I will be buying some more ducklings this spring; keeping them for a while in the house for warmth, then moving them out to the enclosed duck yard where 3 Khaki hens rule. The yard is 20'x20', with a 6'x8' house. I was thinking that I need to put up a temporary fence to separate the younguns from the hens until they get used to each other, but I'm not sure how long that will be, or what to do about nighttime. We have hawks, foxes, owls, and who knows what else in the area, so I don't feel comfortable about leaving the babes in something like the igloo style dog house we have (no door). We don't have a lot of money, so I can't really build anything fancy. Most of our extra money for the next few months will be going to enlarging my garden instead. Ideas?
I am interested in the answer to this too. I will be introducing two ducklings to my flock of four late winter or early spring
Until I had a secure outbuilding, I kept the runners in the house at night. It was a minor pain, but very minor, and kinda fun in a way. We use a good size dog carrier, lined with plastic poultry fence, and call it the Limousine. Anyway, that is what we carried the ducks in and out of the house with. You are right to have them separated at first, then supervise time together and give treats at the same time so they can associate good things with being around each other.
i got 5 duck the other day to put in with my flock of 9 they didnt get alone at first but i have tryed to separate my new duck to get use to the others once befor they will still fight in the end i wouldnt worry bout them fight if you only have 3 ducks its like chicken have to figure out the pecking order i would just stick them right in when they are big to defend for them self's
I put my ducklings out in the yard in a temp fence area so the big girls can see the new feathered friends. Nobody can get to anybody, but can hear them and see them. I take them out and let them explore with me there to step in from anybody getting nasty. Once everybody was big enough, they hung out together during the day and just didn't combine groups. Then put them together at night.
