chickens, duck and duckling what do I do???

[senrabruk]

I need help!
I have two bantams a hen and a roo that are in a big coop/run and my duck is free range but has a house that I put her in at night.
Then I have a pekin duckling that I want to have live with my other duck but I don't know how to interduse them. I would like to keep the duckling in the coop with the bantams till she is bigger but I don't know if they will get along????
What should I do?
I have never had poultry sooo I am lost

 

[CMV]

Is the duck house big enough to split in half? I cut half my duck house off with fencing to house my newbies until they were big enough to introduce to the adult duck and goose I already had. During the day, my waterfowl would be around in their run while the newbies were in the house. The old timers could see the newbies inside the house, but couldn't actually touch the newbies. I kept them separated by the fencing for about 3 weeks before I pulled the fence and let them interact. It went so smoothly! I couldn't believe how well they interacted when I finally pulled the fence.

I don't know how feisty your bantams are, so I can't say if they'll get along or not. I don't mix my chickens and waterfowl together because of the very different needs of each bird. People do mix them all the time, but I have just never been a fan of mixing such disparate birds. If you don't have the space in the duck house, you could try the same method mentioned above in the larger chicken coop. Be aware that if the duck starts viewing the chicken coop as "home" then you may never get the duck out when it comes time to move her into the duck house.

The trick to integration is to allow the new birds to see and be seen by the established flock while protecting the new birds from assault. After a while the flock gets used to the idea of the new birds sharing their space, so they are not alarmed all that much when the new birds suddenly start interacting with them in their space.

Good luck.

 

[senrabruk]

OK I will see what I can whip up tomorrow! thanks a bunch!