Adding little ducks with big ducks

[crj]

I am fairly new to the duck world. I have chickens and I know they are completely different from each other. I have duck eggs in the incubator right now. How old do baby ducks have to be to add them to a flock of older ducks. There will probably be an 8 or 9 month difference in age. I'm asking this because I know chickens are extremely aggressive towards new chickens. Well, most of the time. Are ducks the same way? I don't see that happening but I thought I would ask anyway.

 

[CMV]

I integrated my ducks and geese the same way I did my chickens. I separated the house in half with the babies in one side and the older duck and goose on the other side. The babies had their own food and water, and were locked in where they could see and be seen, but not be touched. I kept them like that for 3 weeks, so when they all got mixed the babes were about 6 weeks old. At that point I pulled out the partition and had not a single problem. The flock integrated beautifully. I was worried about my goose more than my duck. The goose had initially tried to attack the babies when they were first put in the house. Frenchie is huge compared to the babies, and could do a lot of damage had she been able to get to them.

I had to move the babies outside at 3 weeks because I couldn't stand the mess they were making in my house, although they were not fully fledged at that point. I'm not sure where you are at, but I usually try to wait until babies are fledged before putting them outside because of my rather harsh weather.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[crj]

I'm not sure where you are at, but I usually try to wait until babies are fledged before putting them outside because of my rather harsh weather.

I live in Southeastern NC. It's been very cold here especially at night. Not use to these unusual temps. Not use to being in the 30's let alone the teens. During the day it's been as low as 30 but today it's around 50. Anyway, I have about 17 days to go before hatching. I know the mess they make....... whooosh. I could block them off from the other ducks which is a good idea. I may have to do that with some chickens that I have to combine soon. Any what does "fledge" mean? I do know the ducks go through several changes in color.... lol. I thought that was the strangest thing..... haha. I just love the ducks. They are indian runners.​

 

[VOX]

I would wait to put them together till the babies are 12 weeks at the minimum. I made a mistake by putting my 2 week olds with my 3 month old.....My 3 month old little girl wasent to happy and tried to hurt them.

 

[ksj0225]

I'm in Greenville NC. What kind of ducks do you have?

 

[crj]

I'm in Greenville NC. What kind of ducks do you have?

I have Indian Runner ducks that are fawn and white.​

 

[ksj0225]

How cool, I have mallards and muscovies... did you ever find any turkey's.

 

[CMV]

Quote:
It means to get their adult feathers. Not necessarily their adult colors, but just the waterproof, warm feathers, and not the baby fuzz they start with. I think that means about 6 weeks. I seem to recall mine being fully fledged at 6 weeks. (Of course maybe I am thinking of the chickens...I had a lot of new birds this year, and I can't remember details from years past.)

 

[crj]

How cool, I have mallards and muscovies... did you ever find any turkey's.

I really like mallards but I would be afraid they would fly away. Yes! I did get 2 turkeys. They are girls. The woman didn't have any toms. I've had them now for a week. They are really neat. They are next to my duck pen right now.​

 

[crj]

It means to get their adult feathers. Not necessarily their adult colors, but just the waterproof, warm feathers, and not the baby fuzz they start with.

I remember my runners going from yellow to a whitish color and then to a whitish brown. It's as if they went from one type of fuzz to another type of fuzz and then feathers after that. I'm guessing you mean the second set of fuzziness. I'll wait and see what I come up with and how long it will be before they go outside.​