New Duck Being Bullied and Outcast

[loofa]

About a month ago we took in a tattered stray Saxony duck that was found wandering the city streets at 3am (yes, we tried to find her people and home flock). My little flock is just not letting her in. Our drake and two Swedish Blues are just mean to her. It's breaking my heart watching them bully her and seeing her sit a good 15 feet away from everyone else during flock resting times, or wait for the others to be done before approaching the eating area. Is there anything I can do to help expedite acceptance? I wish there were duck phermones like Feliway for cats, or some other trick.

 

[Miss Lydia]

About a month ago we took in a tattered stray Saxony duck that was found wandering the city streets at 3am (yes, we tried to find her people and home flock). My little flock is just not letting her in. Our drake and two Swedish Blues are just mean to her. It's breaking my heart watching them bully her and seeing her sit a good 15 feet away from everyone else during flock resting times, or wait for the others to be done before approaching the eating area. Is there anything I can do to help expedite acceptance? I wish there were duck phermones like Feliway for cats, or some other trick.

Are you using the look don't touch method of introductions? It works, I took in a Buff duck whose flock was killed by dogs. I set up an x pen in the area where the ducks hang out the most and kept her there for a few days. After everyone was use to her being around I tried letting her be with everyone at first some of the Runners especially the drake would stop her from getting close but the other 2 Buffs took her right off. I would def try to put her with them but where they cannot pick on her It's hard to say how long it will take before they accept her but after a few days maybe put one female in with her and see how that goes if it goes good then try the other until all are together. But I wouldn't let them continually pick on her it's very stressful for her as you are seeing.

 

[loofa]

Are you using the look don't touch method of introductions? It works, I took in a Buff duck whose flock was killed by dogs. I set up an x pen in the area where the ducks hang out the most and kept her there for a few days. After everyone was use to her being around I tried letting her be with everyone at first some of the Runners especially the drake would stop her from getting close but the other 2 Buffs took her right off. I would def try to put her with them but where they cannot pick on her It's hard to say how long it will take before they accept her but after a few days maybe put one female in with her and see how that goes if it goes good then try the other until all are together. But I wouldn't let them continually pick on her it's very stressful for her as you are seeing.

We kept her in a pen within a pen for the first week so they were quite separated but could see and talk. Then we opened the outer pen so my little flock (of 5) could come close to her were still separated. This was for another week. Then we let her out with everyone and at first the bullying seemed mild, but over the last two weeks it has gotten worse. It's really just 3 of my flock who are being mean to her, but they are really keeping her away. Things seem peaceful when they are locked up in the coop for the night, but as soon as they come out they start hissing and side necking and pecking at her, running her off. At this stage should I go back to separation? Every new duck I've gotten has gone through a hazing, but this seems to be taking longer than usual.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Have you tried one of you more laid back in with her while they are separated? Might be worth trying to see how that would go.
Just thinking out loud but maybe separate the new one with one of the others [female] so they can't see the other 2 ducks sometimes that helps with integration if there are more than one being added.

 

[loofa]

Have you tried one of you more laid back in with her while they are separated? Might be worth trying to see how that would go.
Just thinking out loud but maybe separate the new one with one of the others [female] so they can't see the other 2 ducks sometimes that helps with integration if there are more than one being added.

huh, so they can't see the others - had not thought of that degree of separation. I'm not sure that I can make that happen as the only way to completely separate would be to put them in the back yard, which is less coyote proof. I assume out of sight means also for the most part out of ear shot?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yeah it can be a hard call if you can't set it up but I was just thinking getting the 2 together and then adding both back might make the difference. I am not sure you could keep them from hearing the others My girls are pretty loud but having them out of sight might work.

 

[loofa]

Yeah it can be a hard call if you can't set it up but I was just thinking getting the 2 together and then adding both back might make the difference. I am not sure you could keep them from hearing the others My girls are pretty loud but having them out of sight might work.

thank you for your guidance Miss Lydia. Sometimes I feel like a bit of a taker in that I tend to only find myself here on this forum when I have questions, but I genuinely appreciate how much you give to this community. Your sharing is generous and I know helps to make a great many ducky lives better.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hey we're all busy to some degree. I am retired so I can come on whenever I want. We're happy to see you anytime you get the chance to stop by and don't mind a bit helping if we can.
Bless you, for taking this girl in she sure wouldn't have lasted long where she was.

 

[loofa]

Poor thing - so far coop sleeping has been peaceful, so I let them all run into the coop together last night and this morning when I opened the door Puddle Duck had a bloody wing. So now the aggression has escalated.
I have her separated of course and filled her wading pool with lukewarm water to let her wash it off before I bring her in to attend to her wound so I'm not sure of the extent yet. I'm just devastated that my ducks are being so mean to this lost and already tattered sweetheart. She's scared of me and now she is scared of the whole flock, which means loneliness on top of injuries. Sigh.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That is sad. If you could work it out to put your most laid back female with her for about a week then try introducing both back together that might work. Other option would be rehoming but that might not go well either. Introducing one into an established flock is harder than doing more than one. I have been blessed that most of the time my flock of FRunners and Buffs have been pretty good at accepting, this actually was the first time I had introduced one by herself. Now my 4 little Runners have had to put up with some bullying but no one has injured them. They did spend the first 2 weeks in the coop inside a large dog crate overnight so no one could hurt them.