New drake - How long to keep him separated?

[JoyAnna]

Last evening, I received a boyfriend for my two ducks. They are all a little over one year old. I managed to construct a temporary pen space adjoining the ducks pen and that is where he spent the night. There seemed to be some communication through the fence and all was calm. This morning I let the two ducks out, as usual, and the poor guy is now miserable and wants to get out with them. He is searching every corner for an escape route. I sat with him and talked, etc. so he can begin to get used to me, but naturally he wants to be with the girls. They are easy to pen up at night because I have been bribing them with treats and food ever since I got them. So how long must I keep him penned up? They all have 'spring fever'

 

[chickenlver2013]

I'd let him out right now if it was my drake. How long did it take for him to warm up to the girls? (In other words, how long have you had them penned up beside each other?) If he wants out with the girls I would deffinately let him out. I raised 3 ducklings before 2 hens and 1 drake. When they got older. (Laying stage) beleive me, he didn't let anything harm his girls. But of course, he would let me get near them to so you've got nothing to worry about when it comes to danger. Leave it to the drake.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Welllll... Bio security rules tell us to isolate for 2 weeks, but if your ducks seem mild like you don't think they'll try attacking him or anything, then try it and see how it goes. Or set up a temporary and just move him around with them.

 

[chickenlver2013]

I forgot to mention that. I would let them out together with supervision. Do not leave them un supervised.

 

[JoyAnna]

Thanks for your comments. He arrived only last evening, so there hasn't been much time for adjustments. I feel this will work out just fine and may not take very long. The ducks while free to come and go all day have basically done their own thing and shown a bit of curiosity. By the end of the day they are penned up on the other side of the wire from him, and after snacks, they all went to sleep. The larger of the two ducks is showing some dominance over the smaller duck. These are all Anconas and I understand that in this breed the dominant bird is usually female. She may be showing this. He is larger than either of the girls, and I don't see anything agressive in his attitude. Several times they have come beak to beak through the fence with no problem. I managed to catch and hold him for a little bit this morning, talking to him, etc. Then later this afternoon, I moved a stool in and sat talking with him. He is still pretty nervous, which is understandable. I think my main worry about letting him out is how hard it might be to get him penned again. Tomorrow is expected to be rainy, so maybe I will try leaving the girls penned and moving him in with them to see how that goes. Any other ideas or suggestions?

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Well I'll tell you my experience when I adopted my 2 Old Ladies (go over to the Broody Thread to see them, they are awesome!) I brought them home, threw biosecurity to the wind and walked them straight into the pen at dark. No problems there. The next day, however, was wicked. First thing, I let my flock out to range like normal. The 2 OLs took off, they remembered the general direction of their previous home (South), and in their little Pekin minds, they were concerned with nothing but getting back there. So even tho we have mowed trails, they were what I call "off road", in wild tall grass and trees and brush, squawking like made and just generally freaking out and running South. No kidding. My neighbors must have really gotten their giggles that day, watching Holly the Crazy Duck Lady chasing ducks for 3 hours. But I did So what I finally ended up doing was setting up temporary fencing (just a cheap roll of the 3' high stuff that comes in the 25' length) just around my calm flock's normal hangouts, I'd pick the Old Ladies up and move them about, but they were always penned, so I didn't have to chase. Then I just started rotating my flock around, one day I'd let my calmest Rouen hang out with the Old Ladies, then I'd allow the pair, and so on til the Old Ladies had met basically every member of the flock. And then before I knew it they were all one flock. And before i stopped this temporary fence stuff, i kept the entire flock penned together. I'd say it took about 2 weeks for them to totally assimilate. Good luck! Thank you for thinking it out - and asking questions! I might not do anything (edited: tomorrow in the rain), just in case he tries to bolt on you. It amazes me to this day that my Old Ladies knew they needed to travel South. They are smart, amazing creatures.

 

[JoyAnna]

Holly, that's quite a story! Chasing a duck for 3 hours is just what I want to avoid. My idea of putting him in the same pen with the girls tomorrow is partly because I just made a temporary pen for him between the house and thier pen. It isn't covered if it rains. He has a dog igloo to get in, but the other pen is covered with tarps since I live up here in wet, wet, western Washington. I figure if any one of them gets aggressive I can get him back into his own space easier than trying to catch him loose in the yard. This entire setup is temporary until I get some trees cut down and the permanent duck house and run built. Of course

I should not have added another bird until it was all ready, but how often do you find some one wanting to get rid of an Ancona drake?

 

[JoyAnna]

It's raining for the next few days, so I decided to put Benedict (the new drake) in with the girls, but in the process of catching him, he escaped. So I went ahead and let the girls out too. They have been exploring the whole property together, and he gets a bit anxious when he looses sight of them. He did wonder into their pen to explore and get a bite to eat, so that is encouraging. Now I just hope and pray they will lead him back into the pen this evening so I won't be like Holly chasing him around for hours in the rain

. How could anyone not love these creatures? They have so much personality and are so intelligent. Now I have the long slow process of getting him to warm up to me. Three Anconas are much more beautiful out in my yard than two.