Advice about my duck from fellow owners

[Srt4te]

Hey all, I have some questions and was looking for any answers and advice i can get.I got my first 2 pekin females last April.Unfortunately one of my ducks was attacked by a raccoon in september.She made a great recovery and was a survivor and did fine with only a half bill.The past couple days she had been very lethargic and appeared to have some type of sinus/respiratory infection.She had ups and downs where she would get sick and then bounce back.Unfortunately we lost our lovely Rita tonight which was very upsetting.The reason for the post is because Im also concerned about Prudence our other girl.When Rita was first attacked and recovering we had them seperated while Rita rested and recovered in our garage.This drove Prudence nuts,she hated being alone and would quack all day being by herself.I cant stand to dump her off on one of the farms by us and I would much rather find her a new companion and friend.I plan on attempting to find another female duck around her age or at least 6 months old or close to full grown.Does anyone have any experience with introducing two full grown female pekins? I plan on getting another female because i dont plan on expanding the flock to much and I dont want to worry about aggression issues,plus the eggs are a plus.Can I have them live together in the same pen right off the bat? If not how long should they be seperated? Obviously i plan on an initial introduction where they can just roam around the yard together but is there typically any aggression with females? Also if I bring another female home will they bond with each other? If anyone has any advice or experience it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Going Quackers]

well not with Pekin but when i was running short on girls i added three 6-7mth old Muscovy ducks to my existing flock, I did so by allowing the birds to see and speak with one another but not touch, ( i should mention quarantine any duck to ensure it does not bring anything harmful to your existing bird, while ducks are usually not so concerning in regards to this still best to practice anyways)

Then you slowly integrate, ducks are social, flock animals so i would expect she would take kindly to the addition of companions.

Sorry for your loss too, good luck!

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

I'm a terrible example. I was short on females last year, so i adopted 2 adult Pekin females. I just put them in the pen at dark. In my own defense, I'd been to the farm they'd come from, I knew they were healthy. Anyway, I had to contain the 2 new ladies in a temporary fence for 1-2 weeks. They kept trying to run off (back to the previous home) Anyway that time served as the getting to know you phase as well I guess, those 2 Old Ladies ruled the flock here. I had to get rid of them because I have too many ducks. Still looking to adopt out 4. I was just thinking on this topic, and I thought that since I had not enough females before, maybe I should have just eliminated a drake. Would have worked here. Now I know that isn't at all your situation! I hope this helps.

 

[Srt4te]

Thanks for the responses and input guys I really appreciate it.I definitely think my girl needs a companion and some company shes already starting to seem a little bored and lonely.My main issue is the time it will take them to get acclimated with each other.I dont really wan to seperate and keep the new one in my garage or anything and their pen is an ok size 16x 8 but i dont know if it would afford a ton of room for the 2 to be sectioned off.I know i sound impatient but I kinda want them to be able to be together in the same pen asap.Id hope after a week or so they would be ok.I was also wondering if either of you guys have experienced integrating 2 different ducks id really like to get a blue swedish or cayuga.I know people do it all the time but I was just curious as to how my pekin would react to a new different looking duck or if the different breeds would have issues getting along.Once again thanks for the responses and chime in with any extra info if possible.

 

[shicks0211]

Pekins get along with most other ducks, of course it depends on the personality of each duck. Cuyoga's are really sweet too, as are blue swedish. As far as integrating, ducks usually integrate fairly easily, esspecially when they're alone and lonely because they're social creatures. In your case i would think it would be a piece of cake since you only will have the two..they'll bond with each other because thats all they have. I would just keep them separate for a night or two..let them out during the day..watch them for a bit the first time, that way they can see each other on their own terms and not be shoved in, they'll have some space. At first they will establish the pecking order so it may seem that they're mean to each other..but as long as its not over the top that's normal. Mine don't attack each other..they nip at each other for about a day and then by the next day they are inseparable. In most cases..i did have to get rid of one of my buffs for being mean, but that is the exception and not the rule. Also, ancona ducks are super sweet and docile and would get along well with your pekin. Hope this helps.

 

[Srt4te]

Thanks for the info schicks! Im leaning towards getting something different than a pekin.Id like to get a khaki campbell for the egg production but cayugas and blue swedish are so pretty.Im probably going to go this weekend and pick up a new friend for my duck.