- Feb 9, 2013
- 15
- 0
- 22
Hello! I currently have 7 chickens, mostly barnyard mixes of all shapes and colors. I'm obsessed with them. My oldest pullet is 11 mos. and my 2 youngest are 6 mos. All of them are laying now, even through our New England winter, except for one of my 6 month olds (who's not the brightest chicken, in the sweetest way) and one of my 8 month olds that has a crossbite. She is a very happy girl and spoiled rotten-we make her a personal bowl of feed mixed with warm water to "mash" it up every morning, but she will most likely never be healthy enough to lay. I cannot bear the thought of culling her-she is the most affectionate and grateful girl I have!
I'm ready to extend my flock this Spring, and have ordered 3 Cayuga ducklings, 2 female and 1 male for early April delivery from Metzer Farms. It was a lot of time and patience introducing our current flock to each other since they were all spaced around 1-2 months apart (we kept getting roos, after raising them and loving them, we'd have to trade them back to the farm and would get baby chicks in return), and I am hoping introducing ducklings will be much easier.
Am I wrong? Do I keep my ducks separate til they're big enough, or should I keep them separate permanently? Is there an introduction period as with chickens? Was I right to order 2 females and 1 male? I was under the impression that a male was necessary to keep the females happy, and 2 females were necessary to keep the male away from trying to mate with my hens. I'm also hoping maybe my crossbite special needs hen may bond with the ducks since she's alienating herself a bit from the other hens lately...
As you can tell I have a lot of questions! I tried to give myself ample time to prepare and educate myself on ducks before their arrival in the Spring! Is there a way to put this thread out there so the right duck/chicken parents will catch it and respond?
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP.
I'm hoping everyone can live together in harmony!
I'm ready to extend my flock this Spring, and have ordered 3 Cayuga ducklings, 2 female and 1 male for early April delivery from Metzer Farms. It was a lot of time and patience introducing our current flock to each other since they were all spaced around 1-2 months apart (we kept getting roos, after raising them and loving them, we'd have to trade them back to the farm and would get baby chicks in return), and I am hoping introducing ducklings will be much easier.
Am I wrong? Do I keep my ducks separate til they're big enough, or should I keep them separate permanently? Is there an introduction period as with chickens? Was I right to order 2 females and 1 male? I was under the impression that a male was necessary to keep the females happy, and 2 females were necessary to keep the male away from trying to mate with my hens. I'm also hoping maybe my crossbite special needs hen may bond with the ducks since she's alienating herself a bit from the other hens lately...
As you can tell I have a lot of questions! I tried to give myself ample time to prepare and educate myself on ducks before their arrival in the Spring! Is there a way to put this thread out there so the right duck/chicken parents will catch it and respond?
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP.
