Morning Glory the Attack Duck

It is the time of year when drakes can start to misbehave. The lengthening daylight tells the drake it is time to sow his wild oats and fight off any competitors.

I knew this so I've been keeping a careful eye on our flock of ducks. All had been peaceful and quiet. At least 5 of my 6 ducks have come into lay and the three drakes were busy trying to make all those eggs fertile.    Happiness reigned in duck-dom. 

That all changed yesterday. 

This is Morning Glory. 

This is Hyacinth

This is Morning Glory attacking Hyacinth

Morning Glory decided to ruthlessly bully Hyacinth and keep him separated from the rest of the flock. I have been checking on the ducks frequently to make sure this behavior doesn't get out of hand. So far there has been no blood shed, but Morning Glory is so focused on Hyacinth that he has neglected his conjugal duties. 

Interestingly, Morning Glory doesn't seem to care about Freckles, our third drake. 

Normally Hyacinth is one of the flock's leaders and often leads them all to bed in their duck house at nightfall. Last night Morning Glory chased out poor Hy and wouldn't let him back in. That behavior backfired on Morning Glory, though, because I scooped him up and put him in "time out"(our quarantine/hospital pen)  for the night. 

Needless to say, we are building breeding pens so we can get our drakes separated ASAP.  That way everyone will stay safe and we can further our breeding goals. We've bought the materials so now it is just a matter of putting it all together.