(BEGGINNER) Should two year old ducks live in the same coop as three two month old ducklings?

[myducklingjourney]

Hi! Pretty much the title. There's an opportunity for me to get two indian runner ducks (likely a drake and a female) to add to my flock. They are one of my dream breeds to own and they are quite hard to come by in my area. I have 3 two months old pekin ducklings, and I might need to get them to live together. Would it be safe for them? I mean would they bully the pekins? Two of the pekins are quite big, whilst one of them is a runt, a tad smaller. They have plenty of space in their coop.

 

[nuthatched]

I don't own ducks but I'd imagine introducing them to each other slowly and with the 'see, but don't touch method' will mitigate most of the pecking order Chaos.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

You do not want a mature drake with your young ducks. If your young ones are girls they could be permanently injured by mating at such a young age (4 months is recommended). If any of your young Pekins are drakes the older Runner drake will most likely bully and fight with them. If the older ducks were both female you would be fine but you are asking for trouble if one is male.

 

[myducklingjourney]

You do not want a mature drake with your young ducks. If your young ones are girls they could be permanently injured by mating at such a young age (4 months is recommended). If any of your young Pekins are drakes the older Runner drake will most likely bully and fight with them. If the older ducks were both female you would be fine but you are asking for trouble if one is male.

Yep, at that time there were only a drake and a hen left, but a buyer changed his mind and now there are two hens for me to buy and now I'm considering it as we have 1 drake and the rest 2 hens in the pekin flock, and I read a 1 drake to 4 hens ratio is recommended to avoid overmating with the girls.

 

[myducklingjourney]

Yep, at that time there were only a drake and a hen left, but a buyer changed his mind and now there are two hens for me to buy and now I'm considering it as we have 1 drake and the rest 2 hens in the pekin flock, and I read a 1 drake to 4 hens ratio is recommended to avoid overmating with the girls.

I was in fact looking for 2 hens, but since there were only a breeding pair left and driven by my rather impulsive passion for runners I would have been risking my other ducks' safety. Glad the opportunity showed up for me to get two females. I'm hoping to get those two now.

 

[_-Captain BRM-_]

Ducks get along very well and much better than chickens. You could probably throw all the hens together, but I would worry about you drake with the young Pekins like others are saying.

 

[myducklingjourney]

You do not want a mature drake with your young ducks. If your young ones are girls they could be permanently injured by mating at such a young age (4 months is recommended). If any of your young Pekins are drakes the older Runner drake will most likely bully and fight with them. If the older ducks were both female you would be fine but you are asking for trouble if one is male.

Ducks get along very well and much better than chickens. You could probably throw all the hens together, but I would worry about you drake with the young Pekins like others are saying.

Thank you all for the advice!!

 

[3bird]

As others have said, the biggest issue you will face is an older drake with younger hens. In my opinion, they would need to be separated until at least four to five months of age. You will see a bunch of interesting behaviour amongst the hens if and when you add the new ducks to an existing flock. They will likely spend some time re-hashing the whole pecking order, but they generally work it out. We begin with seeing but no touching, then supervised time together. The other thing to consider is that best practice is to quarantine any new birds coming onto your property.

 

[myducklingjourney]

As others have said, the biggest issue you will face is an older drake with younger hens. In my opinion, they would need to be separated until at least four to five months of age. You will see a bunch of interesting behaviour amongst the hens if and when you add the new ducks to an existing flock. They will likely spend some time re-hashing the whole pecking order, but they generally work it out. We begin with seeing but no touching, then supervised time together. The other thing to consider is that best practice is to quarantine any new birds coming onto your property.

Yes, I'm now fully aknowledging the risks of getting a drake due to all the kind people such as yourself advising me on the matter, but at the time only a drake and a hen were left, and driven by my passion for the breed, I took that into consideration. A buyer changed their mind though, and now there are 3 hens available, so I might get two of those. Thank you for your help! Highly appreciate it! <3

 

[Vicktoria Giuergia]

As others have said, the biggest issue you will face is an older drake with younger hens. In my opinion, they would need to be separated until at least four to five months of age. You will see a bunch of interesting behaviour amongst the hens if and when you add the new ducks to an existing flock. They will likely spend some time re-hashing the whole pecking order, but they generally work it out. We begin with seeing but no touching, then supervised time together. The other thing to consider is that best practice is to quarantine any new birds coming onto your property.

How long does it take for them to adjust to younger birds?