EronicaV
Chirping
- Sep 22, 2020
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So today was my first attempt at mixing my 4 new female ducklings with my 2 current adult ducks (one female pekin, one male khaki Campbell). The ducklings are nearly 2 months old now and fully feathered.
For the last 4 weeks, the ducklings have been living in their own temporary pen within the larger fenced-in yard that our chickens and ducks stay in. This way, the 2 adult ducks can be near the ducklings without being able to hurt them, and it worked out well. The adults are interested in the ducklings and go over to see them through the pen often. At first, our drake would stick his bill through the pen and try to nip the ducklings if they were close to the edge. I haven’t seen him do that in a while now though.
As of 2 weeks ago, I built an extension with a hinged top on the duck house for nesting boxes in the future. I used chicken wire to separate the new extension from the original duck house for now. This is where the ducklings sleep at night, while the adult ducks sleep in the original portion of the duck house.
After having a month of close contact and the ducklings getting so big now, I wanted to try to introduce all the ducks in the big yard together.
I opened the duckling pen and tried to lead all 4 ducklings out of their pen, but only one went out while the other 3 ran the opposite end of their pen.
The one that got out was immediately chased and bit by my drake. He bit and held on as they ran in a circle until I could get over there to separate them. No one is injured, but now I’m not sure when the right time will be to introduce them again. Any advice on what my next steps should be??
I will say, we used to have 3 adult ducks (the one female pekin, one male khaki, and ANOTHER male khaki). It was a mistake buying straight run ducklings
our ratio was off so we ordered the female ducklings. While the ducklings were still little, the males starting fighting too much, every time they went swimming together. I didn’t feel like the constant fighting was going to be manageable for the next few months until our new females could be added in. I ended up giving one male away to a friend who has a nice pond and many other ducks. I wanted to keep my other male as long as he didn’t cause any trouble because I’m close to all my ducks, but if he can’t get along after a several months I would be willing to give him away too.
I attached photos to show how they are sectioned off, but close to each other, at night. It’s hard to see, but to the right of the blue duck house is the sectioned off pen where the ducklings stay during the day.
Thank you for reading!
For the last 4 weeks, the ducklings have been living in their own temporary pen within the larger fenced-in yard that our chickens and ducks stay in. This way, the 2 adult ducks can be near the ducklings without being able to hurt them, and it worked out well. The adults are interested in the ducklings and go over to see them through the pen often. At first, our drake would stick his bill through the pen and try to nip the ducklings if they were close to the edge. I haven’t seen him do that in a while now though.
As of 2 weeks ago, I built an extension with a hinged top on the duck house for nesting boxes in the future. I used chicken wire to separate the new extension from the original duck house for now. This is where the ducklings sleep at night, while the adult ducks sleep in the original portion of the duck house.
After having a month of close contact and the ducklings getting so big now, I wanted to try to introduce all the ducks in the big yard together.
I opened the duckling pen and tried to lead all 4 ducklings out of their pen, but only one went out while the other 3 ran the opposite end of their pen.
The one that got out was immediately chased and bit by my drake. He bit and held on as they ran in a circle until I could get over there to separate them. No one is injured, but now I’m not sure when the right time will be to introduce them again. Any advice on what my next steps should be??
I will say, we used to have 3 adult ducks (the one female pekin, one male khaki, and ANOTHER male khaki). It was a mistake buying straight run ducklings
our ratio was off so we ordered the female ducklings. While the ducklings were still little, the males starting fighting too much, every time they went swimming together. I didn’t feel like the constant fighting was going to be manageable for the next few months until our new females could be added in. I ended up giving one male away to a friend who has a nice pond and many other ducks. I wanted to keep my other male as long as he didn’t cause any trouble because I’m close to all my ducks, but if he can’t get along after a several months I would be willing to give him away too.I attached photos to show how they are sectioned off, but close to each other, at night. It’s hard to see, but to the right of the blue duck house is the sectioned off pen where the ducklings stay during the day.
Thank you for reading!
