Our newest ducks- now desperately need advise- UPDATE

[petitesphinx]

My Indian Runners were bossy towards our regular little ducklings; the first night together, I saw the male Runner holding the baby duckling under the water and fighting with him--the next morning I found his little body on the shore of our pond.

Now, they get along ok-with just a few "spats"...the Runners stay on their side and the little ducklings on their side.

Hopefully yours will work it out! I think it's nature's way of letting them show who's boss.

 

[xke4]

Monarc23 As I have stated before, there are varying degrees of albinism. Her eyes are pink but she has colour in her legs and bill. Hope this helps. C

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
hmm weird i never knew that maybe it's different in ducks than other animals.

I never saw the other post answered sorry I had you repeat it

. Thanks!

 

[xke4]

Oh gosh!!!! I just read my post and you are right!! It sounded kinda nasty. One of the hazards of firing off a post in haste before going back to work. So sorry. But there is also a condition (starts with a "L" but am tired right now so can't remember)..where they can have patches of white without being albino. Many variations. I love my little duck even tho she causes me a lot of grief with all my males.

 

[LV426]

You're searching for "leucistic". Leucism is a condition characterized by reduced pigmentation in animals. Unlike albinism, it is caused by a reduction in all types of skin pigment, not just melanin.


As for the ducks. First off drakes will kill ducklings. It's an instinct thing and I've read in places that they will kill and eat ducklings. I know that one of my drakes did indeed go after my ducklings but I was watching him to make sure he didn't hurt them. I would never leave ducklings alone with full grown drakes even with mom around.

Now secondly you don't have to worry about that because your ducks are all around the same age. But since they didn't grow up together they will need to establish a pecking order. Right now your blue swedish is the top duck and the other 2 are just fine with that. Your two new ducks don't know where they fit into the little flock so the swedish is trying to assert dominance. Grabbing the back of the neck and climbing on top is normal behavior. This helps establish the roles in the flock but you do need to make sure that no one is hurt so if you hear excessive quacking or see any bleeding then you need to separate them.

I don't know how large an area that you have for them but I know with mine they had the whole front and side yard so when my big male pekin was dominating my little runner, well Pip could run away when he didn't want to be bothered. If you keep them in a small pen you may find your swedish cornering the runners and being more aggressive. Over time they will figure everything out and you won't have to worry about them but just make sure every night you inspect your ducks and make sure no one is getting seriously hurt.

As for night time accomodations I recommend a good sturdy pen with hardware cloth. Raccoons love duck.

 

[cherub78]

I really appreciate everyone's feedback and advise on this. I am still new to the forum here, and still quite new to ducks and chicks, so it is really great that people here are so nice about sharing info and advise.

It has been a few days now. The ducks still aren't figuring out their pecking order, but we are trying to wait it out a little longer to see it the situation sorts itself out, and if not, the new ducks will have to go back with the rest of their flock (living at a friends house).

Dh wouldn't hear of doing anything about the "mean black one" causing the problem because "he was here first". And I really don't want to get rid of "the twins" because they are so darn cute and comical. They do EVERYTHING at the same time (turn their heads, lift their foot, preen their feathers, etc), and it is the funniest thing I have ever seen (guess I don't have much of a life- huh? lol ).

As far as their area, they have a nice size outdoor area with a small 7x7 pond. I wouldn't say the area is large, but I think there is plenty of room for the others to get away (it is maybe 30x30 and is shared with the chicks as well). This area was slated to expansion next spring, but we may need to do it this fall and add more secure wire.

The "house" is definately too small. It was fine for the chicks and the 3 ducks, but I feel the confined area will create a problem with the new ducks not being able to get away from the agressor.

I want to start expanding that now, but dh again tells me to wait. I don't see the situation for night time working out without the expansion. And the weather here in NY isn't going to work with leaving them outdoors much longer.

The other ducks and chicks have always been locked in their house at night and are free to come and go from the house in the day.

The new ducks are very unhappy about being left outside and really want to be inside with the others. They quack at the door of the duck/chick house for 30 min to an hour when I lock the others in the house at night.

They get along fine with the Rouen (who snuggles with them when they nap) and the Pekin (who they follow around like it is their mother).

Also, I have noticed now that the Rouen and the Pekin almost seem to try to get inbetween the new ones and the Swede when there is an issue.

So far, no blood, and not many lost feathers- just lots of grabbing and some feather "tugging". I have noticed that the Swede's neck shakes and quivers when he is being agressive (not sure if this means anything or not, but wanted to mention it in case).

I am just not sure they will live in harmony enough to be in the house together at this point, and not sure how many days to give the situation. Though it did take a couple of weeks for the ducks to adjust to the chicks without lunging at them.

Why can't everyone just get along???

 

[cherub78]

Good news so far, and thought I would post this in case others have the same problem.

For the first 3 nights, we had left the new ducks outside in the fenced area (if I had to do this again, it WOULD be better fencing for safety so I could sleep better at night), and the 3 existing ducks were locked in their house.

The forth night, *my thought* was to leave their house door open, so if by chance the new ducks went in, they could still get out and away from the aggressive one. Well, that didn't work like I had thought. Instead of the existing ducks going in for the night, and possibly the newer ducks investigating the house and being able to get back out if necessary, all 5 stayed out in the yard and threw a party or something, and it is a wonder no predators came to crash the party. Again, I didn't sleep at night worrying about them.

The fifth night, I sent everyone (all 5) "night-night" into the house. There was a little nipping, but my pekin kept breaking it up and got inbetween them doing this weird bobbing thing with her(?) neck like she was telling the Swede to knock it off. After about 10 min, everyone settled down to sleep and the next morning all were fine.

Night 6 was about the same, but with less confrontation.

Now they all go in "night-night" at the same time, they might have a few words with each other but that is it, and for the most part everyone is finally living in harmony.

I think the best thing we did was to get them used to each other for just days at first, and not force them to be in the house together at night until they showed me they could behave in a civilized manner.

The worst thing we did was that I could have lost all of my ducks and all of my chicks with leaving that door open for a night, and could have lost the new ones the first 3 nights they were outside.

But for now, it has all worked out. (can you see my fingers crossed?-lol)

When we add the addition in the spring, it will have 2 smaller pens inside, one for situations such as this or for sick animals, and the other for a brooding area for the chickens.

Oh, and yesterday I noticed that the Swede got his drake feather finally, so we are positive about his gender now.

Thanks for everyone's help. It helped us so much getting others input.

Sharon