Need Duck Advice- We lost our beloved duck, Bruno. Need a companion for the girl.

[Scrubs32782]

Hello,

We lost our beloved duck, Bruno(Buff Orpington), the other night to a Raccoon attack. We had a bonded pair of male/female ducks, and our beloved boy was unfortunately killed. The female survived. We have 10 hens and 1 rooster, and they all seemingly get along; however, she is extremely sad and depressed since she is the only one in her pen/coop(The duck and chickens free-range together during the day while we are home). I know that it's not good for the ducks to live solo, so we are going to get her more companions. There is someone nearby who has some young Cayuga ducks(Male and Female, together only) for sale nearby. Would 2 girls and 1 drake be okay? Or should I look at getting females only? We aren't looking to breed for additional ducks, if that would be a question that arises.


Our girl is an Indian Runner Duck(8 months old), she is very sweet, but shy.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Isadora]

Sorry you lost your Drake.
That pair may very well work out just fine. Only thing I would keep an eye on is if the male needs additional females so that the girls aren't overmated by him.

 

[Colley12]

Sorry you lost your Drake.
That pair may very well work out just fine. Only thing I would keep an eye on is if the male needs additional females so that the girls aren't overmated by him.

I second this Right now I have 1 male and 2 female runners. It's working out so far. But I did create my duck house with 2 compartments, so if I start to notice too much I will be able to separate him from the girls even at night to give them a break.

 

[Colley12]

And to add, sorry you lost your drake poor girl, glad you are getting her some companions.

 

[Scrubs32782]

I second this Right now I have 1 male and 2 female runners. It's working out so far. But I did create my duck house with 2 compartments, so if I start to notice too much I will be able to separate him from the girls even at night to give them a break.

Thank you both! I built a custom coop that is 4x4ft and has a fortified ramp/door that has a 12x12ft outdoor pen/run surrounded by high fencing. I'm assuming that should be enough room. Due to the incident that happened, I'm completely redoing the ducks pen/run this weekend with hardware cloth on the bottom fencing of their pen and will completely enclose it, that way I don't have to completely lock them up anymore at night. They always hated staying in the actual coop. I'm going to build this next one with large fenceposts completely enclosed with hardware cloth from top to bottom. Since the run will be large and enclosed, I'm going to run electric wire higher up so this doesn't happen ever again.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

How old are these “young ducks”? If they are over four months they are probably already a pair and could be ugly to your girl. I would look for just females before I would get this pair.

 

[Scrubs32782]

How old are these “young ducks”? If they are over four months they are probably already a pair and could be ugly to your girl. I would look for just females before I would get this pair.

Thank you for the reply. I just contacted the seller, and they are six months old. I'm assuming a bonded pair. I'm thinking that we should only get females?

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Thank you for the reply. I just contacted the seller, and they are six months old. I'm assuming a bonded pair. I'm thinking that we should only get females?

If you can find some it would be easier for her.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Hello,

We lost our beloved duck, Bruno(Buff Orpington), the other night to a Raccoon attack. We had a bonded pair of male/female ducks, and our beloved boy was unfortunately killed. The female survived. We have 10 hens and 1 rooster, and they all seemingly get along; however, she is extremely sad and depressed since she is the only one in her pen/coop(The duck and chickens free-range together during the day while we are home). I know that it's not good for the ducks to live solo, so we are going to get her more companions. There is someone nearby who has some young Cayuga ducks(Male and Female, together only) for sale nearby. Would 2 girls and 1 drake be okay? Or should I look at getting females only? We aren't looking to breed for additional ducks, if that would be a question that arises.


Our girl is an Indian Runner Duck(8 months old), she is very sweet, but shy.

Thank you for your time.

I don’t know a thing about ducks, let me start with that. But im so sorry for your loss. I recently just lost my lovely Emily due to what we thing was a fox/hawk.

No one can truly understand the pain unless they have felt it. Im again, very sorry. I hope time can help heal the wound, though the scar will still be there.

 

[Scrubs32782]

I don’t know a thing about ducks, let me start with that. But im so sorry for your loss. I recently just lost my lovely Emily due to what we thing was a fox/hawk.

No one can truly understand the pain unless they have felt it. Im again, very sorry. I hope time can help heal the wound, though the scar will still be there.

Thank you! I’m sorry about your loss as well. They were such a cute pair. She just stands next to the chickens side and calmly stares. We need to find her companions asap!