The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Bionic on April 24, 2015, 11:36:55 am
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I only have drakes, 5 of them. For some reason they have started picking on one and gang raping him. He is definitely male, in fact he is the father of one of the others.
He is now limping and has hardly any feathers left down his neck where they keep grabbing hold of him. He looks so dejected. During the day I have put him in a pen of his own but he really wants to be with the others. At night they are all in the house together.
Any suggestions?
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Perhaps he would be happier if he had one other in with him!
My problem is that I have 5 drakes and one female :o
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Perhaps he would be happier if he had one other in with him!
My problem is that I have 5 drakes and one female :o
The problem is that they all pick on him so putting another one in wouldn't help him. The pen is an open mesh one so he can see and hear the others outside
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Given the choice, I'd still rather be repeatedly raped by one bloke than several! :o
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Is it always the same one that starts the bullying? It may be the others are just following suit and then ganging up? I know I read with chickens you should remove the bully rather than the bullied and then slowly re-introduce. It may be if he gets some bonding time with the rest, one of the others will start standing up for him and then less likely to get as brutal in future.
This is all theory as my 4 female ducks haven't fought, but this is what I would be tempted to try, otherwise it would mean creating two group as it isn't fair if he is really getting ganged up on.
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WOMBLE!!!! :o
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This sounds awful for the poor drake getting bullied. My drake is crazy this time of year.
I don't know how you ended up with 5 drakes but maybe it's time to think about changing your setup? Getting some ducks and maybe getting rid of some drakes?
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Given the choice, I'd still rather be repeatedly raped by one bloke than several! :o
Is that in an either/or situation or is this your choice of Saturday night entertainment?? :innocent:
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WOMBLE!!!! :o
What?? :innocent: I was only sayin'!
Seriously though, in the long term I can't see how five drakes on their own is sustainable. We currently have five girls to three boys and I think that's pushing it a little (though I've seen no signs of bullying, and would certainly do something about it if I did see them).
Oh and Clansman - it's probably best we just don't go there ;) .
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My duck book said that drakes, without females, would get on happily together. So I gave my females away and kept drakes instead. Up until the last couple of weeks they all seemed happy together. I guess they now have that 'spring' feeling.
I fear that Jack (he had a female partner last year and they were Jack and Vera Duckworth) is going to get killed but I can't just stand by and watch it. .
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If there's a pond he could well get drowned in the melee. This happens with females occasionally if there are several drakes.
I agree that it's the bully you take out. When he comes back in he's lost his place as king of the dung heap, but I suppose all the fighting could start again while he re-establishes himself.
Is there any chance you could find a new home for him, with just females? Otherwise it might be the kindest thing to put him in the pot for dinner before he is totally traumatised.
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I have a friend who has just drakes. Most of the year they live very happily together but spring is a nightmare. Most of the time it is just rough and tumble but every now and then they will pick on one. If he is not separated out they WILL kill him. It sounds like you are in the same position and sounds like they will kill him if you don't keep him separated.
It does get better from mid to late summer when the hormones settle but it's not a good long term situation as it will be the same again next spring.
Other than separating out the victims or potentially rehoming him to someone with females you are looking at about 10 females to keep that many boys occupied. I have 3 drakes with 16 ducks and everyone is happy. At even 1:3 the girls stated looking a bit bedraggled by the end of the season.