Adding ducks to an established flock

[ceedublu]

I rescued two young drakes a few years ago. Last fall, one of them passed away, and I adopted four laying females. After keeping the drake (a Pekin) in an adjacent yard for a couple of weeks, I put him in with the females (Cayugas and a Swedish Blue). It took another week or two before they accepted him, but they did. Aside from some over-mating (the drake has a favorite) it's gone very well.

This spring, I rescued two more female ducklings (Pekins). I kept them in an adjacent yard for the first couple of weeks. They've been in the same yard (and house) for the last six weeks or so, but they just aren't accepting each other. The drake harasses the ducklings, and the ducklings (which are now larger than the other females) harass the other females.

There's no evidence of any fighting. I am getting fewer eggs (presumably from the stress) but it's more of a management issue than anything. Moving, housing, feeding and handling the ducks has become a lot more difficult since they don't think or act like one flock. If I get the established flock to move where I want them, the ducklings go in the opposite direction, and vice-versa. I have to feed them separately, and I can't get them all into the house at night without picking them up and carrying them in.

Does anyone have any advice on how to integrate these birds?

 

[quackingdom]

In my experience, ducks don't fully integrate and become a unified flock until the ducklings are fully mature. It's preferable to not introduce ducklings to a drake until they're at least sixteen weeks old (especially if he tries to mate them).

So perhaps they just need more time. Or perhaps it would be better to separate them for a while longer still.

 

[ceedublu]

In my experience, ducks don't fully integrate and become a unified flock until the ducklings are fully mature. It's preferable to not introduce ducklings to a drake until they're at least sixteen weeks old (especially if he tries to mate them).

So perhaps they just need more time. Or perhaps it would be better to separate them for a while longer still.

Thank you! Their yard is large enough that they have no trouble separating themselves during the day. I've got two pens in the house, but I'm nursing a female with a broken foot in one of them, so they'll probably have to be together inside for a few more weeks. I think that's more of a problem for me than it is for them, though, so I'll just keep managing it and be patient. Thanks for the input -- super helpful.

 

[Beaglegal]

It can take months to fully integrate a flock in my limited experience. I have also noticed my ducks like lots of space. Its just plain easier to get ducks to willingly go through bigger doors into larger spaces especially when not everyone gets along.

 

[ceedublu]

In my experience, ducks don't fully integrate and become a unified flock until the ducklings are fully mature. It's preferable to not introduce ducklings to a drake until they're at least sixteen weeks old (especially if he tries to mate them).

So perhaps they just need more time. Or perhaps it would be better to separate them for a while longer still.

The ducklings and the older females have started eating out of the same feeders this past week, so I think they're coming along. The drake is still a bit aggressive towards the ducklings, but he's on his own most of the time anyway -- and they probably outweigh him by two or three pounds at this point, so I think they can hold their own. They're about two months old, and they're the biggest ducks I've ever seen.