introducing ducklings to ducklings...

[Deedee]

I have 4 one month old ducklings and 2 1 week old ducklings and my one month olds are trying to attack the little ones. I have attempted to introduce slowly but my older ones aren't having it. i have them seperated and after their play time in the tub I let them run through the kitchen and my big are trying to pound on the little one heads with their neck or step on them. What to do??? Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[CindyS]

Ducklings can be so ornery! I have tried that many times and always have to seperate. They will just not leave the younger ones alone!

 

[emmalynn]

I have 1 older duckling and a bunch of little ones. The older one acts like a big sister. Of course, she could be scared of an uprising. They do out number her, that may be the secret.

 

[Deedee]

Thanks, does anyone have any idea to get them to chill out. i am going to have a problem when they go out to the housing.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I wouldn't put them together until they are the same size. I did this with mine, and though the older ones were a bit bossy, there weren't any real problems. Now that they are on the pond, the older 2 stick together, and the younger 3 stick together, rarely if ever integrating, but at least they got along when they were in their juvie pen.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

I too have two 4 week old Pekins and two almost 2 week old Pekins. It was hilarious to watch them the other day for introductions. The youngest two, Splish and Splash, ran towards Lucy and Nibbles.

Lucy & Nibbles ran away "screaming" in the opposite direction. All the sudden, Lucy & Nibbles turned around and chased Splish & Splash. Then those two ran in the opposite direction "screaming".

No one got hurt and they were very well supervised by myself and my grandson but this went on for about 10 minutes before all 4 just chilled out and stayed in their separate groups of 2 staring at each other.

Now I added two 1 day old call ducks to the mix. This is going to be fun!!

Laurie

 

[chickenlisa]

I joined my group of younger ducks last year to the adult group (their parents and other adults) but it took awhile. I put up a temporary wall of chicken wire in their pen and gave them access to the big doghouse at the end of the pen. They all could see each other and I left it like that for a few weeks if I remember correctly. When I took that wall down, I left part of it up so they could run behind it if necessary. I stayed out in the pen too and watched a lot. The big ones chased and scared the young ones, but overall, it wasn't too bad. 1 drake was a bully, so we would intervene then. We even grabbed him and held him tightly and scolded him. Eventually, they settled in. They are a big happy duck family now, interbreeding, and generally very happy together. This was all when the younger ones were about 1/2-3/4 the size of the adults. Not as babies.
Good Luck!

 

[ducklover101202]

I had the same problem. I had a couple day old ducklings and the last egg hatched 2 days later. One of the ducklings was fine with the new duckling but the other duckling kept biting the little one and chasing him. Plus, the new duckling imprinted on me so he was following and crying because I wasn't holding him in the middle of getting nipped by the older one. I pushed him away when he nipped and kept letting them out of the brooder together. The older one finally learned to accept the new duckling and they now are all good friends.

 

[Goat_Walker]

I have one 2 month old duckling in with 5, 3 week old ducklings - and the three week olds are bigger thanmy month 1/2 old!

 

[c_soto1990]

I put my two 1 week old runners with my month old cayuga right before bedtime and the next day the cayuga was "momma" and the silkie raised with the cayuga since days old doesnt mind either.