Intro-duck-tion!

[LadyBclucky]

Hey everyone, I'm a newbie and a novice. We got a Pekin duckling when we got our chickens in April. Against all recommendations we only got one.... she's loud and I mean VERY LOUD... she's a sweet duck, but the 7 am wake up calls are tooo much! So we decided to get her some friends, and learning from our mistake we got 2 Cayuga ducklings.... how do we go about introducing her to them and when should we do so? Will this finally shut her up? Any suggestions would be great! Thanks!!!

 

[crtrlovr]

I have no advice pertaining to your ducks, but just wanted to say hello and welcome!

 

[jacyjones]

I have had ducks for many years and have always put new straight in with old - they have always loved each other immediately and had massive excited ducky conversations! If there is a big difference in size then I would watch them to make sure they are ok but I have never had a problem.

 

[LadyBclucky]

Thanks so much! Now the Cayugas are very small, probably a week or 2 old. The Pekin is about 5 months old... do you think it's safe?

 

[katharinad]

You should wait until they are 8 weeks old. This is just to they don't get hurt if the older duck has a fit. You can try when they are 4 weeks old, it sometimes works that early. You never know they have personalities like humans do.
BTW I don't think that this will shut her up. The new girls may even pick up her behavior.

 

[GMT]

Quote:
Adding more ducks (assuming they are girls, the boys are chatty too, but they can't manage the girls' loud quack) just means there's more of them to quack, since they now have friends to gossip with (common topics of conversation include: "The sun is rising!" "The sun is setting!" "We're being fed!" "I love my food!" "I'm going for a swim!" "I've come back from a swim!" "I see something! Come look!" "That big person with the food is coming into the pen!" "I stretched my wings and boy did it feel good!" "I just wanted to let you know that I'm awake and alive!") And they'll also hold quacking competitions including who can be the loudest, and if they can all quack in sync.

I've had ducks for all of five months and I'm not at all sure there's anything that they won't talk about.

 

[desertdarlene]

Quote:
Adding more ducks (assuming they are girls, the boys are chatty too, but they can't manage the girls' loud quack) just means there's more of them to quack, since they now have friends to gossip with (common topics of conversation include: "The sun is rising!" "The sun is setting!" "We're being fed!" "I love my food!" "I'm going for a swim!" "I've come back from a swim!" "I see something! Come look!" "That big person with the food is coming into the pen!" "I stretched my wings and boy did it feel good!" "I just wanted to let you know that I'm awake and alive!") And they'll also hold quacking competitions including who can be the loudest, and if they can all quack in sync.

I've had ducks for all of five months and I'm not at all sure there's anything that they won't talk about.

He he he.

And, during breeding season, it seems to get louder!

Where I live, the males are more chatty right now, but at least their voices are lower.

Maybe those two new ducklings might be boys?

 

[LadyBclucky]

OH GREAT.....

Well, I was told that her quaking might be related to the fact she wants a Drake.. or that she was the only duck. The Cayuga Ducklings we sold to us as a boy and a girl... but we'll see who's what when they get older. Our Pekin girl is non stop...and it's crazy loud. It's the worse in the morning... she seems to only quack for good reason there after- But if she hears me or my husband or the dogs even she goes off. My neighbor doesn't seem to mind, but I would hate to get on bad terms over a duck. So... basically there is no hope? These 2 little ducks won't silence her in the slightest, even tho they provide her the duck companionship she's lacking? I heard Cayuga's aren't as quacky.... so hopefully that stands true.... eek!

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
I have a Cayuga pair. They're VERY quiet ducks. Louie talks much more than Thelma, but his voice is very soft and it has a comforting sound. Thelma is VERY quiet, hardly ever says a thing with her voice. (The head tilt, head bobbing, and coy glances say SO much more!) But when she DOES quack, boy howdy watch out! Somebody has upset her! It's usually just ONE loud quack, though.

They gabble quietly together, some, almost like duck murmuring.

 

[LadyBclucky]

Thanks gryeyes! That's great! We'll hopefully they will rub off on the pekin not the other way around!