Introducing young (new) ducks to older ducks

[Miss Lydia]

As funny as ducklings are and as beautiful as Cayuga's are when fully grown their interplay with an existing adult flock (mini though it may be) is half the fun of what is going on around here. The circus to come will, I am sure, be fully reported here as it happens. Of course the bigger circus will be Robert and I trying to control everything instead of letting nature take it's course. As for Duke, well it looks like it may be our fault. Seems most likely that he has an allergic reaction to the carpet cleaner we used when we last shampooed the carpet. The bottle said Pet Strength, guess we should be looking more for pet friendly!!! Anyway he is on a steroid medication for 10 days to help deal with his itching and now gets fish oil pills for his skin and coat. Sure has funny smelling breath for a dog. More like a cat but don't tell him that.

Poor Duke with cat breath, lol

Look forward to hearing all about your trying to control things lol this should be very interesting. When I let my 3 ducklings that hatched here last year out with the existing flock, they were pretty much ignored but since you all have a gang well this should prove very interesting. Open the gate and toss the treats on the ground then step back. or run to the nearest corner.

 

[Loc20chick]

Update with better pictures of my 18 Cayuga ducklings. They had their second outing into the great outdoors this a.m. and were much more relaxed. Ran around as a flock (I know the proper name is a brace of ducks, flock is only if in flight but flock works for me). Interestingly the adult ducks I have (Khaki Campbell, Cayuga and Blue Swedish) took one look and ran to the farthest end of the forage field. On their first outing three of the adult ducks came over to check them out. So, when the time comes in a month or so, to merge the two flocks, it promises to be a real circus. Maybe having the chickens out in the field at the same time will help diffuse any aggression. By the way, the chickens don't seem even remotely interested in them.

P.S. I am also posting these pictures to the Cayuga duck thread so advance apologies to those who end up with double postings.

cute, you will have a lot of activity and quacking.

 

[DucksandClucks]

I just got another drake (Crested Pekin) and plopped him out with the other guys and gals (3 Rouens and 1 mutt). After watching what went down I've come to the conclusion that ducks fight dirty. The mutt hen drug the new guy out of the pool BY HIS CHEST. She's a mean one.
All seems to be forgiven now but golly I've never seen ducks do that to one another before.
I'm going to go searching for more info on duck behavior.
Anyway-thanks for letting me share.

 

[jtn42248]

I just got another drake (Crested Pekin) and plopped him out with the other guys and gals (3 Rouens and 1 mutt). After watching what went down I've come to the conclusion that ducks fight dirty. The mutt hen drug the new guy out of the pool BY HIS CHEST. She's a mean one.
All seems to be forgiven now but golly I've never seen ducks do that to one another before.
I'm going to go searching for more info on duck behavior.
Anyway-thanks for letting me share.

I have learned that, despite the cuteness factor of ducks, they can be incredibly violent toward each other. I have a cousin that has a large ranch in the Texas Hill Country and he has just about everything living except ducks. He claims that he has never seen a flock of ducks that did not get really violent with each other and he just does not want that on his property. I have 24 ducks total, 6 adult and 18 ducklings about 4 weeks old. I have been working since day one to acclimate them to each other so that when the time comes to put them together the violent pecking order behavior will be, I hope, kept to a minimum. Hope your Pekin does o.k. Crested ducks can get hurt pretty bad is their crest is attacked by the others. I have 4 crested and the females are the ones I have to watch because, when mating, the male will sometimes grab the crest of the female.

 

[Going Quackers]

I have learned that, despite the cuteness factor of ducks, they can be incredibly violent toward each other. I have a cousin that has a large ranch in the Texas Hill Country and he has just about everything living except ducks. He claims that he has never seen a flock of ducks that did not get really violent with each other and he just does not want that on his property. I have 24 ducks total, 6 adult and 18 ducklings about 4 weeks old. I have been working since day one to acclimate them to each other so that when the time comes to put them together the violent pecking order behavior will be, I hope, kept to a minimum. Hope your Pekin does o.k. Crested ducks can get hurt pretty bad is their crest is attacked by the others. I have 4 crested and the females are the ones I have to watch because, when mating, the male will sometimes grab the crest of the female.

Really? chickens are the prize winner for that so i completely disagree. I run a pretty hefty flock here, are there fights? sure.. all animals argue now and then, i have mama and babies out with my large mainly Muscovy flock, all flocks have pecking orders.. all animals have to find a place, sadly sometimes a few never do fit in but overall providing good space, plenty of feed it usually blends reasonably.

The issue with crested ducks is unfortunate and one reason i would not own any, i also keep bantam ducks separate here i only mix sizing within a range of one.. so i have medium sized(my buffs) and the pekin and Muscovy both considered large breeds.

 

[DucksandClucks]

So far so good. Happy to report that they are all meshing well now. Even the rooster has accepted him.

 

[Loc20chick]

My two 4wks old ducklings are slowly blending in with the 8 wk old ones. Happy to report they are now spending the days together but I keep them separate at night. they still get chased and pecked every now and then but they have places to run to in the yard and they have not yet been accepted as members of the older flock. Hopefully soon.


the two after a water bath



the two staying away from the others

 

[jtn42248]

O.K. So this a.m. I went out to let the adult ducks out of their coop. The duckling nursery is in the same coop but fenced off so that they can all see and hear each other in the hope that some day they will be able to share space without killing each other. So, I opened the door and was almost knocked down by the six adults making a mad rush for the door. Seems that three of the ducklings had some how got from the nursery into the adult area and the adults could not get away fast enough. The ducklings are about 4 weeks old and the adults are about 18 weeks old. They have been in the same coop for about two weeks so they have had a lot of time "together". Is this a good sign or am I just lucky to not have three dead ducklings?

They are...ducklings...18 Cayuga (3 males 15 females)...adults...2 Blue Swedish (one male one female), 1 Cayuga female, 3 Khaki Campbell (1 male 2 female). I anticipate that as they get older there will be some level of conflict with the males but there should be enough females to go around unless one of the males just has a large harem in mind.

 

[Loc20chick]

Well, tonight I locked the two younger ducks in with the rest of the bunch. I'm praying they will still be OK in the morning. They have been free ranging together fairly well lately. it was quiet when I listened outside after putting them in, Hope it remains so all night and safe

 

[jtn42248]

The Cayuga ducklings have been outside, after the adults go out to forage, several times now and they really enjoy it. As for not letting them in the pool until they are older...well, did you ever try to get between a duck and water...They love the pool even at 4 weeks old. It is warm enough that it is not a chill issue so I let them frolic. Cayugas love to dive under the water and these little guys are like a pack of scuba divers.

Today it got so hot inside the duck pen that I had to keep the adults out in the forage area most of the afternoon so that the babies could be in the run with water and shade. It was 110 degrees inside the coop. We have been working on a new and larger duck pen that will have one whole wall that can be opened to the outside for air and breeze to help cool things down. Now there is a real incentive to get it done soon...like tomorrow. At that point we will be putting them both in the same coop, I just have to figure out how to divide it so the little ones will be safe overnight with the adults.