2 new adopted ducks! And some questions..

[Foodaholic75]

I just adopted two brother and sister ducks.

They are about a year old and and mixed breed. The boy is a greyish-white and the girl is a light caramel-brown and white, she has beautiful face markings. Ohh they are so cute!!

I have 1 rooster, 3 hens and 1 duck. My duck Ritz' boyfriend Jack recently died and she has been very lonely so I wanted to find her friends. So I brought the 2 new ducks home yesterday. They are in the summer garden area that's enclosed with 5ft. fence wire. At first sight my rooster was aggressive, they have never had any additions to their group, but then he started to dance for them. After awhile he just went on with his usual business and didn't pay attention to them. I have all the necessary things for the new ducks in the garden with them but the are still soooo very scared.. What worries me is they have not ate or drank water. They run along one side of the fence back and forth and hide. Will they be ok? How long will it be till they are at least comfortable to roam around where they are now? Will they like my 1 duck? And will my rooster eventually take to them and hopefully ignore them?

 

[Amiga]

Things will probably sort themselves out fine - it's a matter of time, and how well your instincts work to help them.

When I brought our two adopted Buffs home, it was in the afternoon, and we brought them into a smallish enclosure right next to the Runners' pen in the basement. They were able to chat with the Runners safely from the opposite side of a fence. They also had a manageably small area to scope out the first sixteen hours, with their own food, water and oyster shell.

Next day they had supervised time with the rest of the flock. They were gradually (over two or three days) introduced to their surroundings. They were bribed with peas, just like everyone else, so they all associated happy times together.

Took about three days for the flock to decide they weren't going anywhere without Romy and Shelly. How sweet!

So, you might want to think about treats, probably initially offered in a bowl since these two sound like they're not socialized. It will take time for them to learn to trust their new environment. I know you'll keep them close and safe. If they get outside a fence, they may take off for their old home, even though they don't know where that is.

Were they part of a larger flock? They may not know what to do with themselves without other ducks.

 

[veronicasmom]

Congrats on your new additions. Can we see pics? And sorry for the loss of your other duck.
They will work it out, it takes a bit but Amiga's suggestions are really good. They will be fine.