What will happen to my duckling?

[ProudMom]

We have a very special Pekin duckling. His father, who we loved very much and was the alpha of our ducks, was killed by a fox. We took all the eggs that had been fertilized by him (only 3) and tried incubating them. We were able to hatch one. It has been alone in the brooder with no other ducks for 6 weeks and will soon be big enough to move outside. This means he/she has imprinted on us. We keep it in a rabbit hutch in our family room, and interact with it quite a bit. We have a duck diaper and sometimes let it roam around the house, and we take it outside to play sometimes. Still, the duck must be moved outside. I can't live with a duck coop in my house. We have 2 other Pekin ducks in our outdoor coop and run, 1 male and 1 female. The female is actually it's mother. We have tried introducing our little guy, but today the male tried to attack him. What can we expect from this transition? Will they fight a bit to establish the pecking order and then all will be fine; or could the 2 ducks really harm or kill this new addition to the coop? Please advise. I am so worried about this transition. -

 

[Amiga]

Right to be worried, but let's just step back and be proactive about it.

Please don't let nature take its course. Many times adult ducks attack and sometimes kill new littles.

So.

A few wrinkles are that you would have two drakes and one duck. Trouble for her. Possibly very serious.

I think I can relate to the attachment you have to that special little. In that case, I would consider bringing in four to six female pekins around his age. The young guy. Do you love how I just expanded your flock 200%?

That would be the way I can imagine you keeping both drakes and protecting his mother.

And introduce them slowly - at first, side by side separated by fence. Then letting them be with each other with supervision.

It is entirely up to the ducks, we can only assist and guide.

 

[ProudMom]

Thank you so much for your reply. I do have a divider I can use in the coop. Although the little duck is still too young to know for sure, we are beginning to see signs that the duck is a female. That would give us 1 drake and 2 females. How do you think a scenario like that might turn out?

 

[Amiga]

That could turn out very nicely.

 

[TLWR]

Can you make a temp pen in the yard. I put my littles in a 12x12 pen with pool so everybody can see everybody.
They've been free ranging "together" lately. I have 2 of 5 that aren't fond of the littles. The other 3 go away from them. I put the 3 that go away in with the 2 littles and closed them in for a bit. One big found a way out, then another, so I gave up LOL
But they see each other and that's a start. One runner chases the 2 littles out of the pond every time she gets in. Other than that, there is plenty of room here. My issue will be cooping at night. I hated using the divider because it was a pain, but it worked - will be doing that next week or so.


Take time with intros.
See if you can pen up the new little so everybody sees everybody. Let them all roam together while you are out to supervise and intervene if necessary.