Let me start by saying this: we have a bit of a weird set of circumstances. Three of our ducks are together, but due to her younger age (one of the males seriously injured her growing up, we thought she was ready), one of the ducks we have has been apart from them for the majority of her life. We got this duck to replace another pet duck, who unfortunately due to a sticky financial situation died of a disease we couldn't afford to diagnose, let alone try to cure at that time. I love her to death, and after having to watch one pet slowly die I was determined to keep her safe.
I fear that I focused too much on her, though. We separated her from our other three for what was meant to be a short period of time, and it never really stopped. I've been too paranoid of what might happen and that's been taking hold of how I raise her and them. Now they'll attack her if she gets close, and I'm afraid she may be lonely since we have to split the time between them without them being directly together and she's alone when we let her out (we let the trio out at roughly 8AM and put her in their cage, then at 1PM we swap them out and lock her up in a smaller cage at 6PM, around when it gets dark). I want them all to be happy, but I also 1. don't want to lose the bond I have with her (she trusts me and runs up to let me pet her while she's in her pool, and we can give her things like calcium if needed pretty easily) and 2. don't want her to get hurt more than would be normal (I know that male ducks are very... assertive, when mating, but they go beyond that with her as it is now). Is there any way to integrate her with them without losing the level of trust I have with her specifically, and without her getting hurt, or am I going to need to make some sacrifices to make sure they're all happy and healthy? I'm pretty new here, so advice is appreciated.
I fear that I focused too much on her, though. We separated her from our other three for what was meant to be a short period of time, and it never really stopped. I've been too paranoid of what might happen and that's been taking hold of how I raise her and them. Now they'll attack her if she gets close, and I'm afraid she may be lonely since we have to split the time between them without them being directly together and she's alone when we let her out (we let the trio out at roughly 8AM and put her in their cage, then at 1PM we swap them out and lock her up in a smaller cage at 6PM, around when it gets dark). I want them all to be happy, but I also 1. don't want to lose the bond I have with her (she trusts me and runs up to let me pet her while she's in her pool, and we can give her things like calcium if needed pretty easily) and 2. don't want her to get hurt more than would be normal (I know that male ducks are very... assertive, when mating, but they go beyond that with her as it is now). Is there any way to integrate her with them without losing the level of trust I have with her specifically, and without her getting hurt, or am I going to need to make some sacrifices to make sure they're all happy and healthy? I'm pretty new here, so advice is appreciated.
Too many drakes. It is highly probable that the drakes will continue to gang breed her. Such action can injure her or even drown her if they are mating in water. I would keep her separate from the group of three and get more hens as company for her.
