General duck questions

[Smashton]

Hello! New to the forum! I have 5 pekins- Butters, a rescue who is a very old drake, Suzy and Donna, my 9 month old females and Frankie and Sammi, my 3 week old sex to be determined!

I raised Suzy and Donna from 2 days old and they have always been hesitant to come to me unless I have treats. My two new babies are more trusting but still a little skiddish. I started taking the babies outside to slowly meet the older ones.. At first it seemed Suzy and Donna were trying to protect the babies because they would lunge at me if I got near them.. Now that's stopped and they are lunging at the babies... Especially if there is food or treats present.. Why are they doing this???

Also, they recently started quacking VERY LOUDLY at about 5 am to be let out of their enclosure (a 25'x10' pen) that they still in from sunset to sunrise.. Its so loud it wakes me up.. Why all of a sudden??

Any tips would be appreciated!!

Thank you!

 

[Finny]

When introducing new ducks into a flock, there will most likely be complications. The new ducks and the old have to establish a pecking order. You have to do this carefully and not let them just "work it out". What I do is I set up a smaller pen inside the larger outdoor one and I put the new ducks in the smaller one during the day. For night time, i split the duck house in half with some fencing. This way the new and old ducks can get used to each other with out hurting each other. This process may take a while. A duck I introduced to my flock took a couple months to fully integrate into the flock, but they are now all living together happily . Don't rush anything, that is when ducks can get hurt especially if the new ones are younger and smaller. Good luck!

 

[Smashton]

Thank you Finny! The enclosure I have has a hutch inside of it. During the day I will let the older ducks out into the yard and keep the babies in the enclosure. At night, the babies can go in the hutch and the older ducks can stay out in the enclosure.

Any idea as to why they are all of a sudden being so loud in the morning? I have one neighbor next door, not too close and There are houses behind my house across some woods.. I'm worried they are being disturbed.

 

[Finny]

Thank you Finny! The enclosure I have has a hutch inside of it. During the day I will let the older ducks out into the yard and keep the babies in the enclosure. At night, the babies can go in the hutch and the older ducks can stay out in the enclosure.

Any idea as to why they are all of a sudden being so loud in the morning? I have one neighbor next door, not too close and There are houses behind my house across some woods.. I'm worried they are being disturbed.

I am not sure why they are being loud all of a sudden. But I would not keep your ducks out in the enclouser during the night unless it is absolutly predator proof. Many many predators come out at night and they have all night to work on getting into the enclosure. I would just use a staple gun and light fencing to make a barrier inside the hutch and put the younger ducks on one side and the older ducks on the other.

 

[Going Quackers]

Could be daylight is coming sooner? any chance some preds are coming about this hour? hard to say with certainty. As for the mingling Finny is dead on, all about pecking orders and establishing who falls where, i always pen within for newbies.. my main flock free ranges so they come in/out while new ones are in their area but not loose.. over time they blend.

My pekin fell into the flock pretty quickly but they are HUGE so could hold their own way better than a smaller breed could(the flock is mainly Muscovy) Good luck! would love to see your flock.

 

[Smashton]

 

[Amiga]

I was thinking along the same lines as Going Quackers. Predators make the rounds sometimes very early in the morning.

 

[Countrygirl92]

I have a question my hen duck is a year old why isnt she laying eggs yet