Can I separate my ducklings?

[mclarke2941]

Hi,
I’m new to this online forum stuff and hoping someone can help me with the ducklings that I have. My family and I hatched out 8 ducklings recently and are looking to keep two of them and give away the rest. However, my sister is concerned that they can’t be separated from each other and should stay all together. We currently have three adult ducks and would add the two we want to keep with them but don’t have enough backyard or coop space to keep more than two. We also hatched them out in an incubator so they were not raised by their mother and we think they may have imprinted on each because of this. So is it bad for us to separate two of them from the other six? Could that have bad consequences or will they eventually get used to it without the others? They are about three weeks old and are a mix of Khaki Campbell’s and Indian Runner ducks.

I appreciate any help or experience anyone has with this! Thank you!

 

[CHlCKEN]

Hi,
I’m new to this and hoping someone can help me with the ducklings that I have. My family and I hatched out 8 ducklings recently and are looking to keep two of them and give away the rest. However, my sister is concerned that they can’t be separated from each other and should stay all together. We currently have three adult ducks and would add the two we want to keep with them but don’t have enough backyard or coop space to keep more than two. We also hatched them out in an incubator so they were not raised by their mother and we think they may have imprinted on each because of this. So is it bad for us to separate two of them from the other six? Could that have bad consequences or will they eventually get used to it without the others? They are about three weeks old and are a mix of Khaki Campbell’s and Indian Runner ducks.

I appreciate any help or experience anyone has with this! Thank you!

hi! im currently raising chicks but i have raised many ducklings in the past. however, i have never had to separate them and they did almost everything together. I do completley recommend that you wait until they look to be full grown (i fyou can) to separate them, because i feel that it is easier for them when they mature. They might not notice one duckling being taken away, but that one duckling would, so sell them in pairs. Typically in the wild the mother duck and her ducklings would be weaned from eachother naturally so i dont see it that big a problem for the other six t be taken away from you. They would get used to it, and eventually forget. I recently lost an adult hen to her pnemounia, and it didnt seem that my other hens noticed when she left. Thats why i recommend doing it at an adult age. (same story with my ducks, lost one, and the others didnt notice)

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

Hi,
I’m new to this and hoping someone can help me with the ducklings that I have. My family and I hatched out 8 ducklings recently and are looking to keep two of them and give away the rest. However, my sister is concerned that they can’t be separated from each other and should stay all together. We currently have three adult ducks and would add the two we want to keep with them but don’t have enough backyard or coop space to keep more than two. We also hatched them out in an incubator so they were not raised by their mother and we think they may have imprinted on each because of this. So is it bad for us to separate two of them from the other six? Could that have bad consequences or will they eventually get used to it without the others? They are about three weeks old and are a mix of Khaki Campbell’s and Indian Runner ducks.

I appreciate any help or experience anyone has with this! Thank you!

sit with the ducklings and try to find out which ones are bonded with each other, keep them in pairs so it’s much less stressful. i foster puppies, kittens, etc. and animals do notice when their friends leave. they might look for them for a little bit, but will get over it quickly. i’ve seen some mother cats lose most of their litter and still move on.

 

[TomCahalan]

Ducklings care about being in a flock, but not about each other. Remember that the whole point of being in a flock is to have the predator eat your flockmate instead of you.

In the wild, only about 40% of ducklings make it to 8 weeks old. Domestic ducklings are used to being separated from each other, sent to various farms, having the drakes culled, etc... ducklings have evolved to expect their nestmates to die or disappear.

It sounds like you have a small number of ducks, and at least one drake. That means that you should not get any more drakes, only females. Since your goal is to get two female ducks, here is what I would do: First, attempt to vent sex your ducklingss. Yank the heads off of any males that you come across. You're new to this, so you might not find many/any males. That doesn't mean that you have all females, just that vent sexing is difficult. Next, keep three ducklings and give the rest away. As the ducklings grow, listen for quacks. Keep the quackers and cull the raspers and chirpers.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

Ducklings care about being in a flock, but not about each other. Remember that the whole point of being in a flock is to have the predator eat your flockmate instead of you.

In the wild, only about 40% of ducklings make it to 8 weeks old. Domestic ducklings are used to being separated from each other, sent to various farms, having the drakes culled, etc... ducklings have evolved to expect their nestmates to die or disappear.

It sounds like you have a small number of ducks, and at least one drake. That means that you should not get any more drakes, only females. Since your goal is to get two female ducks, here is what I would do: First, attempt to vent sex your ducklingss. Yank the heads off of any males that you come across. You're new to this, so you might not find many/any males. That doesn't mean that you have all females, just that vent sexing is difficult. Next, keep three ducklings and give the rest away. As the ducklings grow, listen for quacks. Keep the quackers and cull the raspers and chirpers.

you could always find a new home for the males, drakes are super friendly and make great pets. i loved when i had an all drake flock.

 

[416bigbore]

 

[Isaac 0]

Hi,
I’m new to this and hoping someone can help me with the ducklings that I have. My family and I hatched out 8 ducklings recently and are looking to keep two of them and give away the rest. However, my sister is concerned that they can’t be separated from each other and should stay all together. We currently have three adult ducks and would add the two we want to keep with them but don’t have enough backyard or coop space to keep more than two. We also hatched them out in an incubator so they were not raised by their mother and we think they may have imprinted on each because of this. So is it bad for us to separate two of them from the other six? Could that have bad consequences or will they eventually get used to it without the others? They are about three weeks old and are a mix of Khaki Campbell’s and Indian Runner ducks.

I appreciate any help or experience anyone has with this! Thank you!

Welcome!

They may be a little *off" a few days after, but it's not going to affect them as much as you think it is. I also agree, that instead of selling them all "un-sexed" you should first pick out the females to keep, so you're not stuck with a bad ratio for your hens.

 

[mclarke2941]

Welcome!

They may be a little *off" a few days after, but it's not going to affect them as much as you think it is. I also agree, that instead of selling them all "un-sexed" you should first pick out the females to keep, so you're not stuck with a bad ratio for your hens.

Thanks for the advice! I also don’t think we will be needing to worry about the sexes of the babies, we have already talked to someone who is willing to take them all regardless of their sex. I’ll probably try and sex them if I can anyway, I only want to keep females so I want to make sure I don’t end up with anymore drakes.

 

[mclarke2941]

Ducklings care about being in a flock, but not about each other. Remember that the whole point of being in a flock is to have the predator eat your flockmate instead of you.

In the wild, only about 40% of ducklings make it to 8 weeks old. Domestic ducklings are used to being separated from each other, sent to various farms, having the drakes culled, etc... ducklings have evolved to expect their nestmates to die or disappear.

It sounds like you have a small number of ducks, and at least one drake. That means that you should not get any more drakes, only females. Since your goal is to get two female ducks, here is what I would do: First, attempt to vent sex your ducklingss. Yank the heads off of any males that you come across. You're new to this, so you might not find many/any males. That doesn't mean that you have all females, just that vent sexing is difficult. Next, keep three ducklings and give the rest away. As the ducklings grow, listen for quacks. Keep the quackers and cull the raspers and chirpers.

Thank you for the information, I did not know that! I’m more familiar with chickens as I’ve had them longer than the ducks. We also currently have two adult drakes and one adult female which is why we are looking to keep two female ducklings. i appreciate the advice and I’ll try sexing them sometime soon to try and determine the females in the group!

 

[mclarke2941]

sit with the ducklings and try to find out which ones are bonded with each other, keep them in pairs so it’s much less stressful. i foster puppies, kittens, etc. and animals do notice when their friends leave. they might look for them for a little bit, but will get over it quickly. i’ve seen some mother cats lose most of their litter and still move on.

Great advice, I think I’ll try and do that tomorrow and see how they react. Thank you!