Bad Drake Behavior?

[azduckranch]

I have a 2 year old drake with 4 ducks, one the same age, another 9 months and 2 at 4 months. The problem is he can't resist the young ones and is especially fond of one where she has lost all her neck feathers in back. He will aggressively chase them and grab a mouthful of feathers before mounting them. When he is on top of them I don't see anything going on if you get the drift. We feel he is terrifying them. They can't go in the pond we just built without him intimidating them. They don't want to go in the pen at night if he is there. Is this normal behavior? Or, should we separate them? I can't say it affects his relations with the other 2 ducks as we are getting lots of fertile eggs. Please help with your experience.

[Katy]

I have the same issue. One drake, 5 hens...he's very frisky with the 1 yr olds and has one favorite whose neck is also a little beat up from his relentless badgering. I pretty much leave them be, and eventually it will work itself out once breeding season settles down. Occasionally though I do separate the drake from the girls so they can spend some time in the pond without his chasing them. Overnight I have a piece of plastic fencing that I hook across inside the shed and he sleeps seperately with one of the older ducks so the younger ones aren't beat up overnight. I did this because her neck was rubbed raw one morning when I let them out of the shed...so he was obviously bothering her when she couldn't get away from him in the house too. I have found it to be a good idea to always have some extra length of fencing around the yard for temporary partitions in these situations or if you have an injured or broody duck that may appreciate some space away from more aggressive flock-mates. good luck!

[azduckranch]

Katy,
Thank you for the reply. What you're doing is exactly what I'm doing. I noticed her neck is feathering in quite nicely now. This is my rookie year with ducks and I am learning a lot, especially from this website. I am eager for the next breeding season as we've been selling our ducklings and some chicks from a friends flock like hotcakes. Thanks again.