Should I separate the little girl?

[SassyKat6181]

I got 4 Mallards straight run from TSC, and they are now about 5 1/2 weeks old....just my luck, 3 are male. I also have 7 Khaki Campbells and 3 Pekins that are 3 weeks old, and separated from the Mallards. I have tried letting them mingle a few times, but the boys chase the smaller girls and bite their necks. They even chase the Pekins that are now bigger than them. I am wondering if I should put the female Mallard in with the other females? The boys are really protective of her when I go in the coop and I am afraid that they might hurt her. This is my 1st time with ducks, so please give me your honest advice on how I should handle this situation. Also, will I need to get rid of 2 of them at some point? I'd like to see if they get along and how they treat the girls before I rehome them. I want them as pets only, I am not looking to hatch, so if you think I could possibly keep all 3, let me know. Thanks!

 

[jfishfam]

Only time will tell with the boys. We had a runner drake and a cayuga drake with 3 khaki girls. We got them all at one time and were fine until the runner was a lot too loving. All the rest were getting run down and ragged, within a few hours of re-homing our runner the rest perked up. I also know that it takes a while for them to find their place in the flock. When we added a couple of new girls to the flock there was picking on them for about a week. Keep an eye on them to see how things are working out. Separate if you have to.

 

[SassyKat6181]

So should I try to integrate them all now, or wait until the Campbells are a little bigger?

 

[jfishfam]

I have a couple of thoughts or more. If you feel like she is truly at risk then I would separate her from the boys. Now, the next question is whether or not she is accepted by the other girls. When we introduced new and young ducklings we would keep them in a kennel (small wire dog kennel) with the rest for a few days. Then during the day we would let them all be together, at night still separate them until we were comfortable that the little one would be okay with them. I think your biggest problem is that drakes can be protective of their "harem". My unprofessional opinion is that she might be better off with the other ducks, keep the mallard drakes by themselves. I'm not sure about mallard drakes, but we found out that runner drakes can be a little too enthusiastic breeders. Obviously yours are too young for that so it may be a totally different situation. But, I'd probably separate her from them anyway. I hope my rambling helps a little.

 

[jfishfam]

I just realized that I should add that ducks, from what I understand, don't do well alone. If you separate her then she needs to be with other ducklings. We actually kept a couple of chickens with one of our khakis when our other khaki duckling died.

 

[dumb_cluck]

Mallards are hard to sex at 5 1/2 weeks old. Are you SURE about the males?

I had 6 mallards as a straight run, and to my surprise it took about 4 months before I could identify the drakes from the hens.

 

[jfishfam]

It is true that it is early to sex your ducklings. We went back and forth with our cayuga, runner and one khaki for several months. You still want to watch the little girl and possibly separate her from the bullies. Of course, I've never had mallards so I might not know what I'm talking about.