Introducing ducklings

[weebles&wobblesmom]

I have a Pekin duckling that is 6 weeks old and we just got another 1 that is 3 days old. The 6 week old is by itself and has been since I got it (except for his stuffed "buddy") The new 1 is with a WHOLE mess of chicks, all different kinds. (left overs from the farm store I work at). The new chicks & duckling are in a brooder in a different room from the older duckling.

My question is, what is a good age for the new duckling (and chicks), to introduce them to the older duckling? Also, is it better to introduce them through a fence?

I want them all to be able to live together.

Thanks

 

[mandelyn]

It will be difficult with the age difference, I can tell you that! The new one needs to be 3 weeks old or better, for the size. The other one, needs to be introduced through wire because it's older and won't recognize the other as a flock mate since it's been alone all that time. The older a lone duck gets, the harder the introduction.

The new duckling will also think it is a chicken by the time it's big enough to go with the oldest. There will be lot's of crying about it between the two. Ducks just get suspicious as they grow older. So you have to work slow and let them adjust, since it's a BIG change from their routine.

The worse one I ever had, I was looking for a male Pekin to go with the 5 girls I hatched. I found one, he had been raised alone, around dogs. He thought he was a dog. He panicked when he saw the duck I brought to meet him. He was 7 months old.

After getting him home, it took him a week to figure out he had 5 girlfriends and that he actually was a duck.


So the sooner the better, but the little one needs some size. The big one may run the other direction, or get mean. Never can tell sometimes.

Yesterday I cornered my 3 week olds in the yard and sat by them, and held them one at a time to try to let them know I'm not the bad guy. The Pekin flipped out and took a minute to settle down. The Swedish tried to chew on me and get mad about it, the brown one sat down on my lap and slept, occasionally looking at me sideways with one eye. So they can react differently, which is why you'd want wire between them for an adjustment period, same with chickens. More so because ducks are paranoid as opposed to chickens just being mean.