A Duck and Dog Drama

Here is our beautiful Drake. He is very protective of his mate, which gets him into trouble sometimes. He and one of our chihuahua's hate each other, and we are always sure to keep them separate. But last week, we went into town to do some errands. The dogs and the ducks were separated by a wire fence.



Well our dear drake apparently stuck his head through the wire fence, and we think the chihuahua bit his beak. It was bleeding - a ducks bill has a layer of skin over it, and is filled with nerves. In the above picture you can see the cracks or breaks on the right side of his bill. He couldn't eat for a day or so, but now he is able to eat mashed bananas, and seems to be recovering and returning to his normal self.



Above is a photo of our prime suspect, here seen guarding a severed Rooster foot we fed to him after slaughtering one of our roosters for dinner.



We have covered the wire fence separating the dog and duck areas with an extra layer of smaller mesh wire, to keept the ducks from poking their heads through. Hopefully that will be sufficient. Most injuries caused to ducks are by dogs. I've read that even dogs and ducks that have seemed to get along for years, should never be left alone together, because an attack can occur all too easily.

I've seen the dynamic in action; the duck tries to keep the dogs at a distance, and lunges at them to chase them back. The dog interprets this as an attack, and snaps back at the duck. The duck isn't trying to provoke an attack, he is just trying to keep the dogs from getting too close, but it too easily escalates into an attack.

I can't be certain it was the Chihuahua who did the damage, but our male chihuahua and the drake have a special animosity for each other; the chihuahua will stand outside the fence for hours barking, if we let him. Based on his behaviour, I would bet it was him that did the deed. Perhaps we shall have to get a pair of Geese to straighen him out.