Bullying drake

I think Melvin needs a harmonica so he can play the blues until mating season is over. He's not giving you much in the way of options! I don't know ducks but re-homing Maude doesn't seem like a solution - he would just move his passions on to the next in line? I think geese have a closer monogamous bond but my impression of ducks is a bit more 'free love', medallion and all!
Girls come first - maybe let him out briefly and often?
 
dorsetduckowner is our duck expert on here, she has vast experience, and I'm sure she is right when she says
"It is always just the one girl and its heartbreaking. You are doing the absolute right thing, the only way you can stop this is to keep him separate for the breeding season which can go on for 6 months. I have 8 separate pens/houses during the breeding season... then come October they are all happy mixing again."

Letting him out for short periods is only going to make things worse for him, by re-igniting his hormones at the sight of the girls, and certainly would be most unfair on Maude as she would inevitably be attacked every time. It was kind of you to take him in, but your only options, it seems to me, are either to keep him penned until the autumn and then face the same problem next year, or to rehome him, or to cull him. On here we often have people with comparable problems with stroppy cockerels, and usually it's a relief when the offending bird is off the premises, one way or another. As a poultry keeper, you just have to work within the limits of what's possible for you and best for the rest of the flock, and there's no need to feel guilty about culling a bird if he's attacking one of your females. Take him to the vet if you can't do the deed yourself, and he will just go peacefully to sleep on the table.
 
I’ll be feeling guilty if I have to rehome him, cull him or keep him penned till autumm so I’ll not be winning either way. He’s a lovely looking duck too, he’s beautiful.

Today’s task is to sort a new pen out for him. The pen he’s in now has the pond in which my girls don’t have access to while he’s in there so I need to sort that out. I might have to start looking into animal sanctuary’s to see if anyone can take him in. It looks like he’s been taking his frustrations out of the teddy last night though. Poor teddy lol
 
I'm no expert at all Marigold! Just interested and thinking out loud (an unfortunate trait.)
But it does sound like dorsetduckowner's regular solution is to keep them penned apart till the autumn and so that's not an unduly mean thing to do (despite some frustration on his part and the practical issue of arranging it.)
I wonder - do they need to be out of sight of each other? - would that actually make any difference to his drive? It would be good if they could see each other through the wire maybe as company? I'm asking because I don't know.
 
Don't think being out of sight of the ducks would work Rick:-

dorsetduckowner said:
if he cant see them he will call for them and probably get distressed. Its worth remembering that his testicles (internal) are currently about 500 percent larger than they are during non breeding season, that means he is producing a whole lotta testosterone which has to be directed somewhere!!!
Click to expand...

It's a bit like breaking a broody hen - let them out too soon and they just go straight back to the nest box. I had an Exchequer Leghorn that went broody and looked like she was in danger of hurting herself against the separating wire. It took an enormous effort of will on my part to keep her there long enough.

Also my cockerel became aggressive to me, so much that I never went near him without a stick in my hand and had to be very careful not to get between him and his girls until the breeding season was over.

Recently I've been coping with an aggressive cat but a homeopathic remedy seems to have sorted him out - but I don't know what can be done about high levels of testosterone other than separate, re-home or cull. :(
 
Well I’ve had to let him out of the enclosure today to clean out the coops so I boxed in my girls with loads of stuff out the shed, so he could roam round the garden whilst I cleaned. One of my dogs was on the garden and Melvin attacked him! He’s a German pointer so quite a big dog! He’s quite lucky to still be alive! So frustrating...

Can ducks be castrated!? Lol
 
Hi Shell :)
you are not alone, this is happening all over with duck people. We just get used to it and have our separate pens ready for the season. This time of year I get calls about domestic ducks being dumped on rivers and public ponds, guess what, they are all drakes. I have 7 on my local river, huge hulking great big drakes. Their owner no longer has the problem, but the poor lady mallards on the river dont stand a chance and sooner or later the drakes will get duffed up by the fox.
You are doing the absolute kindest thing for him by keeping him separate, he will settle down and you will find your boys and girls will settle down either side of the fence from each other. I am looking out at mine now and one of my boys is happily snuggled next to the girls with a fence diving them. If he gets on the same side as them there will be rape/violence.
In regard to castration.... no you cant, their testicles are internal and very close to a major artery so the surgery is extremely risky, and the testicles can grow back. You can get the hormone suppressant implant (Suprelorin), it works if you get it administered before the breeding season (before the testes have grown) but sometimes it doesnt work at all, and it costs between £90 and £200 a go and only lasts a few months.
Rescue centres will have the exact same problems as you and as such will have to keep him on his own in a small lonely area.

If at all possible, just keep them separate and make it part of your duck routine. He MAY settle down when he's over 4 years old. The 2s and 3s are the worst.

You sound like a fab duck Mum :)
zo
x
 
He’s not even 1 yet ? he’s 1 in May. So I’ve got 3 more year of this then? Lol

I just can’t believe how much it’s all changed so fast from them all living nicely together to this. I certainly wasn’t expecting this.

Do you think after breeding season he’ll accept Maude back into the group?

I could have killed all the girls today to be honest, I’ve got a rockery that I’ve just had to buy a taller fence for because the girls thought it was a good idea to eat all my daffodils, the size of it I thought would help keep my tulips safe... nope! The girls trampled the fence down and ate them! Ducks! Who’d have them! ??
 
Ahh welcome to ducks :) Forget flowers/grass/anything clean/any kind of life. They are 100% worth it though, the joy they will bring you and they will always appreciate goodies :)
They do seem to change overnight when those hormones kick in!
I used to get stressed about seperation pens during breeding season, now its just part of the routine. It removes stress for you and the ducks and you still get to enjoy them :)
Zo
x
 
Yes, I imagine it's like shutting a broody hen out of the nest box and penning her somewhere with lots of light and much less comfortable. Hard to do the first time, but easy once you've observed the benefits when she returns to normal.
 
I have a female muscovy who insists on sitting tight on her eggs 4 times a year, she is so determined. I let her sit for a few weeks then turf her off, I feel awful for 24 hours, she gets annoyed with me, then we both get over it and things are back to normal and she goes about her life as usual and I don't have hundreds of muscovy babies to cope with each year ;)
 
Yeah I have no grass anymore but the dogs don’t help that either because one of mine likes to scratch about after having a wee. Which the ducks love! Lol

To be honest I’m just happy to see Maude happy again. She’s got her voice back which I’m sure the neighbours won’t be pleased about. Especially at 7am this morning when she shouted at me for not throwing down her strawberries fast enough. She’s such a drama queen!
 
Just tennis season ??

The state of them today with all the rain and mud is terrible. Definitely not very lady like today
 
While I’m here, does anyone have any tips on the runs flooring? While I’m at work they stay in the run but it’s like a swamp whenever it rains with how compacted the mug has got. Someone mentioned on another forum that bark was good to put down for them but I’m worried about their feet. I’m considering slabbing it all to be honest. I fell on my bum last night when putting them to bed the mud was that bad ?
 
ahh I feel your pain, I have re-turfed the hospital aviaries twice this month already!
Slabbing isn't good, you will get all sorts of foot problems with them. If you use bark (which is good), you have to use hardwood as softwood bark goes moldy and mold is bad news for ducks, they could get aspergillosis. I think Flytesofancy does hardwood bark, garden centres don't stock it as a rule.
Stable matting is fantastic and also easy to clean. For long term grass protection I use plastic tree guard mesh.
https://www.green-tech.co.uk/tree-planting-products/tree-protection-and-shelters/mesh-tree-guard-plastic-rolls
Re turf, or re seed when you can, then lay the mesh over the grass and the grass grows through. You get grass, but they cant get their bills through the holes to dibble enough to turn to mud. If you do this make sure your drainage is good underneath so you don't get too much surface water. You could do a mixture of grass mesh and stable matting in the pen. I put the stable matting round the water/pond areas which helps to keep the water a bit cleaner...
Keep us posted!
zo
x
 
That’s the problem I have rubbish drainage. Going to have a look at the mesh and look up the bark. Thanks very much for all your help ?
 
Has anyone tried Aubiose (shredded hemp) for duck pens? It's soft, warm, fantastically absorbent and doesn't develop fungal problems when damp. I use it for my hens and as it's really horse bedding it's intended for a deep litter system where you add extra on top, having removed the worse of the poo, which is easy to do on a daily basis as it coats the droppings and make it possible to pick them up. It's a good choice if you have a riding stables nearby that will sell you a few bales without costing the earth for transport, as Flytes of Fancy etc do. Last week i bought 5 X 22-kg bales for £54 plus £1.80 delivery for the lot, which will last me a year. Contents of the muck bucket are an amazing addition to compost as well.
In the chicken run I also have a permeable membrane underneath the Aubiose, which stops them scratching earth into the bedding and keeps it cleaner. They have a big dustbath for that. Oh, and a roof over the run as well, with a gutter to prevent rain coming in from the sides and willow screening round some of the sides for shade and wind protection. I know ducks need access to water to dabble in, and so they are intrinsically messier than hens, but if you can reduce the amount of rainwater falling on the pen it must be a help. I know that they prefer grass, whether mesh covered or not, but when this isn't available, anything is better than mud, i would imagine.

Here's a link to Aubiose stockist, if interested. I don't know what you think about Aubiose for ducks, dorsetduckowner?
http://www.aubiose.co.uk/stockists.php
 
Ideally I need to put my roof back on, it was destroyed back when storm Brian hit and I’ve still not going round to fixing it up. It’s on my very long list of things to do. There’s a small pond in the run as well which doesn’t make it any better especially as the girls fly round the water causing tidal waves. I must roll my eyes at the ducks at least 6 times a day. I’m currently building a long planter for down side of my garden seeing as though my flower boarder was a bad idea for both dogs and ducks but because I still haven’t finished it because of the rain the ducks are currently using it as a catwalk ?
 
I use Aubiose for their overnight quarters, poo pick daily and top up then a full clean out when needs be. Its good stuff, but expensive. Works out cheaper in the long run though I reckon.
I should really put a roof on my hospital aviaries, its usually my flighted birds that go in there though and I worry about them hitting a hard roof so currently have netting.
 
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