First time duck owner I've got a few questions :)

[Bubblewrap]

If you get him (I assume the true sex is unknown) a friend be careful as drakes are very sexual animals and will harass hens and sometimes other drakes. An improper ratio of hens to drakes will require seperation of the sexes or removal of drakes. An all hen flock is fine an all drake flock can have bullying issues and a flock with one drake and hens is probably fine. This is all to say that I would not go buy a bunch of straight run ducks to get him friends as you may set yourself up for heart break later on unless you are willing to rehome drakes and drakes are usualy only wanted for soup as most people are over run by them. I am assume the ducks will be beloved pets. I believe that if you got only one additional duckling that the sex would not matter a great deal as a drake hen pair seems to be usually okay and I do not see many people talking about two drakes fighting to much.

 

[Goosewhisper]

Hi Y'all!

This is my very first post here and would like to introduce myself! My name is Aspen and I have wanted a pet duck since I was 5. 2 days ago my dreams came true and I got a young duck who I'm absolutely in love with already! He's getting his adult feathers already and I'm unsure of exactly how old he is but I have a question. When I got him Friday, he seemed to be having normal poops. I took him to tractor supply and talked to a specialist and they recommended I feed him Flock Raiser which is 20% protein. I started him on it and he's been eating and drinking very well and has been active and lively but his poop seemed to become progressively runnier. There isn't a smell and it's not too odd of a color compared to his firmer poop but I'm wondering, does this look normal?

I want to give him the best life I can. Do any of you reccomend probiotics to help aid digestion? Or have any suggestions for supplements to help him get big and strong? Thank you!!

If you want a happy duck, you must let them swim…kiddie pool at least (and either run a pond filter or refill every day with clean water. As for food, my ducks love mazuri waterfowl diet (I get 25lb bags of the smaller pellets and mix with these mealworms from Amazon - hatortempt 5lbs dried mealworms

 

[DuckyVanderQuack]

If you get him (I assume the true sex is unknown) a friend be careful as drakes are very sexual animals and will harass hens and sometimes other drakes. An improper ratio of hens to drakes will require seperation of the sexes or removal of drakes. An all hen flock is fine an all drake flock can have bullying issues and a flock with one drake and hens is probably fine. This is all to say that I would not go buy a bunch of straight run ducks to get him friends as you may set yourself up for heart break later on unless you are willing to rehome drakes and drakes are usualy only wanted for soup as most people are over run by them. I am assume the ducks will be beloved pets. I believe that if you got only one additional duckling that the sex would not matter a great deal as a drake hen pair seems to be usually okay and I do not see many people talking about two drakes fighting to much.

Absolutely, I plan to have the duck as a beloved pet. I don't know exactly what it is but I've been saying "he". He has an appointment coming up to get checked at the vet for the sex and overall health. I also plan on getting him a friend asap but I will keep that but of info tucked away! Thank you so much!

 

[DuckyVanderQuack]

If you want a happy duck, you must let them swim…kiddie pool at least (and either run a pond filter or refill every day with clean water. As for food, my ducks love mazuri waterfowl diet (I get 25lb bags of the smaller pellets and mix with these mealworms from Amazon - hatortempt 5lbs dried mealworms

Thank you so much! I already have a little kiddie pool and what not that I let him splash and swim around in everyday
I plan on buying mealworms today at the store!

 

[DuckyVanderQuack]

Ditto what others are saying. An extra boost of niacin his/her early weeks. Chick starter and flock raiser as a rule, lack enough niacin. In the flocks of ducklings I've observed, they rarely are more than a few feet away, pretty socially dependent on each other.

I'll be getting some nutritional yeast today to give and a friend or two hopefully later this week! But I have a question, since this one is going to be significantly bigger than the new ducklings I'll be getting, are they okay to be housed together still?

 

[Sosalty]

I'm not an expert so balance this with others advice. For whatever reason, ducklings aggressively establish a pecking order with newcomers. Since your guy is only a few weeks along, it may take only a few days to a week to get along with other very young ducklings, but the pecking attacks with injuries may happen if you put 'em together too fast. Like a cat, place 'em where they can check out each other but maintain separation (? chicken wire), then supervised encounters, then allow 'em to share company with room to escape. With small numbers, they'll want to be a (waddle) flock before long.

If practical get ducklings similar in age and size. 2 is OK, 3 is better. Learn about male drakes. See BubbleWraps' post.

You're in for an adventure raising ducklings.

 

[DuckyVanderQuack]

I'm not an expert so balance this with others advice. For whatever reason, ducklings aggressively establish a pecking order with newcomers. Since your guy is only a few weeks along, it may take only a few days to a week to get along with other very young ducklings, but the pecking attacks with injuries may happen if you put 'em together too fast. Like a cat, place 'em where they can check out each other but maintain separation (? chicken wire), then supervised encounters, then allow 'em to share company with room to escape. With small numbers, they'll want to be a (waddle) flock before long.

If practical get ducklings similar in age and size. 2 is OK, 3 is better. Learn about male drakes. See BubbleWraps' post.

You're in for an adventure raising ducklings.

I unfortunately couldn't find him a friend in similar age or size but I got him a new friend today! I plan on brooding the new little one inside for a couple weeks until he gets a bit bigger and let them meet through wire fencing thank you so much! I'm so excited to raise a flock!