Topic of the Week - Integrating ducks

[Skipper81]

She may not take to having a chicken with her once hatching begins boy my Muscovies can be brutal when they have babies so maybe right before hatch give Barred rock some eggs of her own to hatch in another location? Just to keep her safe. You'll also want to make sure mama scovy and her new babes will be safe from the other ducks.

Ok thank you. I'll seperate her from the chickens and ducks. She has been very friendly to me during her broodiness but she is walking around picking on all the hens and ducks when she comes out to eat. Its really cute because she makes the squeeking noise that sounds so innocent and tries to rough everyone up.

 

[TeeMom]

I've never added adult ducks to my flock and my ducks (6) cohabitate with my 20 chickens. I had chickens first and all ducklings and chicks added to this flock have been brooded in a built in brooding pen in the coop. If a broody hen has hatched and raised them, they have been allowed out of their brooder pen by day 2 or 3 under the supervision and protection of their fierce momma for an hour or two initially and then longer as time goes by. If hand raised in the brooder, then they are allowed out into the coop with my supervision after a couple of weeks and then allowed into a fenced area outside where the rest of the flock can come and go while they soak up some vitamin D and get a little foraging in. Introductions have always been very smooth in my flock.

 

[casportpony]

I'm reading a lot on free-range ducks. Won't the hawks get them? Are they too big for a hawk? Mine are fairly large Cayugas. I only let mine out when I'm outside. Especially after it rains and we have puddles to play in.

The hawks leave my adults alone, but I do lose a few ducklings every year.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Another thing you have to take into consideration. Maybe just mine but Muscovy's[ducks] seem to be more lax about getting their ducklings under them like a mama hen does. So there is always that thought the chicks will be vulnerable to attacks from the other birds since mama may not be as fierce as a mama hen.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I wish my call ducks were as accepting as you alls muscovy ducks!
It took me half the summer to integrate three new gals with the three I already had. It seemed that the ones I had raised here were pretty dominate over their territory. . .my female was almost worse than the drakes she shoved all the new girls around forever hogged all the water holes, stood guard over the food dishes and was a regular meanie. The craziness didn't stop till breeding season was over. Then they finally mellowed out. But it was a switch a roo around most the summer separating who ever wouldn't get along that particular day.

 

[chickens really]

@Riley Adams
This should help you along...

 

[Joani Gust]

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Duck flocks expand and evolve over time, whether it's via new ducklings hatched and raised, or adult ducks bought, or adopted, they need to be integrated into the existing flock. This week I would like to hear how you all go about adding new ducks to the flock. Specifically ducklings and adult birds.

Also, for those who have chicken flocks and want to add ducks, any tips?

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Pic by @my sunwolf​

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What type of duck is this? We are new to domestic ducks - we have wild mallards and geese at our pond but my granddaughter & I bought 2 from tractor supply and they didn’t know what breed they were.. ours look a little like these..

 

[Joani Gust]

These are our ducks and I’m wondering what breed they are & what a drake might look like ..?

 

[Spotgieter]

One important thing to keep in mind when introducing new ducks is the possibility of them carrying diseases. It's recommended to quarantine new ducks for about a week, if I remember right, before allowing them to be in contact with your flock. I don't have the facilities to do this, but I would if I could. However, fortunately, I've never had a problem with immediate introduction.

ADULT DUCKS

Recently I bought two adult Muscovy drakes (Eli and Edward). I kept them in the ducks' main night pen for two days so they'd know where "home" was before letting them free range with the flock. They got along fine with the other ducks, except for staying far away from the drake, who is bigger than they are.

When I let them out to free range for the first time, they followed the other ducks and stayed with them all day long, and were pretty easy to get back in the pen in the evening. All was well. Eli and Edward each quickly picked their favorite girlfriends, and Eli has also become fast friends with one of our other drakes, Captain. Captain's much bigger and stronger than he is, but they make great friends and are often napping or foraging peacefully together.

What really interested me was how they learned, either through observation or through conversation, from the existing ducks. One the first day free ranging, three of the girls gave Eli and Edward a tour around the property. Within ten minutes, the girls had led them to every major destination on our property - the pond, the best preening perches, the shadiest napping spots, the greenest foraging areas, etc. It took our existing flock a YEAR to explore the entire property, when we first got them. And the new drakes never had to learn to go in their pen at evening. They immediately knew it, from watching the other ducks. Our geese, on the other hand, which we bought with the two drakes, did not "talk" with the ducks, and thus only recently have fully learned to put themselves to bed. We've had them for almost four months.

DUCKLINGS

I have introduced ducklings less than a week old to the rest of the flock, but only if the mother was with them. A while back I also bought several ducklings that were about a month old, and introduced them to the flock immediately. Some of the adult ducks pecked them when they got too close, but they did fine on their own.

I would never introduce motherless ducklings to adults until they were capable of being at least relatively independent, for their safety.

GEESE

Introducing geese to a flock of ducks, by the way, went a little different, for us at least. The proud geese think they're the mightiest, most powerful creatures on the planet (Gideon parades around all day with his head stuck in the air screaming his head off and announcing to the world, "I MIGHTY GOOSE. I MUCH MIGHTY GOOSE." They're hilarious.) And they have a VERY big personal space bubble that they keep the lowly, wimpy ducks CLEAR out of. The ducks still get chased or attacked every time they don't notice that they're near a goose. Broody ducks have it the worst, because they refuse to move. Isabelle grabbed a broody duck by the tail and dragged her out of the nest and about fifteen feet through the yard. Geese can be mean little beasts!

Does anyone have geese that actually get along with their ducks or chickens?

Sorry this was so long. I like to ramble.

This topic is just what I needed!! My husband and I have 3 drakes (pekin, welsh harlequin, runner) 1 gander, 2 female khakis and a female pekin. We accumulated quickly and have been keeping all of them in the house at night, except the 2 khakis. They fit in the outside pen perfectly......We've expanded as soon as we could and as of yesterday, we have a fence for males and females. There's no mating at our house.....and we have a bigger duck house that will hold all of them separately. Our problem is our Gander,, Sulley. We introduced him and Mikey (runner) to Marty (pekin) & Eli (harlequin) when they were babies and Marty and Eli didn't like them and always chased them, but we would bring them outside and sit, so they could get use to each other, but Marty, being the head pecker, never accepted them, so now that the Gander is big, he showed his dominance yesterday and he and Mikey chased Marty and Eli!. We planned on having the 4 of them in the duck house together, but how?? Sulley could hurt Marty and Mikey. What can we do to get them acclimated to one another? It will be a new environment for all of them, so will that help in the pecking order?

 

[Plague]

These are our ducks and I’m wondering what breed they are & what a drake might look like ..?

Looks like Rouen or Mallard. Found a link on a hatchery website, the drake is the one on the left with the greenish head. Rouen Ducks