So we bought three 'call' ducks last August for my son's birthday. After about eight months, and some research, we've realized we have ONE call and two mixes. (It kinda pisses me off, since we explained to the breeder that these would be pets...) But still not a big issue because we love them. Problem started when the two bigger ones just seemed to leave the call out of everything at about seven months. She (Pippi the call duck) has been so 'down' since. At first I thought she was broody or sick or egg bound. Nope. Just lonely... The two other mixed ducks are super reproductive, and give us plenty of eggs. We let the female mix sit a clutch and she did wonderful until the male mix decided to stomp her nest. We saved two out of fifteen eggs! We put them in an incubator and they are healthy, super friendly, one month old's who imprinted on us. All wonderful stuff. The 'kids' snuggle, give kisses and LOVE to be petted. Problem is, the two older mixed ducks are violent with the youngsters. The single 'call' is still left out and depressed. We have the older ducks and younger ducks separated by a fence, an the lonely 'call' sits by the fence near the younger ones. Tonight, I brought lonely call up for a warm bath and some alone time. She puttered around the tub sadly. In a desperate attempt, I brought the youngsters up to bathe with her, and they had the best time! They swam, ate peas from our hands and played in our living room after. Lonely duck has NEVER done this (if I had to guess now, she was close to two months old when we got her), yet seems to love it.Now we have the lonely duck in the younger duck pen and they are laying near each other. Not snuggled, but close. The other mixed ducks continue to charge the fence between them... Just wondering if anyone has had issues integrating ducks of different sizes, breeds, age? Any suggestions? I LOVE these ducks. They are SO sweet and fun. Hubby calls lonely duck a Diva (lol), but I think she's just looking for a fit.... 12 year old son who received ducks for birthday changes water three times a day, walks, talks and changes bedding like a boss. He's so worried and I want to make it right all the way around...
