Is removing the aggressive drake always the best idea?

[DoodlesDuckies]

I had 2 drakes and 6 ducks-all born this spring. And a female and male goose. One of the drakes (Violent Violet-named before I knew it was a he) were chasing the female goose away all the time and kind of a pain with the ducks. The other drake is pretty laid back. The male goose sat back and watched the naughty drake chase the female goose.

I took the naughty drake to a friends last night...and now the tides are shifting and I am thinking I made a mistake. The male goose is now walking a bit taller and poking at the ducks. The female goose is calmer but now the male goose stepped up. I understand there is a pecking order but it was tough watching the drake literally chase the female goose ALL OVER THE 5 ACRES. (never catching her)

The 2 drakes together were a bit aggressive with the females- a lot of gang action going on and it was tough to watch. Which I also understand is "normal" sexual duck behavior. It was on land and in kiddie pools.

Should I have kept Violent Violet?

 

[sourland]

I think you did the right thing. Over aggressive gang breeding of ducks is not normal behavior. Hopefully the gander will not become more aggressive and things will settle down.

 

[kaumlauf]

I had 2 drakes and 6 ducks-all born this spring. And a female and male goose. One of the drakes (Violent Violet-named before I knew it was a he) were chasing the female goose away all the time and kind of a pain with the ducks. The other drake is pretty laid back. The male goose sat back and watched the naughty drake chase the female goose.

I took the naughty drake to a friends last night...and now the tides are shifting and I am thinking I made a mistake. The male goose is now walking a bit taller and poking at the ducks. The female goose is calmer but now the male goose stepped up. I understand there is a pecking order but it was tough watching the drake literally chase the female goose ALL OVER THE 5 ACRES. (never catching her)

The 2 drakes together were a bit aggressive with the females- a lot of gang action going on and it was tough to watch. Which I also understand is "normal" sexual duck behavior. It was on land and in kiddie pools.

Should I have kept Violent Violet?

I also agree with the other contributor. I sadly waited too long to remove one of my 3 drakes from the flock. I had 5 females. (Mallards from TS) which I raised from babies. They were very tame and let me handle them. That has nothing to do with your question tho. One drake was constantly picking on another, and eventually broke his neck and left him paralyzed. I sadly had to put him down.

 

[DoodlesDuckies]

I appreciate your responses. I did remove one drake already before this one. The ratio was pushing the limits with 3 to 6...That drake was doing the same thing, chasing the female goose and being aggressive while breeding. Once he was gone, Violent Violet ramped up with the same behaviors. I am a little nervous my last "calm" drake will follow suit or the male goose will start up.

Why can't the males just chill out and enjoy life. Plenty of "goods" to go around fellas.

 

[sourland]

Why can't the males just chill out and enjoy life. Plenty of "goods" to go around fellas.

I think that it is 'competitive' breeding - trying to make sure that their DNA gets to carry on.

 

[Lori-in-Californa]

I had 2 drakes and 6 ducks-all born this spring. And a female and male goose. One of the drakes (Violent Violet-named before I knew it was a he) were chasing the female goose away all the time and kind of a pain with the ducks. The other drake is pretty laid back. The male goose sat back and watched the naughty drake chase the female goose.

I took the naughty drake to a friends last night...and now the tides are shifting and I am thinking I made a mistake. The male goose is now walking a bit taller and poking at the ducks. The female goose is calmer but now the male goose stepped up. I understand there is a pecking order but it was tough watching the drake literally chase the female goose ALL OVER THE 5 ACRES. (never catching her)

The 2 drakes together were a bit aggressive with the females- a lot of gang action going on and it was tough to watch. Which I also understand is "normal" sexual duck behavior. It was on land and in kiddie pools.

Should I have kept Violent Violet?

After three years I finally culled my sole drake. Still a sexual predator. The yard is peaceful now.

 

[Daniellerdixon323]

I was thinking the same thing…it’s so easy to misgender babies. I bought 12 “female” ducklings and it ended up being that only 5 of those were really female. It was a nightmare. 7 drakes, 5 hens. Horrific ratio. I had to get rid of all but 2 drakes and get a couple more females. The drakes were attacking each other after they started having an interest in the females. One of the males freaked out and almost killed one a my females trying to mate with her but I feel the competition with another male is what let to the altercation. The mating isn’t what got to me. It was him holding her under water for so long that I intervened. Luckily, I was near bc she gasped for air so loudly after I had to pick him up by his neck to get him off of her. I hated getting so rough with him but he would not get off and I didn’t have time to play around. Same drake tried to jump on my roosters backwho had accidentally broke loose from the chicken pen…to mate with him I guess …. Who knows. Drakes competing for water, resources, and especially females go crazy after several months give or take. The best thing is to have at least 4 females per drake sometimes more. Another piece of advice some adolescent drakes get a little hormonal approaching maturity and then mellow out for the most part then some seem sex driven and it never gets better. For your females benefit, get rid of or rehome drakes that seem to be the second of those 2. Duck mating can be rough in general but not all drakes are agressive to females if resources and ratios are decent. My 2 drakes are expected to be somewhat respectful to the others and I kept my 2 best, and rehomed some of the other drakes, and 1 was killed by a predator. Don’t regret not keeping them bc 2 drakes are enough for the females I have. Anyway, to sum it up…. Don’t be afraid to rehome problem drakes or intervene if you feel other ducks are going to potentially be in danger.

I had 2 drakes and 6 ducks-all born this spring. And a female and male goose. One of the drakes (Violent Violet-named before I knew it was a he) were chasing the female goose away all the time and kind of a pain with the ducks. The other drake is pretty laid back. The male goose sat back and watched the naughty drake chase the female goose.

I took the naughty drake to a friends last night...and now the tides are shifting and I am thinking I made a mistake. The male goose is now walking a bit taller and poking at the ducks. The female goose is calmer but now the male goose stepped up. I understand there is a pecking order but it was tough watching the drake literally chase the female goose ALL OVER THE 5 ACRES. (never catching her)

The 2 drakes together were a bit aggressive with the females- a lot of gang action going on and it was tough to watch. Which I also understand is "normal" sexual duck behavior. It was on land and in kiddie pools.

Should I have kept Violent Violet?

 

[DoodlesDuckies]

I was thinking the same thing…it’s so easy to misgender babies. I bought 12 “female” ducklings and it ended up being that only 5 of those were really female. It was a nightmare. 7 drakes, 5 hens. Horrific ratio. I had to get rid of all but 2 drakes and get a couple more females. The drakes were attacking each other after they started having an interest in the females. One of the males freaked out and almost killed one a my females trying to mate with her but I feel the competition with another male is what let to the altercation. The mating isn’t what got to me. It was him holding her under water for so long that I intervened. Luckily, I was near bc she gasped for air so loudly after I had to pick him up by his neck to get him off of her. I hated getting so rough with him but he would not get off and I didn’t have time to play around. Same drake tried to jump on my roosters backwho had accidentally broke loose from the chicken pen…to mate with him I guess …. Who knows. Drakes competing for water, resources, and especially females go crazy after several months give or take. The best thing is to have at least 4 females per drake sometimes more. Another piece of advice some adolescent drakes get a little hormonal approaching maturity and then mellow out for the most part then some seem sex driven and it never gets better. For your females benefit, get rid of or rehome drakes that seem to be the second of those 2. Duck mating can be rough in general but not all drakes are agressive to females if resources and ratios are decent. My 2 drakes are expected to be somewhat respectful to the others and I kept my 2 best, and rehomed some of the other drakes, and 1 was killed by a predator. Don’t regret not keeping them bc 2 drakes are enough for the females I have. Anyway, to sum it up…. Don’t be afraid to rehome problem drakes or intervene if you feel other ducks are going to potentially be in danger.

Hello. I ended up rehoming all the drakes but one. (1 drake and 6 ducks left) He is a sweet heart so far.....spring will be interesting. I also have a pair of geese, the male can be bossy with everyone. Micro managing when everyone eats and drinks. And is very protective of his lady goose. He lets her eat first, drink first, go in the hut first-a true gentlemen. We shall see what spring brings. It does get scary when the drakes get aggressive like that. I have had to break up a few duck dunking moments before I rehomed the other drakes. When you have a small flock I feel there is a lot of managing on our part to keep everyone safe. A huge flock tends to work out their own issues.