CrazyCrttr75
Free Ranging
My flock consists of a trio. A male and female Rouen and a female Khaki Campbell. My Khaki Campbell, Annabelle, went broody and we decided to let her have a go at hatching eggs. This is my first time ever doing this. She did good and now we have 5 happy and healthy fluffy ducklings that are 3 weeks old now. We are still keeping the male separate from the ducklings. The other female was fine around them in the beginning but has recently started chasing them and trying to nip at them. Normal behavior? Since I was concerned, we have fenced off a section in the duck area to keep the littles away from everyone (look but no touch) yet can be in the same "territory". We have been letting mom over with her flock mates and away from babies because she has been increasingly showing a desire to be with them. I figure it helps keep their bonds close. She doesn't ignore her babies in an abandon type way, she just isn't as clingy to them. She happily leaves them to go do her thing. I figure is a natural progression. My question(s) are as follows: Around what time should I be expected to have babies totally separated from mom? I ask this because I figure that I will have to keep them separated from my Drake until they are sexually mature. I don't want him to hurt them. I think I have at least 2 males but I won't know for sure until they are old enough to voice sex (again, they are only 3 weeks old right now). We will get rid of any males we have and are intending to keep any females. What would y'all do if you were in my situation?