I think I may have a big issue with this duckling

[Farm life101]

Hello fellow duck lovers!
So almost 6 weeks ago we went and picked up a lone Muscovy duckling from a family member of a friend, it was found in a parking lot all by itself wandering and the lady didn’t want to just leave it there but didn’t know what to do with it so that’s why we took it. We were already having eggs hatch under a broody hen so my parent didn’t allow me to get this one a friend and it had become to attached to me and humans by the time the other eggs hatched. We now call the Muscovy duckling little one until we know it’s gender but I think it’s a female. Anyways I have taken out to see our ducks whenever I can which is about every other day and everytime she just prefers to stay with me and will only “hiss” or peck the other ducks which isn’t working well because we have already had to separate our two adults because the one with ducklings is aggressive towards the other one now. Little one was being kept in the living room in an extra large dog crate but my parents have gotten over her and now she’s in my room which is already super crowded with a lot of other animals. I’m wondering what I can do with little one, especially since we already have our ducks separated and little one doesn’t get along with either one of the adults and can’t get close to the other ducklings without mama hen attacking. I don’t want to keep it with me much lol her as I’m afraid it won’t ever adjust to being with other ducks and the outside. Any tips? Sorry if I left out any info but I will answer any and all questions!
thanks!

 

[LT71689]

If its possible for you to pen her off next to your run (or an adequate corner inside of it) where they can all see but not touch each other and just stay that way for a while, that would be ideal. Almost nobody makes friends immediately and removing her then bringing her back then removing her again and so on is sort of re-starting the process, they just need to get used to the idea of co-habitating.

Also are any of your other ducks muscovies? If not then she NEEDS another muscovy friend. Muscovies are an entirely different breed than mallard-derived domestics, they cant talk to each other and generally reject one another (or at the best of times, are simply indifferent to each other). If your other ducks arent muscovies shes going to have a harder time integrating and will be very lonely and not so well-off in the long run if she stays all alone

 

[Farm life101]

If its possible for you to pen her off next to your run (or an adequate corner inside of it) where they can all see but not touch each other and just stay that way for a while, that would be ideal. Almost nobody makes friends immediately and removing her then bringing her back then removing her again and so on is sort of re-starting the process, they just need to get used to the idea of co-habitating.

Also are any of your other ducks muscovies? If not then she NEEDS another muscovy friend. Muscovies are an entirely different breed than mallard-derived domestics, they cant talk to each other and generally reject one another (or at the best of times, are simply indifferent to each other). If your other ducks arent muscovies shes going to have a harder time integrating and will be very lonely and not so well-off in the long run if she stays all alone

Okay thank you! Both the adults are female Muscovys and then the ones we just hatched are mixed but no Muscovy in them. That’s interesting though, I knew muscovys were different from ducks but I didn’t know they can’t really talk to each other but it makes sense since they don’t quack! So the only other thing I worrry about is that little one cries when I leave her outside with them, I usually use a playpen in their run for little one. We live near a lot of woods so it would attract predators, will she stop crying out with them
Eventually if I just let it be?

 

[LT71689]

Okay thank you! Both the adults are female Muscovys and then the ones we just hatched are mixed but no Muscovy in them. That’s interesting though, I knew muscovys were different from ducks but I didn’t know they can’t really talk to each other but it makes sense since they don’t quack! So the only other thing I worrry about is that little one cries when I leave her outside with them, I usually use a playpen in their run for little one. We live near a lot of woods so it would attract predators, will she stop crying out with them
Eventually if I just let it be?

If the run is predator proofed and you put the playpen inside of it then I'd think you'd be alright even if she's being noisy. If she cant be left somewhere that protects her from predators then that's a problem.

Other than her safety - yeah, its a little heartbreaking but you just gotta let her cry it out, like dropping a kindergartener off at school the first day. They all need to learn that she's there to stay and they'd better suck it up and get along.

I'm not well-versed enough in them to say how mamma duck is going to feel in the long-run about none of the eggs she hatched being muscovies themselves. If you wind up keeping any of those (genders are going to be a big determining factor since you want at least 3-4 females per male and ideally they'd all be the domestics, not a ratio that includes the muscovy girls) they'll likely go their own way and the 3 Muscovies might band together better than they are now. Pissy as the three of them might be to each other right now, at the end of the day ducks are flock animals and they do want company, they just have to learn to live with the company they've been given cuz they dont have a lot of other options

 

[Farm life101]

If the run is predator proofed and you put the playpen inside of it then I'd think you'd be alright even if she's being noisy. If she cant be left somewhere that protects her from predators then that's a problem.

Other than her safety - yeah, its a little heartbreaking but you just gotta let her cry it out, like dropping a kindergartener off at school the first day. They all need to learn that she's there to stay and they'd better suck it up and get along.

I'm not well-versed enough in them to say how mamma duck is going to feel in the long-run about none of the eggs she hatched being muscovies themselves. If you wind up keeping any of those (genders are going to be a big determining factor since you want at least 3-4 females per male and ideally they'd all be the domestics, not a ratio that includes the muscovy girls) they'll likely go their own way and the 3 Muscovies might band together better than they are now. Pissy as the three of them might be to each other right now, at the end of the day ducks are flock animals and they do want company, they just have to learn to live with the company they've been given cuz they dont have a lot of other options

Okay thank you! I put her inside the coop in the large dog crate overnight while the other ducks are in and then when the other ducks were in the run/ free ranging i let little one out in the coop. The mama seems good with the babies but I can definitely now see that they can’t understand each other as good as the babies understand one another, I’m still new to ducks and didn’t know that they can’t really even communicate! I am planning on only keeping one male so if I have more I will try to re home them myself so I can know they get a good home or we have a local feed store that usually gets them good homes. I put little one out during the day and she really didn’t cry that much, I think the other ducks definitely helped her and she is starting to get along better with them but I think I’ll still keep them separate since the mama duck is still aggressive towards both little one and the other adult Muscovy. We are also expanding the run quite a bit just so they have some extra room and I might free range sometimes when the chickens are up so they should have enough room to become two different little flocks lol. Again thank you so much for your help!!