Duck Integration Information Overload

[Aunt Angus]

Yeah... thinking I'll pass on the hens for now. I'll tell her that I'll take them if no one else offers. I think it'll get awfully crowded. They'll be above the minimums for space, but I know how my flock functions, and I'm worried about disease, too.

Unless y'all think I can leave them with access to the yard. The yard is not huge - about 500sq ft, surrounded by 4ft tall electric netting, and covered with heavy duty aviary netting. That fence puts out 8k volts, so I'm not worried about ground predators. I'm worried about the netting, which is only 4ft off the ground. Do you think a hawk would still be able to get them?

The yard will give them way more room. The coop is plenty big. The run would give them about 15 sq ft per bird. With the yard, they'll have more like 45 sq ft each. I will have a MUCH larger area soon - about 1600 more sq ft. But that's still a few mo ths off.

I need advice. I can't decide what to do.

 

[cavemanrich]

I know how my flock functions, and I'm worried about disease, too.

I understand your concern. If there are diseases present in those hens,,, same is present in that duck..

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Exactly what @cavemanrich stated. While ducks don't carry all diseases that chickens could, they can carry respiratory diseases that can affect all poultry especially mg.
In my instance, I took a chance. It's not something that everyone would feel comfortable doing.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Well, now, I'm a mess.

Should I get the duck tested? If I do, I'll have to test one of my birds, too, right? If they already carry MG, it won't matter if the duck does, right?

 

[Aunt Angus]

I got the duckie! She's cute but VERY stressed.

Apparently, she was a gift to their daughter last year. They already had chickens. The chickens "raised" the duck. Daughter went off to college, and they are moving.

She clearly hasn't had access to much water, but she's got clear eyes, clear nostrils, good feet, and I see no signs of lice. She's very shy with me, but I'm sure she'll be happy to be with ducks. She's always been with the chickens only. And she's definitely a girl: she laid an egg in the crate!

They don't know what her name was since she was their daughter's duck. So I just named her Julep.

I'll get pictures in a bit. But she's a good sized Pekin, it would appear.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Aww bless can't wait to see her.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Watching Julep, I see she's got a very slight limp. I think it might be from handling her so much today. But other than that, she looks great!

I may just put her in the yard with the ducks and keep the chickens penned for now.

Strange question: What does aggression look like in ducks? I don't think I've ever seen that behavior before. Any behavior I should be on the lookout for from my other girls?

 

[Quatie]

I would put a fence between them. From my experience, the first time ducks need to accept newcomers, they are not the greatest at it. If they nip at the fence or vibrate their head at them, those are signs you will need to take your time adding her in. Once they start to lay down next to each other along the fence, that is when I would let them free range together.

These ducks in the back here are a little too interested in the ducklings. But they had never seen a duckling before.

 

[Aunt Angus]

That I can do, no problem. Thanks! I'll set up a divider using some green garden fence.

 

[DukesDucks]

Aggression between my drakes can be pretty hard to watch. The girls are more like the school yard bully - pestering, nipping, chasing without intent to catch. As long as no one gets hurt, they will need to work out their own pecking order.