will duck groupies allow the newbies in?

[sue5050]

I just released my 6 week old mixed breed ducks (3) into an established large size pond and my mature ducks attacked them and the male is raping the girls.. is this normal behavior? or should I try to catch them and lock them up again? not sure what to do?

 

[quackingdom]

Separate them, for now. They’re too young to be mated, and they might be hurt. When they’re older, maybe you can try again.

It's normal for new ducks to have squabbles and pecking order fights at first, but right now I think they're too young to be introduced. My ducklings get to stay with the flock whenever mama lets them, and I've never had any issues with extensive fighting (except for the occasional peck when a baby tries to rudely bust past an older duck). The males never try to mate them until they're at least four months old. I figure their mom teaches them and keeps them safe - but you don't have a mother duck, so it's a different case.

 

[sue5050]

yes , I did catch them with help from my husband and separated them. thanks, I knew that it wasn't going to work out when I saw the male being that aggresive with them. Is it normal to have a super agressive male or what?

 

[Amiga]

It is not easy to predict. Some drakes are aggressive (I almost wrote, jerks).

Slow introductions are best - keeping them penned in sight of each other can help, but they need to be monitored. I have a trio - drake and two ducks - who just never melded in with the rest of the flock for a clong complicated set of reasons. So I have one all-girl flock, and the trio. It's not that tough. But there's no room at the inn for any more drakes, I tell ya.