Galaxyfalcon
Songster
Hello everyone!
We've got a small mixed flock of ducks with 2 drakes and 2 hens. We added the 2 boys to our 2 girls (it was supposed to be 1 boy and 2 girls, but...) last spring and so far they've been getting along really well. Our oldest duck (Momma duck) is a rescue. She's getting close to duck menopause and has been having egg-laying problems, but recently we found her sitting on a pair of what we believe to be her eggs. If these are in fact her eggs, we decided to go ahead and let her try having one last batch of ducklings since she's getting pretty old. Our plan is to keep one of the ducklings and the rest of the brood are going to my in-laws where they have a nice big pond with a few ducks already living there.
Our two boys have been pretty gentle with the girls. The ratio has concerned me, though. One of the boys is very gentle and doesn't mate too much, but the more aggressive Rouen mates more frequently and has started to increase the pace recently; we think Momma duck has been getting over-mated.
An acquaintance of ours was recently getting rid of some ducks (they were going to eat them) and we offered to take one of the girls off their hands. The idea is to bring on another female to help take some of the heat off the two girls, particularly momma duck just because she's getting so old.
I've read that it's a good idea to quarantine the ducks for a while, so I've currently got our new girl quarantined in the run in a place where she has water and food, and can see the rest of the flock but can't interact with them. I'm wondering how long we should keep them separated? I've seen recommendations of anywhere from "a few days" to a month.
The boys were immediately enamored with her and were clamoring over themselves and whacking their faces/feet against the barrier to try to get in and say "hello" to our new lady, so I need to do some medical check ups and make sure they didn't bang up their feet too hard (they're both a little limpy today).
Our new girl is also a little rough looking: I don't think she had any water to bathe in that was a swimming depth, so I've got her on the side of the run with the pool, but she hasn't bathed at all. She looks a little ratty. Any tips on helping her clean up? She's pretty skittish of people right now and squeeks while keeping as far away as possible when I try to approach her. I just want her feeling healthy and welcome. I also don't know what health issues to be looking for, e.g. what parasites or diseases she could potentially have that we should be paying attention to. I want to make sure our new girl is in a good condition while also protecting the rest of our flock. Any help would be appreciated!
We've got a small mixed flock of ducks with 2 drakes and 2 hens. We added the 2 boys to our 2 girls (it was supposed to be 1 boy and 2 girls, but...) last spring and so far they've been getting along really well. Our oldest duck (Momma duck) is a rescue. She's getting close to duck menopause and has been having egg-laying problems, but recently we found her sitting on a pair of what we believe to be her eggs. If these are in fact her eggs, we decided to go ahead and let her try having one last batch of ducklings since she's getting pretty old. Our plan is to keep one of the ducklings and the rest of the brood are going to my in-laws where they have a nice big pond with a few ducks already living there.
Our two boys have been pretty gentle with the girls. The ratio has concerned me, though. One of the boys is very gentle and doesn't mate too much, but the more aggressive Rouen mates more frequently and has started to increase the pace recently; we think Momma duck has been getting over-mated.
An acquaintance of ours was recently getting rid of some ducks (they were going to eat them) and we offered to take one of the girls off their hands. The idea is to bring on another female to help take some of the heat off the two girls, particularly momma duck just because she's getting so old.
I've read that it's a good idea to quarantine the ducks for a while, so I've currently got our new girl quarantined in the run in a place where she has water and food, and can see the rest of the flock but can't interact with them. I'm wondering how long we should keep them separated? I've seen recommendations of anywhere from "a few days" to a month.
The boys were immediately enamored with her and were clamoring over themselves and whacking their faces/feet against the barrier to try to get in and say "hello" to our new lady, so I need to do some medical check ups and make sure they didn't bang up their feet too hard (they're both a little limpy today).
Our new girl is also a little rough looking: I don't think she had any water to bathe in that was a swimming depth, so I've got her on the side of the run with the pool, but she hasn't bathed at all. She looks a little ratty. Any tips on helping her clean up? She's pretty skittish of people right now and squeeks while keeping as far away as possible when I try to approach her. I just want her feeling healthy and welcome. I also don't know what health issues to be looking for, e.g. what parasites or diseases she could potentially have that we should be paying attention to. I want to make sure our new girl is in a good condition while also protecting the rest of our flock. Any help would be appreciated!
