwil]

I will bathe her today and separate them. In the meantime, I’ll look for another hen or two.

Yes the Drake may be injuring her so yes get a couple more females - the recommended ratio for Drakes to hens is one to 3-5

I would bring her in and put her in a bathtub of lukewarm water let her clean herself up and then search carefully for the source of blood. Then take a few pictures and post them here please.

 

[Jenbirdee]

I will bathe her today and separate them. In the meantime, I’ll look for another hen or two.

Once you figure out where the blood is coming from and after you treat it they might be fine to stay together - depending on what kind of injury it is we should be able to figure out if it was caused by the Drake or not

 

[bjwil]

Will new hens need to be introduced carefully as chickens are? Separated in an area where the the current hen can become accustomed to them or can I release them together right away?

 

[Jenbirdee]

Will new hens need to be introduced carefully as chickens are? Separated in an area where the the current hen can become accustomed to them or can I release them together right away?

There are a couple of reasons why it’s good to separate them the first week or two for one thing you want to keep an eye on them and watch for any signs of disease or illness, which you don’t want to share with your original birds it would be better to take care of that first before you mix them together and also keeping a fence between them so they can see but not touch Helps them get used to each other before they can touch.

 

[bjwil]

There are a couple of reasons why it’s good to separate them the first week or two for one thing you want to keep an eye on them and watch for any signs of disease or illness, which you don’t want to share with your original birds it would be better to take care of that first before you mix them together and also keeping a fence between them so they can see but not touch Helps them get used to each other before they can touch.

There are a couple of reasons why it’s good to separate them the first week or two for one thing you want to keep an eye on them and watch for any signs of disease or illness, which you don’t want to share with your original birds it would be better to take care of that first before you mix them together and also keeping a fence between them so they can see but not touch Helps them get used to each other before they can touch.

I found a couple of sweet little hens, about two years old, to add to my drake and hen. I put Cal (drake) in the monastery (chicken run) to allow Dandelion and her new roomies a few days to get use to each other. I know the lady the hens came from so felt safe releasing them with my hen, Dandelion without a quarantine period. They're doing fine. They eat together, swim together, wander around together. Until today. It's been not quite a week and I brought Cal back to get acquainted and all heck has broken loose. Up till now they've all been able to communicate through the fence. He's cuddled up to his side and the girls have cuddled up to theirs to be near him. But now that he's in the yard with them he chases them off the food, won't let them eat, chases them out of the pond. He really goes after them. They're terrified of him. I put separate food dishes down, one for Cal and Dandelion and one for the two new girls and he still goes after them. He hasn't actually attacked them, just chases them off very vigorously. He is NOT playing nice at all! How long do I give this before I pull him out altogether? Relegating him permanently to the chicken run (he and they ignore each other) doesn't seem fair but he can't continue to chase the new hens off indefinitely.

If it's helpful, here's the history. My venture with ducks started last spring when a young friend asked if I would take Cal because the other ducks were mean to him. With a few years of chicken experience but no history with ducks, I said, "Sure. Bring him over." He and the chickens ignored each other from day one. Still do. A week or two later, my young friend said ducks shouldn't be alone and would I take one of her hens, four months old? Okay, bring her over. After a few weeks, he killed her. She was too young to mate which I didn't know then and he crushed her hip. I had to put her down. He and Dandelion have been together for several months. He's quite aggressive in mating and when I began seeing blood (which turned out not to be hers after all) I learned that I really needed another hen or two. Hence, the two I brought home last week. That's the history. I really don't want any more ducks. I don't like to have more animals than I can afford to feed or have strength to care for. If the ones I have now can get along, that would be fine but no more. It all seems to come down to Cal.

 

[Jenbirdee]

I had to rehome a few drakes over the years . They just were not treating my duck hens well at all. Finally after ten years I have a Drake that is a fairly decent guy.
In your case my advice is to think about just keeping your hens and finding a new home for Cal.
Drakes are pretty much impossible to train- my opinion, shared by some others, maybe not all though.
@HollowOfWisps may have advice

 

[Sondraa]

You could try keeping them separate for a longer period before reintroducing. That can sometimes be enough. However, its a recurring theme, I am afraid. If you aren't wanting them to breed and it sounds like you don't...I would rehome or process the drake.

Have another go at separation first though. Give it a couple weeks. If nothing else, you will feel less conflicted about your other options. Good luck!

 

[bjwil]

You could try keeping them separate for a longer period before reintroducing. That can sometimes be enough. However, its a recurring theme, I am afraid. If you aren't wanting them to breed and it sounds like you don't...I would rehome or process the drake.

Have another go at separation first though. Give it a couple weeks. If nothing else, you will feel less conflicted about your other options. Good luck!

I followed your advice here, put him in the monastery (chicken run). He has food, water, and shelter there and can communicate with the ducks through the fence. They have free run of the fenced front yard so he has spent most of his time sitting on a cinder block, chirping away at them through the fence while they're out and about the yard. The chickens don't hang in the run much. I let them out in the morning and they make a beeline for the front yard where the ducks are. They go back into the coop at night and the few times they've been in the run with him, he's kept to himself, hasn't bothered them.

He's been in the run for about six weeks. I let him back into the yard today. He immediately nailed the two new girls who are much smaller than his original mate whom he hasn't bothered yet. He's mated them but otherwise hasn't appeared to be overly aggressive like he was. Hasn't chased them off food or out of the pond and gone after them aggressively.

A different wrinkle, however, is that I've had the two new girls for about six weeks as well and between the two of them, I've gotten five eggs so I'm considering rehoming them. They've doubled my feed bill which I really can't afford with nothing in return. If I go through with that, it will be back to one original duck and the drake will go back to the chicken run and they'll communicate through the fence because he'll no longer have three girls. The original duck and the two new ones have gotten along fine so I'm wondering how taking them from her will affect her. She seemed fine on her own when she had the yard and pond to herself and could snuggle up the fence now and then to visit him. What are your thoughts, please?