Introducing young ducks to the rest of the flock

[cayugaducklady]

I just finished integrating 3 new ducklings into the flock. What I observed was that the bad behavior from the established ducks stopped once the babies were responding to head bobs and water displays.

My adult hens were really excited by the babies though and started displaying to them almost immediately once I stated taking the ducklings outside. I started by letting the babies free range inside a covered dig play pen. When i let the hens out to forage they'd all run up to the play pen and display to the babies.

 

[yanakaye]

Hi everyone. I have a 2.5 year old pekin drake and a 2.5 year old white campbell hen. We have just introduced a female 4 month old aylesbury hen. My drake is attacking her but not drawing blood, he is trying to mate her. She hasn't developed all her adult wing feathers yet and she's not old enough to start laying. My drake is so much bigger than her, will it cause damage if we let him mate her? From past experience when introducing a new duck we have put them together supervised and pulled them apart if it got too aggressive, we found doing this our drake gets used to them much quicker, almost getting it out of his system. When we can't supervise they are together but separated so he can't get to her but can see her. My only worry this time is because she's so young will he cause damage if he tries to mate her?

 

[Amiga]

Hi everyone. I have a 2.5 year old pekin drake and a 2.5 year old white campbell hen. We have just introduced a female 4 month old aylesbury hen. My drake is attacking her but not drawing blood, he is trying to mate her. She hasn't developed all her adult wing feathers yet and she's not old enough to start laying. My drake is so much bigger than her, will it cause damage if we let him mate her? From past experience when introducing a new duck we have put them together supervised and pulled them apart if it got too aggressive, we found doing this our drake gets used to them much quicker, almost getting it out of his system. When we can't supervise they are together but separated so he can't get to her but can see her. My only worry this time is because she's so young will he cause damage if he tries to mate her?

Do not be in a hurry - her life depends on your protection.

@yanakaye

 

[wallawu]

Glad I saw this thread for the 4 new ladies' benefits, but my fiancé is NOT going to be happy about this...

We just took 3 of our 5 drakes to an auction and for now it's 2 drakes and 1 hen, 5 months old. We kept the two drakes that are the least aggressive, and she kind of runs the show. We don't keep the pool filled while we aren't home just in case. That's the only time they start doing the head bobbing and fluffing thing. I got 4 females from Metzer to get a better ratio and they're probably just over 3 weeks old if they were a day or two when shipped. I would have gotten 5 or 6, but I wanted them to have plenty of space per duck at night. Does the time of year matter at all when introducing? Are they not less likely to be aggressive in the fall/winter than the spring/summer?

Either way, it sounds like they'll need to be kept separate for another 3 months or so? Maybe introducing them in the house with a partition at night once they've got all their feathers?

 

[wallawu]

Bumping this one. Our 4 female ducklings are now in our shed in a 6 ft. pool. This isn't ideal, but keeps our house from smelling all the time and keeps the new ducklings safe. They're going to be 2 months old this week. I have a pen made of hog paneling and a large gate with lattice zip-tied to it for the large ducks attached to their house. If they were determined, they could probably squeeze under the house and maaaaaybe make it out the other side (it's on a slant).

Should I let the little ducks out during the day while we're gone and keep the big ones in the pen? I let the 4 new girls out with our only adult girl on Saturday, and she really wanted nothing to do with them. Wouldn't eat their food, wouldn't swim in the pool (that she loves!) after they'd been in it, walked away from them when they approached. She wanted to be back with the other two guys she grew up with in the pen. I thought "well, maybe they'll all act like that." Nope, that was a 30 second test. As soon as one drake went after a small one and pulled at her feathers as she ran I separated them again.

Just FYI, when we get up around 6:30am the big ones (6 1/2 mos) get free range of the whole yard. Around 6:00pm, they go in the pen so the dog can go outside and roam the yard as his own (and can't eat their food, it's in the pen.) Then they go in the house around 8:45pm. The little ones stay in the shed all day and night during the week. I feel bad because I think the others were out in the yard by now (during the day).

 

[Amiga]

Bumping this one. Our 4 female ducklings are now in our shed in a 6 ft. pool. This isn't ideal, but keeps our house from smelling all the time and keeps the new ducklings safe. They're going to be 2 months old this week. I have a pen made of hog paneling and a large gate with lattice zip-tied to it for the large ducks attached to their house. If they were determined, they could probably squeeze under the house and maaaaaybe make it out the other side (it's on a slant).

Should I let the little ducks out during the day while we're gone and keep the big ones in the pen? I let the 4 new girls out with our only adult girl on Saturday, and she really wanted nothing to do with them. Wouldn't eat their food, wouldn't swim in the pool (that she loves!) after they'd been in it, walked away from them when they approached. She wanted to be back with the other two guys she grew up with in the pen. I thought "well, maybe they'll all act like that." Nope, that was a 30 second test. As soon as one drake went after a small one and pulled at her feathers as she ran I separated them again.

Just FYI, when we get up around 6:30am the big ones (6 1/2 mos) get free range of the whole yard. Around 6:00pm, they go in the pen so the dog can go outside and roam the yard as his own (and can't eat their food, it's in the pen.) Then they go in the house around 8:45pm. The little ones stay in the shed all day and night during the week. I feel bad because I think the others were out in the yard by now (during the day).

My feeling is that keeping them safe is the most important thing. Ducklings will get themselves into trouble, squeezing through gaps and trapping themselves.

 

[My2petducks]

Good morning everyone! I have a Pekin duck (female) that is 1 1/2 years old. We had 2 and 1 disappeared several weeks ago. I ordered 3 female (Pekin) ducklings to keep her company and they will be 3 weeks old on Monday. Right now they are in a cage in our house. During the day when it warms up I put them in the duck pen with the older one free range in the yard (fenced in). She goes to the pen and watches them so she's curious. We live in Florida, it's still in the 80's during the day and drops to the 60's at night. Are they ducklings big enough for us to move them to our shed at night without a heat lamp? Our older duck has always been dominant so I don't plan on introducing the 3 babies until they are almost fully feathered. I've read the thread so I have an idea on how to introduce them but any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[chickens really]

The best time to introduce them is when the Peeping stops and they quack....Free ranging is the only way I introduce Ducks or Chickens......She may not even bother with them being she is alone....I would start now by removing the heat...They will be fine outside during the day...You can bring them back in at night but leave the heat off....They will feather quicker....Ducks are tough...

Cheers!

 

[My2petducks]

The best time to introduce them is when the Peeping stops and they quack....Free ranging is the only way I introduce Ducks or Chickens......She may not even bother with them being she is alone....I would start now by removing the heat...They will be fine outside during the day...You can bring them back in at night but leave the heat off....They will feather quicker....Ducks are tough...

Cheers!

Thank you for replying chickens really!!

 

[chickens really]

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