Introducing goslings and ducklings

[AKwaterfowl]

Hello! I recently got two goslings (now ten days old) and my ducklings just hatched yesterday (all 8!). My question is how do I go about introducing them to each other? I tried a little bit of time in my living room, but one goslings kept biting and nipping at the ducklings, and the other gosling kept getting nipped at by the ducklings who would surround her while she was laying down.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Arent they funny and so young to be behaving like children. lol

You'll just have to keep trying they will eventually accept each other. Even with ducklings this can happen, I had 2sets one set of 2 hatched a week before the last 2 and I could not put them together in the same brooder, So I made a partition with some spare hardware cloth wrapped the edges in gorilla tape then place it in the brooder so each had their own side and heat lamp was placed in the middle so they could share. This brooder is a Xlarge dog crate the all plastic ones with top removed I use old window screens to cover. Plus having the partition gives them time to see each other and get use to each other then when I put the on the floor they begin to accept each other. Your ducklings are so very young they need about a week to get strong and realize what is going on in the world. But biting to them is exploring right now. Your goslings on the other hand have had 10 days to explore their new world in waterfowl that's alot of time between just hatched and 10 days. so just keep trying is all you can do. My ducklings that just hatched were sleeping on top of the older ones in less than a week. I was able to take down the partition and let them be together.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oh and soon you can introduce mealworms I used these crushed a bit for the younger ones to get their minds on eating instead of biting each other when I put them down on the floor. Be sure to have water for them.

 

[AKwaterfowl]

Oh and soon you can introduce mealworms I used these crushed a bit for the younger ones to get their minds on eating instead of biting each other when I put them down on the floor. Be sure to have water for them.

Thank you! I do plan on fixing their brooder areas so they can see each other. Currently they can hear each other, but that’s it. I wasn’t sure if putting food out around them all would cause fights, but it’s good to know it might help!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Place it on the floor on a pee pad or something similar instead of in a feed bowl so the use their natural instincts to forage. instead of fighting over a bowl.