Will my ducklings be under attack from the Muscovy mom???

[D'Angelo N Va.]

I have 5 mallards and 4 pekin ducks that hatched out 2 weeks before Easter..they have been kept in a pen with a small pool...my question now is I also have 2 muscovy ducks with lots of babies walking around the yard, will they attack the other ducks if I let them in the yard now vs. keeping them in the pen they are in....I have a 1/2 acre pond and I would really like to see them on it, but now if it will upset the muscovies..also will the drake bother them? I think they are all females....

 

[Stormy Autumn]

I'm not sure because I've never done this myself, but I'm guessing they're more likely to adopt the babies than hurt them. I would keep an eye on the drakes, but if they aren't bothering the other ducklings then they probably won't bother the new ones either. I'd just give it a shot... not much could happen while they're under your supervision.

 

[FeatheredObsessions]

I have been introducing the new clutched to eachother around my house without much to do however mine are all muscovy to muscovy introduction in this case

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

Thanks so much...actually the ones hatched before Easter are nice size, well the pekins are actually the size of the female muscovies...the mallards of course are not..

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

Any One Else...i Plan On Doing It This Weekend.

 

[FarmrGirl]

unless the non-muscovy ducks get too close to the muscovy mom I'm thinking she won't bother them much. She may shoo them away from the food and water but if she has babies in tow she's not likely to take them with her to charge in to attack anyone.

 

[Captain Cluck]

I don't know if the breed matters, but age certainly does.

I have a dozen 5 week old mixed ducklings without a mama, and 6 two week old ducklings With a mum (Cindy.)

I let them all go into the same pen with a wading pool, a smaller pan for the little ducklings, 2 full food dishes and extra bowls of drinking water.

Cindy immediately chased all the older ducklings away from her babies and commandeered the wading pool. One of the older ducklings kept going back to the pool instead of joining its siblings in the duck hut, so Cindy grabbed him by the head fuzz, jumped on his back and started stomping the daylights out of him. I separated them so she wouldn't kill him, and let her take her babies out to the yard at large, leaving the older ducklings confined in the pen.

The 3 'teen' ducklings (April hatch about 10 weeks old) and other two adult female ducks do not bother the little family, and Cindy does not chase them. They all sort of skirt each other in passing. I have my 2 drakes penned up with my chicken flock. George the rooster keeps the drakes in line so there's no funny business going on there.

I would not introduce your older ducklings to the families unless you have plenty of space for all groups to feel separate and safe from each other. I would also supervise closely and intervene if there is any ducky mayhem going on. Mother ducks can get mean and they do mean business.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

Quote:
WOW, sounds like cindy is definitely an ALFA....lol

 

[Birdcrazy]

I've always had bad drake issues, but there are good ones out there.
I have three ducklings the same age as my scovy does, except she has more - they are the same breed and everything but if I take mine outside in the same area, she'll be threatening and aggressive. I guess my duck can smell they aren't hers?