Hello, I currently own two Swedish Ducks, one male and one female. They are about five months of age and have recently started to... ahem... mate. As you all may know, ducks are relatively violent when it comes to breeding. Anyway, I don't want my female getting hurt during the act. Getting more ducks to evenly distribute the male's mates is not an option as we already have several chickens and not enough space for more birds. Unfortunately I believe I will need to give away the male and purchase another female. Anyway, the point of this post was to ask how introducing another duck will be. My female really did love being around the male until he began... well you get the point. Im just wondering if she'll know the difference when introducing the duck. I know they're very social animals and I don't want her to get separation anxiety. As silly as that sounds, I have seen her get incredibly upset when separated from him, even for a very short time. Im just wondering if she only needs another duck to be happy or if separating her from this specific duck will cause her to suffer. If you have any other ideas in dealing with this issue, I am more than open to suggestions. Thanks for the help!
Welcome! I think she'll be fine as long as she gets a new friend asap. If you are planning on quarantining the new duck then I'd keep the male until the new duck is ready to join your female.