Duck Aggression to Goslings

[FenrisMau]

I've got three 2-month old Ancona ducks, and two 3-week old goslings. They've first met with the protection of a fence, but then met outside with no barrier this weekend with me right there for protection, in case. Two of the ducks will once in awhile aggressively stomp toward the goslings with head lowered, and the goslings will shrink away. But they're otherwise unafraid of the ducks. During the day, they are separated, as the goslings still spend most of their time in the brooder indoors.

I'm hoping I'll be able to keep both the goslings and the ducks together in the predator-proof pen in a week, when my new ducklings hatch so that I'm able to use the brooder for them instead of the goslings. Do y'all have any recommendations? I'd hate for my ducks to hurt the goslings. They haven't yet, but I'm not quite sure what they're capable of.

 

[KathiQuacks]

Stomping / chasing itself is normal when introducing new birds together. It’s how these birds establish dominance over each other.

I would be careful that the goslings don’t have too much of a negative experience with the ducks, though. Your geese could flip the script and start going after your ducks.

For now, I’d try to keep interactions as calm as possible, and make sure no one is getting bit.

You can certainly have ducks and geese share the same run / pen, but it’s recommended they sleep in separate quarters, as geese can be quite territorial.