6 week old ducklings eating wood shavings and assimilation trouble

[CoriM]

I'm looking for some advice as I try to gradually assimilate my new ducklings into their outside pen with my older flock. So far, it's not going great. The big ones are terrified of the little ones. I have been putting them together in the yard in the tractor with a fence between the two groups now for a few weeks. That part goes fine. Occasionally I just let them out in the yard together, and if the big ducks come anywhere nearby to get a drink or something, the little ones will chase them away. I assume this is similar to puppies with grown dogs and will eventually dissipate. I do need to think about moving them out of my kitchen though, and so I've tried a couple times to put them in a fenced in area in the duck run/coop. Problem is if they are on the side by the pond that has river rock, they will try to eat the pebbles - though I've never seen them swallow, usually pick them up and drop them, but I'm afraid to leave them unsupervised. If I put them on the wood shaving side they are eating the shavings like crazy, which is terrifying to me because I don't want any sort of blockage! Will they eventually stop eating them? I haven't been brave to leave them there longer than five minutes to see what will happen because I don't want a problem. But on the other hand, if I don't keep them there, everytime I try them on the shavings it will be novel and exciting and they'll probably eat them. Anyone with advice for how to handle this? Should I just wait a couple weeks and hope they're more mature and don't try to eat the shavings? They're almost fully feathered!

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I would suggest waiting several more weeks assuming you have an adult drake. Drakes will force mate the youngsters and hurt them if they are not sexually mature. Sexual maturity isn’t until 3-4 months old.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Not a wood shavings fan of any kind.

 

[CoriM]

I would suggest waiting several more weeks assuming you have an adult drake. Drakes will force mate the youngsters and hurt them if they are not sexually mature. Sexual maturity isn’t until 3-4 months old.

I only have females!

 

[Quatie]

As long as you have more than one water source and food source, they should be fine. I wouldn't worry to much about the young ones scaring the older ducks away. Most of my young ones do that when intergrating. They start to settle down and integrate fully as they near laying age. Teen ducks tend to act out. If the adults were doing that to the young ducks, I would say they need to be separated longer. If you haven't, I would have them share the coop at night with barriers so they can just see each other.