New Ducks

[Quack head]

I am picking up three Appleyard ducks tomorrow to add to the Drake and duck I already have (9months old). The two I currently have are free range during the day and comes to their pen and is locked up at night. I have built a divider in the pen to place the new ducks which are only 4 months old.
How long should I keep them separated and how long should I leave them in the pen before I let them free range?

 

[Quack head]

Made it home, Sir Quacks-a-Lot ran up and attacked them with his bill thru the cage trying to get to them. Quite interesting. The new ducks are in the pen on one side of the chicken wire and the old ducks (Drake and Duck) are on the other. The new ducks are about three months old was in the water dish when I checked on them. I will post pics of the enclosure maybe tomorrow. Below pic are of Dracaena, Dahlia, and Daffodil (FIY all flower names starting with a "D" to go along with Daisy we currently have).

 

[Quack head]

Update report on the new ducks, since we figured out they are about three months old. Was wondering when I should put them in the the mature pair? Also they have been in the Quack House (QH) for almost two weeks. I want to make sure I can round them up at night so when should I let them outside to free range. I was thinking about a month? My thinking is they will be more feathered out and should get along with the adults. It is amusing, when I go in the QH to feed and change water of the new ducks the old ducks comes out of the water and hang around outside the QH and sometimes comes in to see what is going on.

Current pic of the new ducks

 

[Quack head]

6-8 weeks possibly not 4 months by your description.

Thanks for your reply 3 1/2 - 4 months I was told, two months is what I estimated.

 

[Quack head]

Yep just babes. And so pretty. I bet they are thriving now. We need some updated pics.

Love your avatar by the way!

The avatar is the original three ducks, one was take by a coyote, my fault, I let them out too early in the morning. The two remaining adults are great they come about 3/4 the time when I call to get some treats. They put themselves to bed around 4:00pm and I just have to lock the door to the Quack House. My hope is the three new ducks will blend in nicely.

 

[Quack head]

Which one was taken? and very sorry for your loss. If you let them all meet through fencing for a while they should become fast friends. This is a pretty good time to introduce with it being winter the hormones aren't quite as high.

The two ducks were Dottie and Daisy with Sir Quacks-a-Lot (SQL) being the Drake. SQL and Dottie were matting all the time and Daisy, the smaller of the two, was the third wheel so to speak. Dottie was taken by the coyote. Then Daisy and SQL started matting Now Daisy is "Large and in Charge" and is getting adventurous and going into the wood a little, going on the other side of the driveway (which is not allowed) while SQL is trying to be a good "watch dog" can't control her. That being said they are a lot of fun to watch. I think the new ducks will fit in fine in about a month. I want them to feather out before I turn them loose in the pond.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I think if mine I’d go with the plan your talking about. Give them a month before you let them out. How about with supervision you let everyone be together now in an area where they are still enclosed. Toss a snack on the ground so they aren’t so focused on each other. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I’d give at least a week for both question hopefully they can see each other through the divider? Please post pics once you bring them home congrats!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

They sure are pretty. Congrats!!

 

[Quack head]

I am told these are three months old. I tried to compare them to pictures on the web and they look much younger. When they play in the water their feathers get wet unlike my 9 month old ducks. Any comments?