Captain Duckling

[Featherland]

I have 11 ducklings. They are 4 weeks old and a mixture of Welsh Harlequins (4 female) (3 male) and Golden 300's (4 female). One of the Golden's acts like she is captain of the team. She "protects" them through the wire from my 2 toy poodles and will try to attack. Also any person who comes to look. She puts herself between me and the rest of the ducklings. And they all obey her! They won't try new food unless she allows them. I took them on a couple free-range training sessions and she either herded them or led them. I thought this was cute until I realized she kept the other ducklings from being friendly with me. Now she is very friendly and always comes up to me. Now I am not sure if she is being friendly or protecting the others from me. If she was older I would separate her from the rest for a while but she is only 4 weeks old! Will this behavior effect her when older? If it was a chicken I would be concerned about her acting like a rooster and not laying eggs. Usually the drakes are right behind her but none are more dominant. What should I do about her? I want all the ducklings to be friendly!

 

[AdamD77]

Hmm, maybe you could take a few of the others out seperately and leave her with some company, then they will all be happy that they have others with them but you don't have to worry about her constantly stopping the ones you take out from going near you. Then swap ducklings and just try and make sure they all have the chance to get to know you away from her and hopefully they'll all be friendly with you

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

I would try the suggestion above. And don't worry, my hen is the dominant one in my flock too. lol

 

[Featherland]

Sounds like a good plan AdamD77. I'll try it.

aduckstolemyheart Does your dominant hen still lay eggs?

I have had this happen with chickens and the dominant one will usually stop laying.

 

[creativeplane1]

You have a baby alpha chick! How powerfully cute. I would show her lots of attention, and see how the other chicks gain confidence by her actions. I have three pullets, and they always follow the alpha girl. All of them have grown to be sweet and trusting - at their tender young age of 5 months. I also distribute food in three different areas, so that all of the chickens will eat out of my hand without dealing with the pecking order. It's great to know that all of them feel comfortable and happy - and get their fair share of attention and food. Good luck with your girls, and have a healthy and happy year.

Kind regards, Barbara

 

[Birdcrazy]

She sounds very cute!
I had that sorta problem with my 6-8 week old ducks before.. there were 3 of them, one female and the other two males, who really loved the attention, food from me ect. They'd bully the other shy girls when ever they tried to join in and be friendly... it was really hard to make the other girls people friendly because everytime I tried to offer food, company or just talk to them, I'd have the other 3 in my face

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

Quote:
She is still laying almost every day. And she definitely rules the roost. She bosses the boys around all the time! They wander away from her and all she has to do is call them, and they come running. If for some reaosn they don't, she will come and get them. lol

I can't say that all dominant hens will still lay, but mine certainly does!

 

[katharinad]

I have 2 dominant girls in the flock of 9. The boy just lives with it. He leads most of the time, but he has no control over the girls. They fight, he leans back and just watches. He knows better and does not to get involved. The one month older girl used to rule all of them. Now we have a second one acting just like her, and the second ons is also a favorite of the boy. Both dominant girls work together, so they both are in sync when it comes to ruling the flock. They actually like each other, and they never fight with each other. Occasionally they pick a fight with one of the other girls if they step out of line. Well fight is good, it is more bullying around with the occasional snap into the butt or wing. The flock definitely has is ranking established.