Dumped duck advice?

[New duck mommy 2021]

With saying this comment earlier I regret to say that you may need to watch him
I haven’t had any issues of my boys bothering girls to young till tonight
The past 4 days my boys have been in drake jail as my girls need a good break. I keep the babies with the girls and one younger drake who isn’t mature yet. I always let the 2 month olds out in the bigger yard while I clean up poo and water dishes ect with the boys
The girls remain in the pen
Well my one drake must be so frustrated that I’m stopping him from mating that I saw him chase down the one girl and try to get on top luckily I was right there and stopped him and the boys got to go to bed !!
I have had many young girls and never had this happen but I haven’t put my boys in drake jail before so I believe this is the cause of his attempt
If he has his girls and is satisfied he shouldn’t bother the young one till she flirts and gets interested
But again maybe watch ti make sure

 

[DuneDucks]

With saying this comment earlier I regret to say that you may need to watch him
I haven’t had any issues of my boys bothering girls to young till tonight
The past 4 days my boys have been in drake jail as my girls need a good break. I keep the babies with the girls and one younger drake who isn’t mature yet. I always let the 2 month olds out in the bigger yard while I clean up poo and water dishes ect with the boys
The girls remain in the pen
Well my one drake must be so frustrated that I’m stopping him from mating that I saw him chase down the one girl and try to get on top luckily I was right there and stopped him and the boys got to go to bed !!
I have had many young girls and never had this happen but I haven’t put my boys in drake jail before so I believe this is the cause of his attempt
If he has his girls and is satisfied he shouldn’t bother the young one till she flirts and gets interested
But again maybe watch ti make sure

Okay I'll keep that in mind. I'm pretty convinced I would have that issue with my other drakes, so I get what you're saying. I'll definitely be present for a good majority of the introduction/integration period. There're 4 other hens who will hopefully keep his attention, but if not he can hang out in the bachelor flock for a month or two.

 

[KaleIAm]

Thank you for rescuing her. I have had 3 dumped rescues myself, so they are special to me.

I'm happy to read that you are taking safety precautions seriously. Years ago I was unaware about month long quarantine recommendations so I just added my new rescue ducks into my existing flock. My entire flock got internal parasites, external parasites, and a virus! My vet said it was from wild mallards. With the avian flu going around I would be even more cautious right now.

When you introduce them it could go well, and it could not. One time my new ducks joined the flock like they had always belonged. Another time the new duck was picked on for weeks. She was never really loved, even though they eventually stopped biting her. So, for optimal success I recommend the look but no touch method. I wish I had done it.

 

[Fawkes]

Aw this hits close to home as I have a 2 month old blue Swedish girl myself

Poor baby, I'm glad you were able to catch her! Catching ducks is not easy so kudos to you for taking the initiative and for you and your family for being determined enough to keep trying until you succeeded

I agree that quarantine is always ideal and that a slow introduction would be best e.g. on opposite sides of a fence and then go from there based on how they behave. It may need to be a slow integration.

 

[DuneDucks]

Thank you for rescuing her. I have had 3 dumped rescues myself, so they are special to me.

I'm happy to read that you are taking safety precautions seriously. Years ago I was unaware about month long quarantine recommendations so I just added my new rescue ducks into my existing flock. My entire flock got internal parasites, external parasites, and a virus! My vet said it was from wild mallards. With the avian flu going around I would be even more cautious right now.

When you introduce them it could go well, and it could not. One time my new ducks joined the flock like they had always belonged. Another time the new duck was picked on for weeks. She was never really loved, even though they eventually stopped biting her. So, for optimal success I recommend the look but no touch method. I wish I had done it.

Thank you this is all very helpful. I appreciate the insight! If all goes well this will hopefully be the first of many I'm able to help.

Aw this hits close to home as I have a 2 month old blue Swedish girl myself

Poor baby, I'm glad you were able to catch her! Catching ducks is not easy so kudos to you for taking the initiative and for you and your family for being determined enough to keep trying until you succeeded

We were probably getting some weird looks at a certain point, but it was well worth it! They're adorable, aren't they? I'll never understand the thought process it takes to dump a defenseless animal off like that. It would take zero effort to give away a duckling to a good home in my area. She's a strong little thing though. Very precious to me already!

 

[CoriM]

@DuneDucks How did your integration turn out? I just received a blue runner hen from my neighbor yesterday, after it spent two weeks alone on her pond after all her other ducks were gradually picked off by wildlife. She's fairly wild and gets very freaked out by me, but I can tell she's happy to be around my ducks. I have her fenced off for now, but just wondering how long it will be that way.....

 

[ruthhope]

@DuneDucks How did your integration turn out? I just received a blue runner hen from my neighbor yesterday, after it spent two weeks alone on her pond after all her other ducks were gradually picked off by wildlife. She's fairly wild and gets very freaked out by me, but I can tell she's happy to be around my ducks. I have her fenced off for now, but just wondering how long it will be that way.....

She may not need to be see no touch for long at this time of year. Outside the breeding season female ducks are not particularly territorial or aggressive with new comers. Are your ducks showing interest in your new girl? If there are no aggressive/threatening heading movements, you might try letting them mix during the day where the new duck has plenty of space to run off and hide if she needs, while keeping her separate in the coop at night.

It has taken me 2 to 4 weeks to introduce drakes to my all drake flock, but the dynamics are different with drakes.

 

[CoriM]

The newcomer seems to want to be in the group but my younger ducks were nipping her and pulling her feathers when she was with them for just a few minutes today. It doesn't help that the new one freaks out when I try to catch her and flies all around the pen scaring my flock. I did leave my immobile Pekin with her this afternoon and she is kind of the one in charge, and that went fine. I'm just concerned because I have to be gone for Thanksgiving overnight and it would be amazing if I could just leave them all together, otherwise it's so complicated.

 

[DuneDucks]

Sorry I didn't update this sooner, I was hoping for a happy ending to give you guys, but time got away from me, and it's been a long winter! I figure some may still be interested though.

To start we decided on naming her Iris. The quarantine process went pretty smooth using all the advice I was given here. Got her checked over the best I could, dewormed, and then it was just a matter of keeping her occupied. Between a mirror, a couple of daily swims in her own little tub, and what company I could provide, she seemed content. The biggest inconvenience was she was at that age ducklings molt their first set of feathers, so there was fuzz everywhere inside.

While taking her for her swims, Iris occasionally caught sight of the boys in their yard, and she would get pretty excited. She was obviously anxious to be with other ducks after who knows how long. All she had was a little pelican to keep her company on the pond where she was dumped. So, after about a month, I started letting her spend her days on the other side of the fence of the girls doing the look but no touch method.

Iris and a couple of the girls would try to push on and nibble each other through the fence, but after a few days that stopped, and they would come over to hang around and sleep by her from the other side. So, I was encouraged things would go smooth, and after a week or so I finally let her in with them. Initially her and a couple of the other girls were a little pushy with each other, but nothing serious, and they worked it out among themselves quickly enough.

My drake Alfred, on the other hand, was not nearly as welcoming. To his credit he never tried mounting her like I was worried of, but he would constantly chase her away from the rest of the flock, food, the pond, etc. I tried a number of ways including just giving them time, limiting their contact, putting Alfred in timeout, separating Alfred for his own look no touch period, but he eventually pushed me to the point where I just sent him to live with the other boys. I felt bad because he gets picked on by the other drakes, but I didn't want him making poor little Iris an outcast either. Ultimately, I decided to give the girls the winter off and revisit the topic in Spring.

Fast forward a couple of months and everything is frozen, but all the ducks are happy for the most part. Of all the drawbacks of a cold, long winter; the worst was this guy being hungry.

Around the beginning of the year this bald eagle grabbed my poor little Iris one afternoon.

Fortunately, there was a pretty big commotion, and I was close enough inside that I flew out and chased it off fairly quick. And although it had her pinned down, thankfully she just got away with a few scratches. A couple days inside and she was good to go after the shock of it all wore off. Lucky it was this juvenile eagle that swept in and not the fully grown one I usually see it with.

So that ordeal was a bit scary, but since then the only real problem has been a lot more snow. Things are warming up though, and the drakes are getting a lot more hormonal, so I figured I'd try seeing how Alfred would do going back before he gets beat up too bad. After a week or so of look no touch I gave him his opportunity, and understandably he was being a bit defensive towards all the girls, but I was willing to give him some time. However, it didn't take long for him start singling Iris out and chase her away like months before. So, unfortunately, it seems like Alfred will be staying a full-time member of the bachelor flock.

All of that said, Iris has done fabulously! She's thick as thieves with the rest of the ladies while also being my most social duck. When Alfred would be mean to her she'd climb up and sit in my lap when I'd sit in the yard. And even without him around she'll still come up and let you pet her. She's the only one you don't have to bribe with treats lol. Such a beautiful, happy girl! I'm very lucky to have her.

Anyways, thanks if you read all of that. I'll leave off with a few pictures I took of her and the girls earlier.

 

[ruthhope]

Thank you for the update, @DuneDucks

I am so glad Iris and the girls are happy. Thank goodness Iris survived the eagle attack.

There are worse things than living in an all drake flock, so I am sure Alfred will be OK.

My son had a lovely friendly muscovy that his female pekins happily accepted but his pekin drake would not. After months of struggling with the drake in a compartment in the coop , his drake pad, we gave up and brought the drake to live with my all drake flock