Duckling behavior question

[Wobbles]

I am having some issues with my Ancona ducklings. I would just like some insight and suggestions. Maybe one of you has dealt with this same thing. I'm new to ducks so I have no idea if they just do this or what.

Ok, five of my Ancona ducklings are together in a brooder in my bedroom. They are roughly four-five weeks old. We don't know for sure as we did not get them the day they hatched. Today my fiance was getting ready to go out and work on their coop and he came out to the living room saying that when one duckling would try to get a drink one or two more would grab the one drinking by the back of the neck and shake them! He said they would take turns doing it to whoever was drinking. Seemed like everybody was participating in it so it is not just a bully in the bunch.

Why might they be doing this? I do not know the sex of these five as they have just barely started making big duck noises. In the next few days when the coop is done all of the ducklings will be introduced and be living together. They are all roughly the same age. I will not put up with bullying and since my other group of ducklings are friendly and have been with me since day one they have their place cemented.

I really want the Ancona crew to work out. I like them and Ancona was what we wanted all along. I just cannot keep them if they are a bunch of brats. Help me figure them out so they can stay with us and be spoiled rotten.

Thanks in advance!!


The ancona outlaw crew And actually only two in this photo will stay here. There are two more living with my original crew who will stay too.

 

[Amiga]

Hmmmm, this is a little young, but that sounds like the beginnings of mating behavior.

 

[Wobbles]

Hmmmm, this is a little young, but that sounds like the beginnings of mating behavior.

My thoughts too. But I think they are mostly girls ( I could be wrong for sure as that is mostly a guess lol). Should I just keep my eye on them and make sure they don't get too aggressive? I'm hoping once they all move outside maybe they will get over it.

I just know they will be in the house at least another day but probably two or three with our busy work schedules.

 

[Amiga]

How can I say this delicately? My Runners are all girls, and they started playing hop on top as soon as the hormones started kicking in.

Yes, just watch. Mine never hurt each other, but things can happen. Not to worry you, but I hesitate to ever say "oh, ducks cannot get into trouble."

 

[Wobbles]

How can I say this delicately? My Runners are all girls, and they started playing hop on top as soon as the hormones started kicking in.

Yes, just watch. Mine never hurt each other, but things can happen. Not to worry you, but I hesitate to ever say "oh, ducks cannot get into trouble."

Haha! Thanks that makes me feel better. I'm surprised because they seem so young yet.

 

[Orca5094]

Are they possibly just fighting over the water? Maybe you could try another water source in their brooder and see if that helps them calm down a little. I know my older ducks don't yet like to share water with my 3 younger ones (their offspring that I hand-raised, so they don't know they are their babies). So if the younger ones are at the water the older ones will chase or nip at the younger ones to get them away. Could that be what's going on? I just think they are far too young to be showing mating behavior, but anything is possible with ducks.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

How big is the brooder? If this started only recently, it might be caused by the ducklings growing to the point they don't have the space they want and are getting on each others nerves. Sounds like they're taking advantage of whichever duckling has its head down at the moment, so that makes it an easy target.

 

[Wobbles]

It could be a space issue for sure. They are a bit more cramped than ideal at the moment. But the coop will be done soon. We got them and intended to use the existing coop on our property but upon further inspection we decided it was not usable so ripped it down and have a new one in progress. They would of been in it already if we had been able to use the old one. Soon though.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

It could be a space issue for sure. They are a bit more cramped than ideal at the moment. But the coop will be done soon. We got them and intended to use the existing coop on our property but upon further inspection we decided it was not usable so ripped it down and have a new one in progress. They would of been in it already if we had been able to use the old one. Soon though.

I bet you'll see a behavior change then. Our third round of babies from this year are in a space that's too cramped while hubby builds yet another outdoor brooder. Ours will be done soon, and glad yours will as well!

 

[cayugaducklady]

I'm not sure what size the brooder is in your bedroom. It's rough watching them outgrow their baby areas.

If you need some extra space for them, using a bathtub works well. I ended up brooding my cayugas in the bathtub due to them being able to squeeze themselves through the ridiculously tiny bars on the dog surgery crate we were going to use.

I left them in the tub until they were about 8 weeks old-- that's why they started getting on top of the brooder and I started worrying that they'd jump out of the tub.

I put a non slip cabinet/ drawer liner in the bottom of the tub for a non slip surface.

I put their drinking water and dabbling greens water down at the drain end of the tub.

I put their food & grit in the middle of the tub.

I put the brooder at the opposite end of the tub and placed several layers of grubby old towels there for bedding.

Fantastic way to brood them if you can . Only took me about 15 minutes a day to clean up their messes and super easy to give them all swim time (and rehabilitative swim time).

It was also super easy for me to give them supervised time outside to forage & explore.