Rescue Duck[lings] need some advice

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I think I could live with twice our current flock but...... don’t know how to put this. The five each have their own personality. Does it remain like that when you get to ten, twelve, two dozen ?

Yesno! - There are always some individuals sticking out with their personality, like Blanca Duck or Pompom. But there are also some "invisible" characters that are there but so much blending in that you won't be able to see them as individuals. My Buff Orpington girls for example. Yes i have two with an olive-gray bill, named Olivia and Violeta, but except for the violet leg-ring (->Violeta) i cannot tell them apart. And now two of Katharinas girls have developed the same olive-gray bill too. They are larger and have a white bracelet, but still look almost like the »Olivias«…
It is like with us humons, some stick out (and enjoy it) but the majority just blends in.

 

[DiYMama540]

I think it will work for starters until you feel comfortable integrating them with the rest of the flock. Being outdoors will be quite the culture shock to them! They may just hide in the coop house for a couple days.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I think with the larger flocks, you'll still see the individual personalities some, but mostly you would group them into the leaders or the followers group...or in Hillbilly case...the boss and the thugs!

My flock often separates into two groups: The Runners and their descendents and the Black and White ducks (White Layers and "Magpies"). The Buff Orpingtons often swing back and forth between both groups.
But when the evil humon (me!) comes outside and messes up their house they all stick together and yell at me…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

That is a bit small but better than where they are not loved.

They have absolutely no outside experience as they have always been kept inside, so i assume they won't even use the run for the first days.

 

[Texag87]

Yesno! - There are always some individuals sticking out with their personality, like Blanca Duck or Pompom. But there are also some "invisible" characters that are there but so much blending in that you won't be able to see them as individuals. My Buff Orpington girls for example. Yes i have two with an olive-gray bill, named Olivia and Violeta, but except for the violet leg-ring (->Violeta) i cannot tell them apart. And now two of Katharinas girls have developed the same olive-gray bill too. They are larger and have a white bracelet, but still look almost like the »Olivias«…
It is like with us humons, some stick out (and enjoy it) but the majority just blends in.

I like the way you say Humon. It’s almost as if you are Ferange.

 

[DiYMama540]

Oh yes, there's always a gang of feathered supervisors watching and criticizing me any time I'm in their personal spaces

 

[Texag87]

They have absolutely no outside experience as they have always been kept inside, so i assume they won't even use the run for the first days.

They would go apesheet over their first swim then.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I think it will work for starters until you feel comfortable integrating them with the rest of the flock. Being outdoors will be quite the culture shock to them! They may just hide in the coop house for a couple days.

That's what i am afraid of. The side of the house where the other ducks have direct access to is downhill, so those grown up ducks won't look too scary…

 

[johntfs]

I have ~5m (17') of welded wire fencing that i would like to use to create a little run for the Ducknagers. It is 2"x4" grid and 1m (3') tall. I could fence in a trapezoid area of ~3m² (32sqft) - bit small, but i can extend that later. Would a 2x4' fencing pose a sufficient separation? Or should i use the chicken-wire? - much, much, much more work…

Again, still duck-virgin/duck-porn, but you're not trying to keep out determined predators with this set up. You're just creating a "safe space" between the adult flock and the young newcomers. So I'd think that set up would work fine.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I like the way you say Humon. It’s almost as if you are Ferange.

Deep Space Nine, the 199 rules of acquisition… plus the one unwritten rule: »If there is no matching rule, make one up!« Humons!