- Aug 4, 2009
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Hi all,
I have three khaki Campbell ducks who are 4.5 months old (let's call them The Spice Ducks as their names are Paprika, Nutmeg, and Clove). Clove is a drake, and has been mating with his girls for about 3 weeks (no eggs yet). Then we have Flopsy and Mopsy (Welsh Harliquin and Welsh Harliquin/Khaki Campbell mix respectively), who are 2.5 months old. Flopsy and Mopsy have been living outside in a run next to the Spice ducks run for about a month now. They can see each other clearly. Nutmeg and Paprika have accepted Flopsy and Mopsy and can forage with them safely, but Clove (drake) just attacks them viciously, so he has to be penned if the young ones are let out of their run. They all just spent 5 days in my converted garage due to the terrible air quality from nearby fires (I'm in Oregon), with Clove separated by a Portable dog fence, and even having gone through that experience together, he's still attacking them if he gets the chance.
Will he ever accept them? I've searched this forum for threads on how long mating season lasts and found everything from "just spring" to "domestic ducks mate all year". I'd love any advice on how to get Clove to accept Flopsy and Mopsy. They are just about the same size as the Spice girls at this point, and like I said, they have all had lots of exposure to one another. They also have a huge yard to run around in which I would think would give Flopsy and Mopsy room to run away such that I could try just letting them all work it out, but the little ones just want to be with the big ones seemingly even at the risk of injury.
Thank you all so much for any help - this is my first year with ducks, and this forum has been invaluable.
I have three khaki Campbell ducks who are 4.5 months old (let's call them The Spice Ducks as their names are Paprika, Nutmeg, and Clove). Clove is a drake, and has been mating with his girls for about 3 weeks (no eggs yet). Then we have Flopsy and Mopsy (Welsh Harliquin and Welsh Harliquin/Khaki Campbell mix respectively), who are 2.5 months old. Flopsy and Mopsy have been living outside in a run next to the Spice ducks run for about a month now. They can see each other clearly. Nutmeg and Paprika have accepted Flopsy and Mopsy and can forage with them safely, but Clove (drake) just attacks them viciously, so he has to be penned if the young ones are let out of their run. They all just spent 5 days in my converted garage due to the terrible air quality from nearby fires (I'm in Oregon), with Clove separated by a Portable dog fence, and even having gone through that experience together, he's still attacking them if he gets the chance.
Will he ever accept them? I've searched this forum for threads on how long mating season lasts and found everything from "just spring" to "domestic ducks mate all year". I'd love any advice on how to get Clove to accept Flopsy and Mopsy. They are just about the same size as the Spice girls at this point, and like I said, they have all had lots of exposure to one another. They also have a huge yard to run around in which I would think would give Flopsy and Mopsy room to run away such that I could try just letting them all work it out, but the little ones just want to be with the big ones seemingly even at the risk of injury.
Thank you all so much for any help - this is my first year with ducks, and this forum has been invaluable.
