Tips on introducing ducklings?

[brooder]

Hi, I woke up to a bit of bad news this morning. My second duck this week was missing. I am working on identifying the predator and keeping it out of my yard, but I am also growing concerned about the future. My two remaining ducks are a drake and a hen. I fear that it won't be healthy for her to be his only mate. So, I'm assuming I'll be finding myself raising to female ducklings soon, and I had a few questions about how to introduce them to the flock. Should I wait until a certain age? What time can they be left alone with each other? Could the new ducks be hostile towards the current ones? Any advice is helpful.

 

[sylviethecochin]

My ducks have always gotten along really well with ducklings, but others' flocks (as reported on this site) have not, and have tried to kill ducklings. Mine are used to ducklings, which may have some effect. I just let them loose in the same area and eventually the two flocks merge.

With chickens, you pen the chicks near the chickens/in their coop and let them get used to each other. I assume you could follow a similar strategy with ducks. After they're used to each other and the ducklings are at least half the size of the adults, let them roam together.

I hope your setup allows for this, and that your ducks are amenable to new ducks.

Also, have you considered buying adult ducks? I'm sure someone in your area raises them.

 

[KodaB15]

I have 6 ducklings that are just about fully feathered. Is there anything special that I have to do to integrate the new ducklings in with my 3 year old drakes??