Trying to move a duckling into a flock

[Kartay]

I have been trying this as well, I have not given up on it yet beacuse I do think you're right. The mother tries to keep the lone duckling away if he gets too close, but other wise I'm not terribly concerned about the females hurting it. I am also hoping that the mother is only keeping it away because of the males behaviour. It is almost twice the size of the next duckling, so that might be an issue as well. I'm still unsure as to why it hatched out so much sooner than the others( it's between a week and 2 weeks older than the other 3), but I think it's size may be an issue as well.

 

[lomine]

How long were they together when you tried it before? I'm thinking if you keep them completely separate from the rest of the flock (but still visible) for a few weeks they should bond.

Maybe you could distract mother and sister with lots of treats at first so the lone one can get closer. Don't know if that would work with a mother duck.

 

[lomine]

As per the size difference, maybe mother duck started incubating that egg and then one of the other hens laid new eggs in her nest a week or so later. Or they laid them and she moved them to her nest. Maybe it just developed much faster or the others developed slower. I don't think you'll ever know.

 

[Kartay]

Ive been doing it off and on since it hatched a month ago. Im assuming it will take more time, but I could only really do it for long periods in the last week since I finally managed to find a way to divide the barn. At least in a way that I feel comfortable leaving them unsupervised.
Bribes would probably work well too. I keep forgetting to buy peas ( their favorite) but ive been in the garden lots so ive saved lots of worms for them.

 

[Kartay]

As per the size difference, maybe mother duck started incubating that egg and then one of the other hens laid new eggs in her nest a week or so later. Or they laid them and she moved them to her nest. Maybe it just developed much faster or the others developed slower. I don't think you'll ever know.

You're probably right there. I collected all of the eggs before the mom sat on them, because some were left in the cold or were frozen when I found them. So I tried to use the ones that seemed most viable from a period of 2 weeks. So ya, who knows lol

 

[lomine]

I think it was better to wait until you found a way that worked then to chance the drake being able to get to the lone duckling. This whole thing might be a bit of trial and error. But hopefully now that you can leave them together for a longer period it will work. Good luck!

 

[Kartay]

I'm hoping it'll go easier now too. The lone duckling has stayed in the house at night. My prego self has a hard time cleaning up the poop now. So i really hope it gets along with the rest soon. We spend all day outside any way, so I'm hoping that helps things along too.

 

[Tlmcq]

It will take time... Usually a couple weeks or more of being separated safely, but still "together". The momma is seeing this lil one as an outsider but it is not uncommon, even for ducks in the wild to "adopt" one in.

 

[Tlmcq]

Would it be possible to put mother duck, her sister, and all the ducklings in a separate area from the rest of the flock? I think this would give the lone duckling a better chance to bond with them and not be lonely. You didn't mention that the other adults had a problem with the lone one so I'm assuming he would be safe with them.

X2

 

[Kartay]

If all its gonna take is time, that's fine. I dont mind putting in the effort. I just wanted to make sure there wasnt some little trick I didnt know about lol