What age can baby ducks be put with adule males?

[jdywntr]

I think it all depends. My ducklings, ~4.5 weeks have been outside within eyesight of the boys since birth. Mom was sold as part of a trio about 1.5 weeks ago. Yesterday, I let the babies "mingle" a bit with the boys there was a bit of pushing but nothing major. I

last night and removed the barrier in the duck run so they could stay together over night. A bit more pushing at first but everyone was okay this morning.

I just went outside and saw this:

The 2 adult males in the front the 12 babies behind them. Not a great pic but I didn't want to disturb them. Which I obviously did as they opened their eyes but I'm glad they are okay together. I will have to keep an eye out as the babies get closer to sexual maturity to make sure the boys don't bother them.

 

[Nu2farmNg]

We have 4 adult ducks 2 of which are mallards both males and 2 are KhakiCampbells(??) one male and one female. Our 2 female mallards were killed earlier this year so we purchased 4 more baby ducks. The adults are approximately one year old. Once the 2 female mallards were killed the 3 males began fighting like crazy. Luckily we ended up with 4 females. Unfortunately one of the babies disappeared. We think one of the adults may have chased it away. The babies are about 3 months old.

2 nights ago we noticed one of the babies was missing. We found her hiding in our wood shop. She was very unresponsive. She could barely hold her head up. We told the kids she would most likely be dead w/in the hour. Our assumption is the 3 males got to her. We locked her up for the night in our camp house in the top half of a dog kennel and checked on her frequently. surprisingly when I went to feed in the morning she was doing much better. Even jumped out of the kennel. She is now back with the others.

We let our chickens and ducks roam free during the day and lock them up at night. However, the males still seem to catch the babies. I am so afraid we may not be so lucky next time. I really hate to lock the babies back up now since they have had a taste of freedom. Our current method of protecting them is we spend a lot of time chasing the males back into the pond. We are all getting our exercise.

We also have a chicken living in the top half of a dog kennel. She was stepped on by one of the horses. She is doing ok, but not putting any weight on her let. I think its messed up pretty bad. I have been soaking her daily in cool water to try to reduce the swelling. She is eating and drinking so that is good.

Boy farm life is tougher than I had planned. I hate seeing anything hurt or killed.

 

[Heckle]

Three month oldim duclis introduced to two adult males. Fine for two weeks turned my back one day two hours adult males had torn into six babies. Found almost dead four did shock trearment and over exposure yreatments savd three out of four attacked other two only mikdly affected. Dont put together. My two males in mating season attvk everything including my grown cats. They are very capable of killing. Im waiting for babies now growing wings to see if male or female. Then i might consider putting back together or perhaps getting rid of all males except one. Fatmers market for fee hopefully they will get homes not butchered.

 

[New Breader]

Quote:

Why not simply fence off the boys and mix the ducklings and girls?

I am having the same problem with my runner ducks. My babies are 8 weeks old and look grown. I released them into the yard with the established flock (2 female and 3 males). At first the adult males wanted to mate with the mother duck that had been separated from them with the babies. After the first day then the adult males started chasing the baby female ducks trying to mate with them. I had to separated them. I am going to try putting all the adult females with the babies and separate the 3 adult males until the babies are at least 5 months old. Then I hope everyone will be able to be together. I plan to sell the baby male ducks and only keep the female so I will have more females for my 3 male drakes.

 

[Miss Lydia]

You are doing everything right! Bless you now we need to see pics of your Runners