Tiny little menace duckling

[DuckHaver]

Brace yourself and get comfortable because this post is going to be pretty long!

Two days ago I bought a pair of muscovies, a three month old drake and a duck. I heard a lot of good things about them and wanted to see how the breed will do on my farm.
Well, when I first brought them in I wanted to check how they did in transport (they were in a box for the ride home) and within seconds the tiny little duck jumped out of the box, drake following right behind her, and she had a look around the place before locking onto my huge mallard drake. She ran straight for him and I've never seen the big boy so scared! at first it was kind of funny because said mallard drake is known for being a meanie and there he was running away from a little duckling. Honestly I was astonished how fast she was running after him! Then, she saw my flock of swedish blues which are still more than twice her size (and there's eight of them!), but to her it didn't matter at all! She went for them too! She didn't really do any harm, just scared them a bit, chased them, and ran straight into one of them but due to her tiny size the ducks were unfazed. This whole entire time the muscovy drake was awkwardly following her around, it seemed like he tried to stop her a few times.
Anyway that was enough to me so I caught them both and closed them in a little fenced in area I usually use for ducklings. And the little duck did NOT calm down! She keeps pushing herself against the fence for some reason? And she peeps and hisses constantly whenever she sees the other ducks.
For the night I put the little ones in closed nesting boxes (don't worry, they had plenty of space!), gave them some food and water and I decided to leave them for the next day too so they can settle (also the weather was quite nasty and the duck doesn't have all her feathers yet). I hoped they would finally calm down!
Nope! Today I let them out to the area they were in previously and it's all the same! The little duck keeps restlessly pushing herself against the fence and clawing at it (I tried to shoo her away from it but it does nothing!) like she hopes she can magically get out meanwhile the drake just sits there next to her awkwardly.
Why, for the sake of everything holy, won't she calm down? I heard muscovies are a calm breed? Do I just need to give her more time or is this a legitimate problem? Should I just let her run around and get the energy out? Is there anything I can do to help her?

 

[Crazy Maizie]

She's scared. You might want to block the fencing so that she can't push her head out for now.
You're going to have to give them time to acclimate to your set up and the new animals.
I wouldn't let her run around (like free ranging) unless you have her contained because she needs a few weeks to learn that this is home or else she will fly away or run away.
Young muscovy can climb very well and they can fly eventually if they aren't flying yet. Some new muscovy owners find out the hard way. So, just keep that in mind.
Muscovy are calmer than other duck breeds, but they are still prey animals. It takes time to acclimate just like it would for any other bird.

 

[Miss Lydia]

For some reason ducklings are pushy and can scare the dickens out of full-grown ducks. I've seen my Muscovy ducklings chasing after full grown Muscovy it is pretty funny. I think once she has settled in she'll calm down. Can we see pictures?

 

[DuckHaver]

For some reason ducklings are pushy and can scare the dickens out of full-grown ducks. I've seen my Muscovy ducklings chasing after full grown Muscovy it is pretty funny. I think once she has settled in she'll calm down. Can we see pictures?

Whew, for a second I thought I was dealing with a predator duck ! I'm glad her behaviour is nothing unheard of, because it really scared me in the beginning! I noticed she's since piped down a bit.

As for the pictures, yes you may! I didn't want to get too close and scare them though so they're not that good when it comes to quality
(also they got a bit of rain on them so they look funny)

The drake has beautiful blue eyes (I've never seen a duck or drake with blue eyes before!) and a perfect black spot on his mohawk, the duck is white with black spots, but if the sun hits her they look somewhat brown. I love them already, even though they don't love me at all lol.

I noticed my other ducks coming by to say hi, hopefully everyone gets along in the end, fingers crossed!

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I agree with the others. When you put ducklings in with older ones they usually will go right for the older ones. They are small and are trying to immediately establish their place in the pecking order because they are scared. They are trying to show that just because they are new and smaller that the older ones can’t push them around. Very normal behavior for new ducklings that have not been raised around the older ducks.

 

[DuckHaver]

She's scared. You might want to block the fencing so that she can't push her head out for now.
You're going to have to give them time to acclimate to your set up and the new animals.
I wouldn't let her run around (like free ranging) unless you have her contained because she needs a few weeks to learn that this is home or else she will fly away or run away.
Young muscovy can climb very well and they can fly eventually if they aren't flying yet. Some new muscovy owners find out the hard way. So, just keep that in mind.
Muscovy are calmer than other duck breeds, but they are still prey animals. It takes time to acclimate just like it would for any other bird.

Thank you for the reply! I've been watching the muscovies all day and I made sure they're not capable of escaping. If I may ask, is there anything i can do to help them out with getting used to me? I find they're calm when I'm not around but as soon as they hear me they panic. Are there some treats I can give them to bribe them? I heard they like to eat slugs a lot but they're still small and I'm too worried they'll choke. Will they like lettuce or peas like other ducks?

 

[DuckHaver]

I agree with the others. When you put ducklings in with older ones they usually will go right for the older ones. They are small and are trying to immediately establish their place in the pecking order because they are scared. They are trying to show that just because they are new and smaller that the older ones can’t push them around. Very normal behavior for new ducklings that have not been raised around the older ducks.

That's so interesting! I thought only chickens had a pecking order and I expected the new ducklings to run away from, as opposed to straight at, the older ducks! It's definitely a valuable lesson learned on my part.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you for the reply! I've been watching the muscovies all day and I made sure they're not capable of escaping. If I may ask, is there anything i can do to help them out with getting used to me? I find they're calm when I'm not around but as soon as they hear me they panic. Are there some treats I can give them to bribe them? I heard they like to eat slugs a lot but they're still small and I'm too worried they'll choke. Will they like lettuce or peas like other ducks?

Dried mealworms are a big hit here and my Muscovy love dry dog food as a snack I buy small kibble and if you decide to try it get a good quality there is a lot of junk out there.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Where I first started with Muscovy I got 3 white and all 3 had beautiful blue eyes.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Thank you for the reply! I've been watching the muscovies all day and I made sure they're not capable of escaping. If I may ask, is there anything i can do to help them out with getting used to me? I find they're calm when I'm not around but as soon as they hear me they panic. Are there some treats I can give them to bribe them? I heard they like to eat slugs a lot but they're still small and I'm too worried they'll choke. Will they like lettuce or peas like other ducks?

Mine love mealworms or black soldier fly larvae. Mine aren't too keen on peas or lettuce, but they love cherry tomatoes. When you approach, you want to crouch down to their level and let them come to you. I'd just let them decompress and just be present as much as you can for now.
One of my drakes that was hatched here was white with blue eyes. I couldn't keep him though due to space and ratio.