has anyone intergrated different age ducklings before?

[rocketbunni]

I had a lone hatcher BEI 4 weeks ago, and finally managed to get him a couple of girlfriends at the weekend, they are 2 weeks+ he's not really into them at all! he tolerates them near by but they like to chase him which freaks him out and if i have them on my lap together there is lots of pecking going on

I keep their brooders side by side at night too...how long do you think until they can all go in together? anyone got any tips?

 

[becky3086]

I don't normally put new ducks in the flock until they are fairly large so that they can put up with the pecking and chasing.

 

[Jay-Mar28]

i introduced some 10 week muscovies into a group that already consisted of some 6 week and 3 week old scovies. One male was overly agressive so he's in a separate pen but the rest all get along fine other than the odd peck here and there. Aslong as they re the same species it shouldnt be to bad from my experiance, the rouens are the same age but the scovies show their dominance over them.

 

[ugly ducky]

I run mixed age ducklings all the time, but I think the key to doing so is to make sure they have plenty of room. As long as they can get away from each other I have no problems at all. Right now my young duck pen consists of East Indies, Runners, Harlequins, Calls, Saxony, and Muscovy, which vary from 4-5 months down to 4-5 week olds and they all get along just fine. They do segregate themselves by breed and age, but they have lots of room to do so. Good luck with your youngsters.

 

[dianaross77]

The problem might not be the age difference. If he hatched alone and hasn't been with any other ducks until now he's probably imprinted on humans.

 

[rocketbunni]

Quote:
I think thats exactly the problem! he'd never even seen another duck until 3 days ago!

 

[cracking up]

It's easier if you have more than one lone duckling. If an adult duck takes him under her wing (so to speak) he'll be ok. Otherwise the others may gang up on him.

 

[dianaross77]

Quote:
I think thats exactly the problem! he'd never even seen another duck until 3 days ago!

You might have a house duck situation on your hands!

 

[Calea]

I had a lone duck who had imprinted HEAVILY on people. If you could maybe put him with ONE other duck (younger than he is) that might help him to get used to a duck without being intimidated. That's what happened with mine and helped him a lot. He was afraid of ducks and I think because of that, they picked on him MORE.

 

[jdywntr]

About 1.5 weeks ago, I got a 3 week old resuce Muscovy duckling that had lived indoors with people since days old. I kept her inside for almost a week but had to move her out. I had 5 ~6 week old muscovy outside. I put her out with them and she picked on them a bit at first but they settled in fine after the first hour or so. She fit right into the group. She would follow me around inside and go outside with me put would peep like there was no tomorrow if I left her eyesight. I was worried that she wouldn't know how to be a duck but after only 2 or 3 days outside, she would no longer come to me and would freak out if I picked her up. Give it some time and keep an eye on them. They are little so can't hurt the older one. He should calm down soon enough.