Indian Runner Duck - Will it be lonely?

KPJUK

Hatching
5 Years
Jul 9, 2014
7
0
7
Hey everyone,

I posted a while back with sad news about the Sussex dying, but luckily the others have been fine since and we are now getting two more to join the gang.

My personal pet is a 3 days old Indian Runner Duckling which is unbearably cute.

A few questions as a first time owner are:

1. Will it be lonely even with 4 (soon to be 6) chickens?

2. Will the duck be able to get along with the chickens?

3. When can I introduce the duck to the chickens?

4. How long must I keep the duck inside before putting it outside?

5. Now that it has imprinted on me, will it be stressed when I leave for university?

Thanks for reading!

KP
 
1 - it depends!

2-see point 1

3-see point 1

4-see point 1

5 -see point 1

I think that covers everything!



Ok not too helpful I know but most of this depends upon your chickens - if they are older then there is a good chance that they won't take to her very well.
With chicks and duckling it would be easy but with adult birds you may struggle against their preconceptions!
If it were me I would introduce the duckling to just 1 chicken (your most placid/friendly one) at first and work on building a bond between them - 1 friend is better than none. ..

I've got my fingers crossed for you
 
Last edited:
Thank you for the reply! The Chickens are all pre-point of lay. I believe the only one laying now is the Cou Cou, whereas the two Faverolles' are soon to lay in the next few weeks and the Hy-Line longer still. The Hy-Line is the newest to the lot and the smallest, so maybe that makes the best bet? The Cou Cou is the ring leader as it were but isn't violent, it simply doesn't take gip from the others.

I'll take the duck into the coop every day so I can supervise and see how they get on. Last time I took it in the chickens looked at it but never came closer.

KP
 
As long as they don't run or attack it's a good start.
As a ray of hope I've got 2 chucks that are about a year old- they have never liked my ducks because I tried to introduce my mallard duckling to them when they were chicks, she attacked them and it'd been gang war since.

They now happily cohabit with a 4 month old khaki Campbell- she grew up with 3 chicks and has steadily won them over to the point that they treat her as one of the group. They sleep, roam and lay together (she literally jumps about a foot up to their laying shelf to lay her eggs too!); luckily they don't swim together!

I still have 2 distinct groups but they all get on much better.
 

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