Integrating the flock

[Mother of duckies]

Hi guys,
I already posted this under the raising baby chicks forum, but I'm not getting any replies so I thought I'd post here. Thanks in advance!

Hi all you wonderful people!

I need some advice. I just recently brought home two new cayuga ducklings, to add to my mated pair. My drake was overmating my female and I've plenty of room so I brought in cute, fuzzy, peeping, reinforcements. I've introduced them to my two adults a few times now. My hen seems fine with them; she's not maternal or anything, but she either ignores them or happily munches on peas with them by her side. My drake, however, is behaving very aggressively. He has charged them a couple times and even tried to get one in his mouth. Luckily, I've been able to intervene, but I want them all to get along. I'm not willing to rehome my drake. What are my options? Again, I've only introduced them a few times, but so far, I'm feeling discouraged. Should I just give them more time?

On a lighter note, it seems one of my new babies is already beginning to quack, or try to. She's only two weeks old. Is that what she's doing already?!
So adorable! Thanks so much,

Mother of duckies

 

[Yardmom]

In my experience it is better to wait until they are feathered out to introduce ducks. Even with a mom drakes can kill ducklings.

 

[Mother of duckies]

In my experience it is better to wait until they are feathered out to introduce ducks. Even with a mom drakes can kill ducklings.

Thank you! I thought it would be best to integrate them as soon as possible, but I may have to wait. I just want to get my babies into the yard!

 

[FernbergFarms]

Yeah I agree with @Yardmom you should probably wait till they can defend themselves. My drakes were aggressive even when the new ducks I brought in were feathered out. I just slowly integrated them. (My ducklings were 2-3 months old) Like the first day I let them see each other but I didn’t let them touch each other just kept the babies in a dog kennel. I did that everyday for a week. Then I let them be together and fight a little bit and play everyday for a week or two (I didn’t do it all day just like four hours supervised ) then I let them be together more without me when I felt confident that the drakes weren’t gonna hurt my little ones too bad. Then I eventually took the step to let them stay together permanently (which was a hard change bc I have a lot of drakes that like to fight) but now they are all happy! Tho the two different flocks separate when free ranging (which is normal). But they are all good now. I made sure my little ducks could defend themselves. It’s a process that takes a bit but eventually they’ll get better. Are your ducklings all girls? Bc it’s way easier if you are joining girl ducklings with a drake and hen than trying to join drakes and drakes with the mix of hens bc each drake wants the girls to themselves and will fight the other drakes for them. But like I said it takes a bit and eventually they’ll all be okay with each other

 

[Mother of duckies]

Yeah I agree with @Yardmom you should probably wait till they can defend themselves. My drakes were aggressive even when the new ducks I brought in were feathered out. I just slowly integrated them. (My ducklings were 2-3 months old) Like the first day I let them see each other but I didn’t let them touch each other just kept the babies in a dog kennel. I did that everyday for a week. Then I let them be together and fight a little bit and play everyday for a week or two (I didn’t do it all day just like four hours supervised ) then I let them be together more without me when I felt confident that the drakes weren’t gonna hurt my little ones too bad. Then I eventually took the step to let them stay together permanently (which was a hard change bc I have a lot of drakes that like to fight) but now they are all happy! Tho the two different flocks separate when free ranging (which is normal). But they are all good now. I made sure my little ducks could defend themselves. It’s a process that takes a bit but eventually they’ll get better. Are your ducklings all girls? Bc it’s way easier if you are joining girl ducklings with a drake and hen than trying to join drakes and drakes with the mix of hens bc each drake wants the girls to themselves and will fight the other drakes for them. But like I said it takes a bit and eventually they’ll all be okay with each other

Yes, I got two girls on purpose because my drake was overmating my one female and she was so over it! Plus, I love their eggs! I had my babies in a kennel the first time and my drake beelined for them and tried to get at them. He's been a little better now, especially if he's with his mate, but he still gets aggressive. I've had him in his outdoor enclosure for over a week now, so he can see them and smell them and hear them. My hen is good with them. I don't know if he's just protective or threatened or what. Thanks for the advice; I'm not a patient person in general, but I guess I will just have to wait and see how things turn out!