Hi everyone
I'm a newbie and have 3 chicks and 2 ducklings. They are all approximately 4 - 5 weeks old. I got 4 of them on the same day from the pet shop and they were in a pen together at the pet shop and then got a pekin bantam (Elvis) a couple of days later. They are now outside in a coop and have free range of the garden when I am home. Elvis is still quite tiny and is a bit left out so she is obviously the bottom of the pecking order. None of them fight, they sleep together and rustle around in the garden as a flock. They follow each other around nobody seems to be in charge, well the ducks are kind of simply due to their size
Anyway, I felt sorry for Elvis as i thought its sad she's left out and so yesterday went to the pet shop and bought the last of her sisters even though i have my doubts as to whether Raven (the new chick) is a pekin bantam as she doesnt have feathery legs. Anyway i digress lol. The new chick was pecking round in the garden on her own some way from the flock who largely ignored her. The ducks billed her a couple of times when she went close to them and one of the chicks had a little peck at her but nothing serious.
Then it came to bed time and they were all feeding together out of their round feeder again all quite happily ignoring each other but i heard a screech and another one and i saw one of the ducks pulling at Raven's wing as she walked past them. They werent chasing her but they took a swipe at her as she went past.
So I dont know if i did the right thing but i separated her and put her upstairs in the nesting area as the chicks sleep on top of the ducks anyway they dont go upstairs. She wasnt injured. I checked her again this morning and she was quite happy pecking away up their but she didnt want to come down the slope to the main area so i have left her there.
Now I feel awful. I dont know what to do. I did read that there is a pecking order to be established but I dont want the poor little mite to get bullied to death. I dont know how to go about integrating them now either. I feel sorry for her upstairs all on her own. I thought i was doing the right thing getting her as a little friend for the bantam.... I dont want to take her back to the pet shop.
Any help and advice would really really be appreciated thank you so much
I'm a newbie and have 3 chicks and 2 ducklings. They are all approximately 4 - 5 weeks old. I got 4 of them on the same day from the pet shop and they were in a pen together at the pet shop and then got a pekin bantam (Elvis) a couple of days later. They are now outside in a coop and have free range of the garden when I am home. Elvis is still quite tiny and is a bit left out so she is obviously the bottom of the pecking order. None of them fight, they sleep together and rustle around in the garden as a flock. They follow each other around nobody seems to be in charge, well the ducks are kind of simply due to their size
Anyway, I felt sorry for Elvis as i thought its sad she's left out and so yesterday went to the pet shop and bought the last of her sisters even though i have my doubts as to whether Raven (the new chick) is a pekin bantam as she doesnt have feathery legs. Anyway i digress lol. The new chick was pecking round in the garden on her own some way from the flock who largely ignored her. The ducks billed her a couple of times when she went close to them and one of the chicks had a little peck at her but nothing serious.
Then it came to bed time and they were all feeding together out of their round feeder again all quite happily ignoring each other but i heard a screech and another one and i saw one of the ducks pulling at Raven's wing as she walked past them. They werent chasing her but they took a swipe at her as she went past.
So I dont know if i did the right thing but i separated her and put her upstairs in the nesting area as the chicks sleep on top of the ducks anyway they dont go upstairs. She wasnt injured. I checked her again this morning and she was quite happy pecking away up their but she didnt want to come down the slope to the main area so i have left her there.
Now I feel awful. I dont know what to do. I did read that there is a pecking order to be established but I dont want the poor little mite to get bullied to death. I dont know how to go about integrating them now either. I feel sorry for her upstairs all on her own. I thought i was doing the right thing getting her as a little friend for the bantam.... I dont want to take her back to the pet shop.
Any help and advice would really really be appreciated thank you so much
