Adding New Ducklings to Your Flock
---------------------------------------------------------
If you own chickens, you are familiar with the term “chicken math”. At first, you are only going to get 3 hens and then before you know it you have 13. It’s not because of accidental chicken breeding, but because adding new, cool breeds of chickens is addicting!
Well, I can tell you “duck math” is also alive and well. There may not be as many cool breeds of ducks as there are chicken breeds, but I have to say the ducks have wiggled their way into my heart. Their hilarious antics and sweet nature just make you want to get more.
Adding new ducks is usually easy
Luckily, adding new ducks to your flock is not as stressful and time-consuming as adding new chickens. Chickens have a strict pecking order in their flocks that rules every aspect of their day from who gets the choicest treats to who get the best roost space. They are constantly jockeying for a better position in the order so they don’t usually take kindly to new additions.
Ducks also have a pecking order but it isn’t as strict so making new additions isn’t as stressful to them. They may not mind more guests at the pool party, but especially if you are introducing ducklings to an adult flock that has a drake you want to ease everyone into the idea.
If you have an all-female flock of adult ducks and introduce ducklings this is usually the easiest with the least drama. It’s best to wait until ducklings are at least 6 weeks old and at least partially feathered out to start making introductions.
Drakes can make introductions difficult
Drakes will be most territorial to newcomers during mating season (spring and summer). Of course, this is also when feed stores are flooded with sweet little ducklings, so it is when you are most likely to be making additions.
A drake will also be more aggressive if you are trying to add another adult drake. Before you add another drake, make sure you will have at least 3-4 female ducks per drake to minimize fighting.
Additionally, your existing females might also get aggressive if there is a drake present. They might want to make sure the newcomers know this is HER drake.
If you have a drake in the flock, I would recommend waiting until the ducklings are over 8 weeks old to begin introductions. If your drake is attempting to mate with female ducks under 16 weeks old he should be separated until the younger ducks are full grown.
Note that if you have a drake (or occasionally a very bossy female) in your flock, each step below will likely take longer. Do not move on to the next steps until you see signs that your drake is behaving. Chasing new ducks away is fine, attacking them is not and a sign you need to go back a step.
Step 1 – Initial Meetings Days 1,2, & 3
The first couple of times you introduce the new ducks to the older ducks it should be on neutral ground. Free-ranging in the yard is a great place for the initial meeting. There will be plenty of room to run away if needed and the older ducks hopefully won’t feel as threatened. Stand nearby as they check each other out and be ready to break up a fight just in case. Ducks are super inquisitive by nature so they will want to investigate these newcomers.
Some positive body language to look for includes head bobbing up and down and excited quick quacking. This is a duck greeting, a way to say “hi, who are you?”. You will know negative body language when you see it. The older ducks will run at the new ducks with their head lowered, using their necks to try and push over the ducklings. If this happens, I would stay close, but try to let them work it out. Step in if the ducklings seem overly stressed or if the older ducks start biting. I would stage these initial meetings once a day for maybe 15 minutes each for 3 days in a row.
Step 2 – Safe Cohabitation Days 4, 5, & 6
After the ducks have met a couple of times, the next step is to bring the new ducklings out for full days. You most likely do not have the time to sit outside watching over the interactions so you will want to create a wire barrier between the old and new ducks. This way they can see, hear and smell each other but no one can get hurt while you aren’t watching.
If your older ducks free range in the yard during the day, you can try securing the ducklings in the duck run while the big ducks are out in the yard. Alternatively, you can section off part of your run with some chicken wire. This lets the ducklings get used to their new home outside of the brooder and the old ducks get used to the idea of new ducks living in their space.
I usually bring the ducklings back inside the house at night. After a couple of days doing this, we move to Step 3.
An alternative in step 2 is if you have an older gentle duck you can add the nice adult duck in with the ducklings in the run. Let them all bond together for a couple of days before setting them free with the whole flock.
Step 3 – Overnight Visits Days 7, 8, & 9
Next, you want to let the ducklings spend the night outside. Section off your duck sleeping area so you have two separate spaces. Be sure where ever you have your ducks sleeping is predator-proof Preferably it is somewhere the old and new ducks can see each other the whole night but can’t get to each other. During the daytime on these days, you should be putting the ducklings into their separate daytime area that you used in step 2. After a couple of nights of sleepovers, it’s time for the final step!
Step 4 – Full Fledged Friends Day 10
The last step is to let the old and new flocks merge. Let them all out to free range or into the run, hold your breath, and hope everyone behaves! Try to make this happen on a day when you will be home all day so you can keep an eye on things. Hang out with them for 15 minutes or so, if it seems like everyone is being cool, you can go about your business. Try to stay close and make frequent check-ins. Definitely keep a closer eye on any drakes to make sure they aren’t being bullies and make sure you have plenty of food & water available so they aren’t fighting over resources.
That’s it! In another week or so, you will never even know to look at them that they were ever anything other than a big, quacky family 🙂 Keep in mind that just like humans, ducks have their own personalities. Sometimes it takes hours for new ducks to decide they like each other – sometimes it is weeks or even months.
Really? It is that easy? I was thinking that I would have to wait 4 – 6 months like I did with my chickens. This is awesome!
My Cayuga Drake has taken over care of Swedish blue and 2 black Swedish we call him Daddy Waddles. It is so cool he has taught them in pool to swim and dive. He is never far from them. He even has them on schedule and takes them to where he wants to lay. He has strangest call and when we ones here him they go running. He leads them to pen at night and very protective . It amazes me and I wonder if anyone else has experienced this. I have a flock of 15 . My daughter and granddaughter have never seen anything like it. Pippa Blue Swedish took off after drake Fawn runner cause he got to close to daddy so he must be teaching them defense. Love watching and filming them.
Awww that is adorable! Sounds like you have a very special drake – they can be feisty when you try to add new ducklings. What a good boy!
I need advice! I have two five year old females. We wanted to expand our flock so we got 3 silkies and another duck. There was a mix-up at the fed store and now we have a 6 week old black Sweedish. He is doing perfectly great with the chicks….but I’m worried about when he is mature.
We can keep the silkies and ducks seperate at night and then in a big pen during the day ( 40×15) but will the young drake do okay with the old hens? And I’ve heard drakes will even try and mate with the silkies.
I would love to keep him but don’t want to put any of the others at risk. What would you suggest? Thanks for any potential insight.
I meant to say 6 week old drake
If the drake has female ducks around he should leave the chickens alone. If you keep him just in with the silkies he will likely try to mate them once he is mature – and it could end up killing the chickens (they don’t have the same anatomy). So once is he is a big bigger (I usually wait until 8-10 weeks) I would start introducing him to your two 5 year old ducks. My ducks and chickens live quite happily together and I’ve never had a drake try to mate with one of my chickens. For the most part the ducks ignore the chickens and vice versa
I also have a Cayuga drake who is super gentle & a true gentleman to his ladies. I always heard drakes are aggressive, but Blackberry has never shown any aggression. I am hoping to hatch some ducklings, so I hope he is as good with thr youngsters.
That is awesome! Hopefully he will pass on his good mannered genes to his babies 🙂
With my chickens I wait 2 months and then just bring them to the coop one night with a flashlight and the new morning it’s like the new chickens were always here.
@Stacha, we have a couple drakes that are also doing well with the ducklings. Haven’t bonded with them yet but will sometimes herd the drake that charges the ducklings away when they see him about too.
@Stacha, same happened to our ducklings! had a welsh harly/rouen, and he adopted every duckling I introduced to the flock. he even defended them agents the other older ducks! Never loved a duck more.
We are at stage 3 and ready to merge 4 ducklings with a 2 yr old duck. My question is about feed. The ducklings are on the starter grower still. Our duck is on layer. We put brewers yeast and oats with it. Is this ok to feed our older duck?
Yes, it is fine for your older duck to eat the duckling’s food. You should keep them all on that diet until the ducklings can eat layer pellets. Offer a bowl of crushed eggshells or oyster shells for your older duck to eat free choice so she can get the calcium boost she needs for strong eggs
Thanks for the really useful information. We are at step 3 so fingers crossed! (I visited Cape Cod last year from England, what a wonderful place you live in 🙂 )
Thank you! Good luck with your ducky journey! 🙂
I find your knowledge about ducks immeasurable however, can you (maybe) explain why my drake ‘bows’ to my (male) partner but not me? Also during the mating season when we had 5 ducklings hatch, the drake was particularly aggressive towards my partner but not me. Can ducks sense /smell something that we mere humans cannot?
When a duck lowers it’s head it’s not generally a sign of respect like a bow, it’s a sign of aggression. When a duck lowers it’s head (and sometimes makes a low hissing sound), they are saying stay away, then sometimes might charge with their neck stretched out. Your drake is just likely picking up on the fact that your partner is also male and the bigger threat to his flock. As long as he isn’t attacking or hurting anyone it’s harmless
I have an aggressive drake and he charges like that at the females. He has particularly gone after my broody when she joined for treat time. She has hatched 3 eggs so far this morning. We have her and the babies separated from the rest but I am not sure what I am going to do when it’s time to introduce.
I would definitely keep them separated until the babies are a least 2 months old, either keep the family separate from everyone else or keep the drake separate. When it’s time for everyone to mix together, just take it slow. Let them out together for an hour or so and keep a close eye on the drake. If he is just chasing them off, that is ok. He needs to get it out of his system. If he tries to nip or grab any of the babies I would put him away immediately. Hopefully it will be ok, but it will likely take him several weeks to get used to the idea. If he continues to be a problem and is hurting the babies or the even the females you might need to consider finding him a new home for the sake of the flock
I have 2 pekins which are almost twice the size of my younger rouens and cayugas we have 2 of each one pekin is a male and one of the cayugas but my concern is that we introduced the 4 additions to our already newly established pekins and now the drake is not only constantly attempting to mate with them all but he shows a lot of aggression towards all the other ducks as well as people. He has never hurt anyone (probably due to the fact that we stop him any time we catch him misbehaving) we have tried everything putting him in time out, my daughters are both able to pick him up hold him and there are no issues but we still cannot put all 6 in the coop overnight in fear of what will happen it’s been 2 months at least now they free range in our large yard all day and do well with the exception of the mating attempts. I feel terrible about the thought of rehoming him but I also cannot keep them all separate forever as we are currently moving the 4 younger ones into our garage every night to ensure they stay safe. Any suggestions?
How old are the Roeuens & Cayugas? If they are under 16 weeks you are doing the right thing for now, young ducks can be injured during mating attempts, especially if the drake is significantly bigger than them. The Pekins are always going to be bigger and probably going to end up as the ducks leading the flock. The size difference isn’t going to stop the Pekin drake from mating the smaller girls though. It’s possible that his misbehaving is just from all the upheaval – you added new ducks and these ducks aren’t really part of the flock because they are coming in and out and not with him all the time. So he’s not going to really accept them until they are together all the time and he is going to keep defending his area, his food, his water, his Pekin friend. But you’re right to keep them apart if those new girls are still young and he is trying to mate with them. I wouldn’t give up on him yet. Once the little ones have finished growing and can be integrated full time, hopefully he will calm down (also as summer moves on and mating season comes to an end his hormones will naturally settle a bit). If he is constantly trying to mate the young ducks, I would back off introducing them until the girls are grown. Can you separate the coop & run with some chicken wire so they can all sort of live together but he can’t get to the girls? Drakes always seem to make introductions tricky.
Ugh. We are trying to integrate our new Drake and silkie chicks with our preexisting five year old ducks. One of our females, Sunshine is being such a bully.
I keep the newbies locked in the run all day and then in the evening let them all out together to free range and give them yummy snacks. Sunshine uses this opportunity to charge the drake and the chicks. There will be long periods where she behaves herself and then she gets miffed and goes after them. It’s been about a week of this.
I was hoping to start letting them out during the whole day but I’m worried about the bullying. Anything you might suggest? They are nine weeks old and are still sleeping in the garage at night. I plan on separating their sleeping quarters soon so they can transition outside full time ASAP.
I can definitely seperate the chicks if need be during the day..but I really want the drake to integrate with the two existing females and they are just mean to him.
Thanks in advance!
Well that is no fun! Sounds like Sunshine wants to get ahead of the game and let this drake know that even though he might want to be in charge this is her flock. A little bit of bullying is ok – it might take a couple weeks of her chasing him off for her to get the hint that he is here to stay. As long as he is over 9 weeks I would let them be together during the day. Just make sure she isn’t keeping him from eating & drinking and if she ends up drawing blood I would separate them again. Same with the chicks, once they are over 9 weeks you can start mixing them in together. I usually wait until they are all getting along during the day before I start allowing them to bed down together at night.
Hi Liz!! Do these same rules apply for adding full grown ducks to your flock? I have a mated pair but I’m adding two full grown females.
Hi Jessica! Yes, same process! You can expect that the male will probably be a jerk for a little while to the new girls but hopefully all will go well 🙂
Liz, Thanks for that info. We’re incubating Indian Runner Ducks from our mom and dad duck. Cross your fingers for us! Tracy
Good luck! 🙂
I have 2 Fawn Indian Runners both male 8 months old they fight all the time with each other and other male ducks My Khaki absolutely hates them. If he sees them near the babies he runs them off. I have 15 ducks Male female Cayuga One Blue Swedish and 3 black Swedish 2 crested giant Peking and normal Peking 2 Khaki Campbell’s male female. 2 Mallards male female they all have names and are trained and eat out of your hand We have big green bowl that I put corn peas in and when they see that bowl the 4 flyers take flight to beat others to bowl I spend about 4 hrs day outside with them filming and afternoon I sing to them. They love it and stay at my feet if I stop they start quaking . Wrote song Luluby Duck and they love it. They were taught to knock on door if they want to come in but they have to stay on mat Several go places with us diapers and leash. Like to go for walks and will follow you. I have fallen in love w each one and they each have unique personalities and they all have names and when eating out of hand I call each one by name. There such social creatures and spoiled rotten.
WOW those are some lucky ducks!! Ducks are such awesome little creatures, so full of personality! I like to sing to my animals too 🙂
We introduced 6 wk old ducklings to the older ducks with a baracade for a couple weeks after having them in the same run in a brooder coop. One day I let the youngins have the run with the pond. They weren’t interested in it, but later in the day I found two in it but struggling to get out. I also noticed that my very randy drake had broken through the baracade and I wondered if he had anything to do with them being in the pond. Turns out one of the babies was already drowned. So the advice about introducing should depend on whether there is a pond.
That is so sad! You are definitely right, any access young ducklings have to water should be monitored with easy in and out. Your drake probably chased them into the pond and in the confusion and commotion they got trapped or held down. So sad
Hi, Liz.
We have a serious imbalance of male to female ducks on our lake, with a gang of about 8 males harassing two females in our cove. First, is it common for males to force mating on a female with a stench? I find the forced mating distressing, but can live with it when i talk myself out of anthropomorphising the females. The problem is that when there are 8 males, it takes some time for each to have his go and for the female to recover, all the while leaving the ducklings unprotected from the crows and heron. We are losing entire stenches in a matter of weeks. These are not domesticated ducks; it’s a small lake. Ideas?
Hi Lee, it can be really upsetting when multiple males gang up on a female. Unfortunately it is normal behavior for wild ducks. I agree it can be very distressing! It is also unfortunately not uncommon with wild Mallards for other females to kill stray ducklings that do not belong to their brood. The ducklings, especially in the first month, generally stick very close to the mother at all times for protection. Even very soon after hatching, the mother duck will lead them to water to swim with her and they stick pretty close. Most times they should not be leaving them unattended for long periods of time. Unfortunately, it is usually best to not interfere with nature. 20-50% of ducklings will not make it to adulthood due to predators, weather, lack of food, etc. The good news is mating season should be coming to an end, in the next month or so the males should be calming down a bit and hopefully the females will find some peace
I have five 6 week old ducklings that I hatched. Momma was hit by a car. They are native to Florida and do not migrate. There are several in the neighborhood. Lots of birds around here on the coast.
I have a pen in back with two large pools. I researched what they eat in the wild and have kept to that diet with duck chow to supplement. We live on open, salt water. Lots of hawks, herons etc. These guys turned out to be Mallards and are pretty large, fully feathered except for a little down on their necks. They are practicing flying. How do I go about letting them go safely and when? We live on a canal with very little yard. I put them away at night to protect them and then let them out into a large pen I built during the day with a fan, shade etc. I will put a board from the canal to our dock so they can get out easily. I guess after all of that was said I need to know when to stop putting them away at night and keeping in a pen period? We do not talk to them, play with them etc. I did not want them too comfortable with people. The neighbors dog got into our yard but due to the pen the dog did not get to them. It did serve the purpose of making sure the ducks do not like dogs. We have a Blue Heron who hangs out. They sit and watch each other but the ducks are large enough now that Burt the Heron does not bother them. He just wants to use their pool, LOL. They are wild and here apparently it is not legal to have them as pets. I make sure to wash down the pen two to three times a week but will be very ready to let them be free when the time comes : )
I don’t know a ton about wildlife rehab, but it sounds like you are doing everything right. If they are fully feathered they should be ready to be released. Ducks are considered fully grown around 4.5/5 months. My guess would be to start by letting the pen door be open during the day. It is very possible they will come back to the pen on their own at night. Is there a wildlife rescue in your area that you could reach out to? I am sure they will have great advice about getting those ducks released. Good luck! Mallards will often return to the place where they were raised when it is time for them to raise their own young, so hopefully you will get to enjoy watching these little ones raising their own broods next spring!
Hey, I have a female about 20 weeks old. (She was raised with 3 drakes, but I just re-homed them today because I was afraid for her safety with them.) I also have a female duckling only 3 weeks old. Do you think I could put these two together a little easier than all these steps? I don’t want my older female to be lonely! Today, after the drakes left, I had the duckling in a cage outside while she free ranged. Do you think 3 weeks is too early for meetings and being in the same space?
3 weeks is a little early. Ideally they should be feathered out and around 7-8 weeks but if your other ducks are nice it could work out. Sometimes, especially with females, they really easily accept newcomers. The only way to know is test it out. Put them together and see how it goes, she might surprise you! Not too long ago we put out a 5 week duckling and she immediately took to one of our females and they have been inseparable since
Hi there, so i added new ducks (10weeks old) and they are already friends with my two 20 week old ducks my wuestion is i jave a drake who is typically a randy devil, will they be ok if he mates with them?
I would keep an eye on him and just make sure he isn’t being overly rough. He will likely recognize that the babies aren’t full grown yet and not suitable mates, but you are right that most drakes are just little randy devils.
I have 4 khaki Campbells, about 4 months old, and I just got 4 Ancona ducklings. The breeder said the Anconas are 6-7 weeks, but they look more like 3 weeks. I questioned her on their age and she said they develop a little more slowly because they are not hatchery stock ducks. I don’t really understand that, but in regards to socializing, so far only 1 of my female khakis is being really aggressive to them. It’s been 3 days of socializing and no progress with this one duck. Any advice? Or just keep socializing little by little each day until they get along?
Hi Teresa, hatchery ducks have been selectively bred for generations with only the biggest, strongest and healthiest used as “breeders”. Sometimes they can end up larger than what a farmer might consider breed standard. Most ducks are just fine with new additions, but just like people they all have different personalities. Sounds like your khaki needs a little more time to get used to the idea of babies around. Keep socializing slowly and she will get there!
My friend has 3 khaki campbells ducklings raised by chickens she tried to introduce a white Campbell Duck of the same age.The Khaki’s are terrified of the new White campbell and got really stressed as did the chickens. Any Ideas how to integrate in this situation so neither are stressed too much
I would separate the 4 ducks away from the chickens and let them bond together. I have found that when I let a momma bird raise the young, they tend to be more skittish (as opposed to babies that I raise in a brooder). It might just take them some time to adjust.
I have 2 female mallards, and wanting to get a male. It would be from the same egg batch, Just CURIOUS If I’m Going To Have ANY Major problems, after reading this I don’t really see a problem, just keep a good eye to make sure they are getting along. Any advice you would give?
It’s really hard to predict how any set of animals will get along because they all have their little quirks, but I would guess it would go smoothly. The girls should let him in alright and as long as he behaves himself and doesn’t choose to just overmate one they should all get along fine!
Great advice!! We have all females, and started our introductions at 9 weeks. We are at step 4 and holding our breath. The older girls seem to run away from the littles, and the littles will charge the older girls with heads down and mouth open. We also have a goose and the littles are charging her too and the goose runs away! This really surprised us!! Any advice or just wait it out and eventually they’ll work it out on their own?
Wow! You have some feisty babies there! As long as no one is being hurt physically (emotionally the big girls might be a little embarrassed being chased off by a baby lol!) it’s best to let them sort it out on their own. It’s likely some of these babies just have dominant personalities and will end up as flock leaders, and the girls will all sort it out on their own. If someone starts pulling out feathers or hurting the others that’s when I step in and separate the offender for a few days
HI, thanks for the great information. I’ve read several of your posts. I haven’t been able to find information on introducing young(er) ducks to an existing chicken flock with the following characteristics:
*1 drake with 5 hens, all approximately 2 months old (and appear to be maturing as sexed). The weather has been decent, so I moved them from the garage to a “transitional” fenced off area in my pasture with access to shelter/heat lamp at night (both them and myself are much happier with this housing arrangement! 🙂 ).
*4 mature hens with 1 mature rooster, which I’ve had for a couple of years. This flock free ranges a 2 acre pasture during day and coop up at night.
The transitional duck pen is in the pasture, and the chickens/ducks have constant visibility of each other through the wire mesh fencing. I have not found the rooster in the duck pen, so I assume he has not tried to fly over their fencing. I haven’t observed any “issues” between species occuring through the fence. But the rooster does like to strut around the duck fencing crowing and making his presence known (interestingly the rooster has charged me a couple times lately when I’m near the ducks, which is out of his normal character.)
At what age is appropriate to introduce a developing drake (with his hens) to a mature rooster (with his hens)?? As noted in the article above, the ducks are so easy going I’ve never observed a scuffle between them so its hard to tell if they are capable of “fending for themselves,” or if they even know how to fend for themselves.
I really appreciate any input!! I think my pasture is big enough that the two can live in harmony. I just want to make sure initial direct contact with each other goes as uneventfully as possible, and that the young ones are mature enough to hold their own!
It sounds like you are off to a great start. I’d let them live side by side in the transitional pen for a couple weeks and then they should all be old enough to be together. For the most part my chickens keep to the chickens and my ducks to the ducks, so the rooster doesn’t do much “policing” of duck activities or additions. I have three drakes and one rooster and the boys all get along fine. When you let them out together just keep an eye on them for the first couple days. It sounds like they are all easy going though so fingers crossed everything will go smoothly!
I have a question! Im fairly new with ducks! I bought 5ducks in march 2 peaking and 3runners (i was told they were all runners, but when 2 of them turned out huge and white i had to do research, also 2 of my runners are greenish blue and 1 is white and tan) im not sure of their sexes yet online it says the ones with deep quacks are females and the ones that peep still are males is that true? Thats one of my questions my next question is i bought 8 more ducks on may 11 4 runners and 4 peakings all baby ducklings i had them away from my other ducks and yesterday i tried to introduce them to my older ducks they did good ALL day there were no isssues one of my peakings even went and laid down and had the babies laying by it (still not sure if the peaking is male or female) i did hear an owl(great horned to be exact) but didnt think anything of it. So they were together ALL day no issues so i went back inside and around 6pm (i was inside for less than an hr) i came back out and 2 of my ducklings were dead and not just dead they were DECAPITATED with NOO HEADS?!?! My duck couple doesn’t have the top on it yet its an above ground pool with 6ft of wire around it 50ft around but my husband has NEVERA SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT before!!! Did my older ducks kill and Decapitate the 2 ducklings?!? Or do you think its possible that the owl we heard did it?!? I got really freaked out and the ducklings are now completely separated but is it possible that my other ducks bit off the little ducklings heads?!?!? I cried forever and told my babies im so sorry i love ALL my animals also i have 11 hens that i got with my first set of ducks and they are ALL family the hens think they are ducks and there was some separation anxiety between the ducks and chickens from introducing them to ducklings after reading this i am gonna wait 4-6 weeks and do small introductions in between like this says but i need to know if its possible for ducks to bite the head off of baby ducklings!!
Oh no!! It is so so so to lose any of your critters – especially like that, how horrible! I really don’t think it was your other ducks though. If they were just dead maybe I would think it was your older ducks, but your adult ducks aren’t going to decapitate the ducklings. That is definitely a predator of some sort, either that owl you heard or something else. Certainly could be an owl, predator birds like that do a lot of tearing. Definitely keep a very close eye on the flock in the next few days, I’ve lost a few of my hens to hawks and it seems like once they found food in your yard, they will keep coming back. I wouldn’t put the ducklings out to free range in the next week just to be safe.
As far sexing the ducklings, listening to their voices is one way – the females will have a louder “quack” sound and the males a lower raspy sounding noise. If they are still peeping, they just haven’t found their grown up voice yet. The boys will also develop a little curly feather at the base of their tail.
I have 1 male and 1 female adult Rowens and just rescued a maybe female 3 – 4 month old peking. I have been introducing as suggested.. it seems my girl Daisy is terrified of the baby.. any clues as to why? What I can do to change it? Thank you in advance..
Every duck is different – just like every human! Hard to say what is going on in Daisy’s head. But as long as they aren’t fighting I would just let them work it out. They will get used to each other in time. Ducks generally love having other ducks around, they just need a little time 🙂
Hi! I have a flock of 4 hens and 2 drakes, and we got two more female ducklings this year. They are fully feathered and we keep them separate from the drakes at this point (they are too aggressive with the young ones). The hens seem terrified of them! In fact I’ve seen one of the “babies” run one of them off several times. Is this normal? Are they extra stressed being separated from the drakes? I didn’t anticipate this transition to be so complicated.
They could just be stressed by the changes in the flock. Some birds are more sensitive to change than others. It’s good to keep the drakes separated, besides being aggressive, they will change the flock dynamics making it harder for all the girls to bond. My guess would be one of your babies is a natural leader with a strong personality and will probably end up being “top hen”, and she is exerting her power right out of the gate. They will settle in shortly. Then hopefully you can add the drakes back into the mix. If at all possible wait until the babies are 4 months to let the drakes in because they WILL try to mate with them and the babies really aren’t ready for that until 16-18 weeks old.
Hello I have a 8 week old duck a crested magpie and I’m trying to introduce him/her to my 4. 1 year old ducks 3 girls 2 rouen 1 cayuga 1 drake cayuga. The drake will not leave it alone and is very aggressive to it. I got the magpie from someone who doesnt want a deformed bird “crest” so kinda saving It. I want to say her but doesnt have an adult voice and I cant tell yet 2ith the tail feathers Haha will they ever stop being mean to her? Also the female ducks by themselves wont accept the new duck either. Thank you for any help
He will calm down eventually. Drakes are usually not very welcoming to new ducks, and unfortunately the females usually take their cue from the drake. When my drakes are being mean to new ducks (especially when they are young), I will lock up the drakes in the run and let everyone else out to free range. This lets the ladies bond with the new ones. But I have found it takes my drakes about a month or so to get used to having new ducks around. The good news is it’s not a whole month of the drakes being mean. For the first week or so they constantly chase them off and sometimes grab their wings or neck, but everyday it gets better until they are just chasing them off without trying to hurt them, then they just accept them being there. If you can get the 8 week old duck to become friendly with one of the females that is the best bet. I once had a young drake I was trying to integrate and my older drake was having absolutely none of it, even after a few weeks. Eventually I took my nicest, calmest female and locked her in the run with the new duck. They really took to each other in just a couple days and when I released the pair out to free range again, the older drake still chased him off occasionally but for the most part left them alone. Good luck!
Hi there!
We have 2 male Aylesbury drakes who we hatched ourselves, they are 3 years old and All ways been together. We have purchased 6 female ducks but the drakes seem to be very aggesive and territorial with them. They chase them back into their own and won’t let them near the pond. How long will it take for them to get along, I don’t want the new girls to be over stressed as they had a bit of a bad start to life and we want to give them a good life? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Drakes can be real pains sometimes lol. You would think they would be excited to finally have some lady friends, but it usually isn’t the case. It will probably take a few weeks, even up to a month for the boys to calm down and let the ladies into their boys only flock. Did you try separating them at first (having them live in separate areas where they can see and smell each other but not interact)? If not, it can be a good way to ease the boys into the idea of the ladies living in the yard while still keeping the girls safe. Unfortunately, they will likely still be a little jerky when you finally blend the groups together, but it can be a little easier transition.
I have 4 7 week old ducklings I am trying to integrate with 4 older ducks. All are female (in theory–I do have my doubts about one of the ducklings, though I ordered all female. :- ). The ducklings are sleeping in a huge dog kennel, while the older ducks are in the main duck house. The ducklings have a fenced area in front of their house so they have some protection (all the ducks are in a huge fenced duck yard) from the big ducks, but the ducklings can come and go into the main duck yard as they desire. They have ventured out, and even gone into the big duck house, did a little swimming in the pool, and snarfled for worms, etc. The big ducks have ventured into the duckling area to share their food, but one of the adults consistently lowers her head and runs them all back home whenever she sees them come out. They’ve been out together for about 5 days– it’s still happening. Is there anything I can do to help this along, or is patience all that is required? They have not co-habitated yet at night. I feel like they are not ready for that, given that one unfriendly duck. Thoughts? Thanks so much!
Unfortunately you have to let them work it out on their own. By 7 weeks they are pretty big so I wouldn’t be super worried about the unfriendly duck hurting them, she will probably just keeping chasing them. In female only groups, most ducklings are accepted within the first week, but ducks all have their own personalities and sometimes you just get a grumpy one that doesn’t like newcomers. All you can do is just keep an eye on them. Lower her head and chasing them off is fine, she is just establishing dominance. But if she starts to grab them with her bill to the point where the babies are losing feathers, you might need to keep them separated a little longer. Fingers crossed she comes around soon!
They are doing better, making tiny half inches of progress daily, but still sleeping in separate quarters. The ducklings are actually quite large, especially the Black Swedish. No one is being mean, just stand offish. Would my instinct NOT to force them to quarter together until they are much friendlier be the right instinct?
Yes, I think you are right to keep them sleeping separate until they are friendly with each other, especially if they are locked into their house at night
Thank you! They are making (seemingly) the tiniest of progress ….The young ‘uns have ventured out closer to the others, but no one is buddy buddy, not even remotely! I did see the grumpy older one do the beak down run, but I also saw one of the newbies do it, too! So, hopefully over time they will work it out and I’ll look out one day and see them all relaxing together. I hate to put them in the same duck house at night til I see that (tho the babies have explored the big house on their own….). They will have to get it together this month or next, before the temps drop and the snow falls……
I bought a Khaki Campbell and a Pekin about 2 months ago. I went to tractor supply to buy more food for them and there was this one Rouen duckling. This had been the original breed I wanted so I HAD to get her(I have a slight obsession). When Coco (the rouen duck) was shipped to tractor supply there was 16 other ducks in with her. Coco was the only one to survive, so no one could get her because you have to buy at least 2. I already had Percy and Puddles ( The first 2 ducks. I like to call them the twins) so they let me get her. She’s about a month old now and this is about the time when I put my other ducks in the run. I started to introduce them. I put up some plastic netting and let them meet. I have done that for about a week and everything seemed fine. I took it down yesterday and walked to outside the run. Percy the pekin duck walked right up and then started biting and Coco’s tail. Puddles just watched. I tried again this morning and now they both come up and bite Coco’s tail. Should I try and stop it or let them figure it out? Also, when Coco walks she steps on top of her feet and her bill and feet are turning pale. I give her the exact thing I gave to my other ducks and it has calcium and niacin in it. I’m worried because I read that this happened to a duck and they had to put it down. 🙁
I would let them work it out, but under supervision. You don’t want Coco getting hurt. Most likely they are just trying to establish who is in charge and won’t take it further than a little bullying. If she starts losing a lot of feathers or you feel it’s getting out of control, you might need to keep them separated a little longer until Coco is bigger. As far as her stepping on herself, some ducklings just have higher nutrient needs so she might need some more supplementing. They grow so fast in the beginning sometimes it goes faster than their food intake can supply. When I notice one duckling in a group struggling with leg strength or coordination I’ll give that one some liquid vitamin B. It will help with the niacin intake you comes with a little dropper so you can give it just to one specific duckling to make sure they are getting what they need. I usually do 1/2 dropper every day
We have 4 runners (2 male and 2 female) in a flock, all adults. We have a younger flock of 4 Rouen and 1 magpie, all females. We’ve been following then advice here and we are still having trouble getting them to unite as one. Been at it for three months now. The runners chase off the younger ducks all the time and we can’t seem to get them to get along. They don’t seem to hurt them but they also keep them away from food and water in the side of the pen they are all in.
They are in a 25′ by 32′ pen that we split in half. During the day the separator is opened so everyone has access to the entire pen. Does anyone have any suggestions we can try to get this to work. I would really hate to have to keep them separate for the rest of their lives. Thanks for any help.
I would get a second food & water container (or even a third set just to eliminate as much competition as possible) and try to keep the separator down as much as possible. The more time they spend together the better. To start the year this year we had 3 males and 3 females. We then added 3 more females in May. The males chased off the new females for months. I was starting to think they would be separate forever. Like your runners they didn’t really try to hurt the new girls, just would chase them off. Then about a month ago (so about 4 months after we brought the new ones in) all of a sudden they were all moving around the yard together. Now all 9 ducks move as one flock all the time. Some ducks just have a harder time than other accepting newcomers
We have a food dish, water dish, and pond in both halves so they have all three items irregardless of which side they are in. We can remove the separator completely as I am off work for an injury for a while so i can watch them. We placed three dog houses (large dog size) and they actually use them at night.
I think if Hank, the alpha boy, chills out then everything will settle down.
Thank you for the advice. I sure do hope this works.
I hope so!! I would take the separator down and fingers crossed they work it out in a couple day
Thanks for all your advice. We took the separator down the day after you suggested it. Ducks, for the most part, are getting along okay. The one alpha boy still chases the young ones but not as bad as it was. Both female runners are hanging out with the youngsters and eating out of the same tub with them on occasion. And the one goofy boy chases everybody around because he thinks they’re all his girlfriends now. I saw all of them yesterday morning in one flock all together so I think we’re in the clear for the most part. Thanks again for all your help.
Yay!!! I’m so glad they are all settling in! 🙂
Hi Liz I am bringing home today two 8 week old Pekins x ducks. I want to put them in a coop with two old wyandots, will that work? And tomorrow I am picking up 4 Indian runners also 8 weeks, can I add them immediately to the same coop?
The ducks should all get along just fine without much issues. It’s usually just the boys that cause problems when adding new ducks, but at 8 weeks the boys shouldn’t be territorial yet. Just keep an eye on the chickens. Usually its the chickens that have issues with new birds, but because they are so outnumbered my guess is they will not cause problems.
Hello! I have 4 drakes and 1 female, so this spring I decided to introduce some more female ducklings. I have 9 8 wk old ducklings and I am in the process of introducing them. I do not want to keep all 9, so I am planning to give 3 away. However, once the males realized the ducklings were female, they starting mating like crazy with the ducklings, and the ducklings did NOT like this. They are targeting one particular duckling, so I have decided to give that one away. The drakes were doing fine with the ducklings except for a little chasing, but then they starting mating and the duckling they were targeting did not look so good. Also when I put the ducklings in their pen if the males start mating, the males will circle the pen, trying to get in. Do you have any advice?
Ducklings really should not be allowed to be mated. The drakes could harm them both in trying to mate them because they are so much bigger and if they actually do succeed in mating they could injure the still developing reproductive system. Mating should really be held off until the ducklings are full grown (around 16 weeks). It’s probably best for them if you keep them separated from the males until then
Hi
I have one drake left and I am trying to find him a friend. I have tried looking for a adult duck to adopt but I can only adopt is bonded pairs. Any advice?
Thank you
Have you tried places like Craigslist in the farm section or in a local Facebook Homesteading group? Your local feed store might also have some leads on people looking to sell adult ducks
Hi Liz I have another question! So my babies are 8 weeks and like I said before I ended up with two males and one female. We hate the thought of getting rid of anyone so my question is I found someone that has ducklings that are a month older then mine so 12 weeks if we got some more females would it be hard at those ages for them to get along? Also should I separate the boys and girls in different houses at some point? Or if we didn’t fell like taking on more ducks would to be ok to separate the one girl and two boys durning mating times or would she be sad alone. Ugh I’m so bummed that two ended up being boys but we love all three and really don’t want to give up the girl or the two boys. ?
Hi! I was wondering at what age can a drake fertilizers a egg? My drakes are 3 1/2 months old and I have ducks that range from 3 1/2 months to a year old. The one year old is sitting on the eggs. Is there a chance that these eggs could be fertilized by a 3 1/2 month old drake? Thank you!
It’s unlikely, but just like humans some ducks hit puberty before others so it could be possible. In general it’s around 4.5-5 months. If she sits on them for a week consistently you will be able to candle them (shine a bright light to the egg, illuminating the inside). If an egg is developing you will see a network of blood vessels growing
Ok thank you! I adopted the lady sitting on the eggs she is about 8 months she has angle wing and rye neck. The person that was taking care of her kept her as the only duck. I got her 3 days ago. Unfortunately she is not mingling with any of my other ducks as she just wants people. Do you think she will ever become part of the pack? Is there anything I can do with her wing or neck to help her at this age. The wing seems to be getting in her way, could I trim it now that it’s fully grown out with no blood running threw it? Can I do anything for her neck? She eats and drinks just fine her neck just seems to make her walk in funny directions. I Left the eggs in the coop because she seems to enjoy sitting on them and watching over them. I’m not sure she even knows she is a duck yet. Her nails are extremely overgrown too, can I trim them like I do my dogs? Thank you!
Wow! Sounds like she has a few issues to sort out! She will eventually join the flock. She just isn’t used to being a duck yet. You can clip her nails, just like your dogs you want to be careful not to cut them too far down. Now that she is outside, her nails should naturally file themselves as she scratches about so you shouldn’t have to do it again. But when a duck lives in indoors they can get overgrown. Wry neck is usually a result of vitamin deficiencies and angel wing is from too much protein in the diet, so it sounds like she wasn’t being fed a proper duck diet before. At 8 months you might not be able to reverse the damage, but a good, nutritious diet can sometimes work wonders. Get her on some quality duck or chicken feed. With the little ones around you will want to be adding brewer’s yeast to the feed so they get enough niacin, and that will be good for her as well. The other thing you might want to look into is adding some vitamins or electrolytes to their water at least for a little while to help with any deficiencies. She is old enough to eat layer feed, but your younger ones should really still be eating a chick/grower feed until they hit about 20 weeks. So I would suggest you just feed everyone the chick/grower with added brewer’s yeast and some vitamins in the water.
I have 2 crested Khaki Campbells one white and one brown they are 11 weeks old, we just got another dark khaki Campbell which is about 8 weeks old. The reason we got another duck was because the brown male khaki has a poorly leg which the vets can not do anything about, and at some time in the future when it becomes to painful we will have to have him put down, we invested in another duck so my female white will have another pal when it happens. we are struggling to get them to bond, any suggestions? we only have a small garden and cant leave them wondering in the garden without cover so not sure how i can keep them separate on a nigh as we only have one house.
It is important that they start spending all their time together, including at night so they will start to feel like one flock. Is your duck house too small to section off an area for the new duck to sleep in? It could be as small as just a little corner or nest box for her to sleep in. Then in the morning you could let them all out as normal. When you have a bonded pair, sometimes it can be hard for them to let someone new in. But keep at it, they will accept her in time!
It’s not that it’s small it only has one small opening and the back comes right off, what we have done is made a cage inside were the 2 ducks have been for the last 11 weeks we haven’t put them out yet because of the other ducks leg. I have put the new duck in a large guinea pig cage in front of the ducks so they lay next to each other. We have also had them outside together. Do you think they will except the new duck it just the white duck is very protective of the poorly duck.
Sounds like you are doing everything exactly right. I actually also have a duck with a lame leg. She was born with it and has managed surprisingly well. She might not go out free ranging as far as some of the other ducks, but she gets around pretty well. She is 4 years old now and still limping around. I will say in the past 6 months or so she seems to be slowing down more but she has made it a lot longer than we originally expected. She has a bonded friend duck, like your duck, that seems to stay with her when she isn’t up to exploring which is very sweet. So your little guy might surprise you at the way he adapts to his handicap! They will eventually accept the new duck, just give it some time. I would start letting them all out to the garden and see how they do
Hi!
I just picked up a silver Apple yard, I was told she was 12 weeks old. She is very tiny about 1/2 the size of my rowen that is only a few weeks older than her. She looks like she is 6 weeks to me. She still has some baby fluff on her and is not fully feathered yet. My drake runner is being very aggressive to her trying to bite her neck. I have her in a brooder looking out the slider door so she can watch the other ducks. Should she be this small at 12 weeks? Are they slow growers? I contacted the person again and she confirmed she was 12 weeks and a standard size duck. If she happens to be a mini Apple yard could she still be ok with standard size ducks? I have 2 drakes a rowen and a blue runner and 4 ducks and trying to look for 2 more ducks for the ratio. Thank you.
I have an 8 week old mallard, still not sure if its male or female. There is a large flock of wild mallards at a nearby pond, about the same age as mine. I want to set mine free with them but I don’t think I can stage the introduction, because they are wild and I’ll probably never be able to catch mine once I let him loose. Do, you think they will get along? I could set up the pen I have nearby for an introduction.
These steps are really for introducing domestic ducks to each other, not for wild birds. I don’t have any experience releasing wild birds, a good resource might be to call your local wildlife rescue. They should have some great advice on how to best release him. Good luck!
Hi, I live on a horse ranch and my boss has several chickens, and mommy duck, a Pekin cross, white with a jet black bill, and daddy duck, who looks to be a swedish grey cross.they all live together in the chicken coupe at night. One day about a year ago I found 3 ducklings that were the cutest little things. After about a week of nurturing, mommy duck couldn’t take the life, and abandoned the baby ducks. I raised them in a cage and they have the 100 acre ranch to free range by day. The baby ducks turned out to be 2 drakes and a hen. Now that they are a year old, daddy duck and the two boys do not get along well. Daddy thg chases especially Prince, the more aggressive young drake, all around the barn, then Prince chases him back! Then Prince steals Mommy duck, and breeds her, and Daddy duck comes and takes her back… the 3 young ducks Whistler, Prince and the girl, Honker, have their own house that they share at night with a gorgeous rescue female goose named Missy. Missy and Prince were even an item for a while, but now the 4 are a flock of their own…
But… then comes the mystery duck Daisy. We found her on her back legs kicking in the air, still damp from hatching… I picked her up and put her in my shirt to warm her, and she imprinted… She is obviously from one of Mommy ducks eggs, but Daddy or Prince could be the father. She had to have been hatched by a chicken as neither Mommy or Honker were sitting! But how did the duck egg get in the chicken box 4 feet off the ground? So I’m hoping it’s a female, because we are at a 3 drakes to 2 hens ratio, but at 5 weeks, she still peeps…and so far, no duck tail… but little Daisy is a house duck, totally addicted to me, and sleeping in a sleeping bag, and playing in the bucket of dog water, and just people in general, and is Terrified of the ducks and goose. I don’t want her (him?) to die of loneliness, so i have her out with the flock every day while i work horses, and she just follows me everywhere, or my 2 dogs which totally freaks them out… (especially the Pitbull, who wants to love her, because she loves EVERYTHING, but Daisy is so assertive that all my Pitty and Aussie can do is run!) But she is 5 weeks, and totally messy, and she HAS to become a duck soon! I am not sure how to do it. I’ve never imprinted on a duck before, and little Daisy ( or Day Zee) does not seem interested in being a duck… she thinks she’s a person, or a dog or cat… and shows no interest in being a duck.and I dont know who she would fit in with better, Mommy and Daddy in the chicken coupe, or the baby ducks and goose in the tiny duck house… and will she really die of loneliness if I cant convince her to be a duck? And what if she turns ou TV to be ANOTHER Drake.. poor Mommy and Honker would be at 2 to one, males verse females! I dont know what to do. I love her, and dont want to have to place her if she cant fit in… please help!
Awww what a sweetie! It can be adorable to have a duckling imprint on you, but definitely problematic as ducks want to spend nearly 24/7 with your flockmates and most humans can’t provide that kind of attention. I would probably try to introduce her to the younger ducks & goose as it sounds like Daddy duck is probably the leader and will be most resistant to letting a new duck join in. If possible, maybe you can separate out Honker and Daisy so the ladies can get to know each other without the boys being boys. I once had a duckling similar to yours and once he was 6-7 weeks old it was time for him to be a duck, I picked out my nicest, most calm female duck and let the two of them bond in a separate pen for about a week, then let them out with everyone else and it went really well. Good luck, fingers crossed for a female!!
Thank you so much for your advice! For the last two days, Daisy has been in extra large metal dog cage in the chicken yard, because I had a lot of horses to ride, and her little legs just cant keep up! And the ed funniest thing, Mommy duck and Honker, th ed two females, are just laying outside the cage hanging out with Daisy… every time I went by they were there! Daisy still wants to be with me at the end of the day, but soon she willhave her feathers and I will feel more comfortable about having her stay outside. Then I’ll put her with one or both of the other females and go from there. It will be a relief not to have a house duck anymore! I hope she still likes people when she’s a little older! 🙂
Hi Liz well there is an update… now that Daisy is older, I thought that the other ducks would become more important… they have not… Daisy spends days with me in the barn and lives in the barn with the horses at night… funny thing is She is a he! And he is in love with me! I was petting him one day and he grabbed my arm and started having his way with my arm! That’s how I knew it was a biy… now after being 5 months old he has developed a drake Feather. He is not interested in ducks at all, but hangs out and plays with the dogs… but now that he has decided that I’m to be his new mate (haha) he’s jealous of the dogs and is chasing my Aussie all over the barn.he totally thinks he’s a person and likes to hang out with whoever happens to be in the barn. The other ducks try to invite him to hang out, but he is not interested! He only wants to be with people! Men, women, kids, he doesn’t care… is this normal for an imprinted duck to like people this much? How do I convince him he is a duck? Should I bring him a girlfriend and see if that makes a difference?
I tried to let her hang out with the younger ducks, but the two young drakes took out after her and teamed up on her. One grabbed her by the neck, the other by the tail and started pulling. Then the young female started disappearing at night. I think she may have made a nest and started sitting. She’s been out of her house EVERY night for nearly 2 weeks. The boys and the young goose are not stresses about her absence at all, but I worry for her about predators, sitting on a nest in the grass. But so far every morning she comes quacking for the boys and breakfast almost frantically! If she does have eggs, how long will she be disappearing, and when they hatch, do you think Honker will let Daisy hang out with the babies? And will the young drakes try to eat them like they did with Daisy? I’m trying to get Daisy comfortable with Mommy and Daddy as they have not shown aggression to her at all,and the coupe may be the best, as Daisy is better with the chickens than the ducks so far, but at 6 weeks is only half feathered and still follows me like a shadow… and is still in my house at night. She sleeps in the horse stalls alone all day, and shows no desire to interact with other birds except an occasional chicken… what have I done to this poor duck? Did I spoil her too much?
If she is sitting on a nest, it will take 28 days for her to hatch them, then they will stay in the nest for another day or so. So if she has been sitting it will be about a month before she might bring babies around. Unfortunately the boys are very likely to go after the babies. They might need to be penned up until they babies have gotten a bit bigger (I usually wait until around 8 weeks-ish to introduce babies to the big flock). As far as Daisy goes – most parents kick the new babies out of the nest in between 2-3 months so hopefully in a few weeks more she will be more independent and ready to leaver her momma (you)
Hi, I just picked up a 11 week old duck and my drake is being really aggressive with her. I can’t trust him, he runs right to her and starts biting her. I made a separate section right off there pen so she can be with them but every time I try to get them together he attacks her. I currently have 2 drakes and 4 female ducks including her. They are all about 4 months except the new comer. He is the only one being mean to her everyone else has excepted her right away. I keep her in The brooder still night to keep her safe but she seems very sad as she is alone. The lady I got her off of had only her with a chicken. She seems very tiny for her age too. Will he always be mean to her? Any suggestions on how to deal with this so she can be part of the flock?
Thank you!
He will accept her in time. Drakes can make introductions difficult. He is just going to need some time. Keep her in her separate section for a couple weeks before putting them together again. Do you have one female that is particularly nice to her, or is just calm in general? The last time I introduced a single duck (who was about 6 weeks old), I had her in separated pen and I put my nicest adult duck in with her. The two bonded so the little one wasn’t lonely and then by the time I was ready to let them into the main flock a couple weeks later she at least had one friend to hang out with. One of my drakes is usually a jerk for a few weeks when I add new ducks. He will run them off from the food & from hanging out with everyone. And sometimes he will even tackle the newcomer and pin them to the ground. It’s unfortunately normal, he is the flock leader and needs everyone to accept it. If you can wait until the new duck is closer to full grown (14-15 weeks or so) she is less likely to be seriously hurt. At some point you do have to allow them to work it out themselves though and as long as no one is bleeding I usually just let it go.
Hi Liz,
Ya that’s exactly what my drake is doing to her, I think he is the leader. All of the other ducks are nice to her daisy my pekin sits right up against the fence where I sectioned off to keep her safe. I have no problem keeping a section for her until she is bigger. I’m told she is 12 weeks but she still has a lot of baby fuzz and her wings are tiny little things, is this normal for 12 weeks? I have 4 months old and I remember them growing a lot faster!
At 12 weeks I would be surprised if she had a lot of baby fuzz and tiny duckling wings. I wonder if they were just wrong about her age?
I’m definitely hoping so! I asked the lady a few times and she keeps telling me she is 12 weeks and that she picked her up on April 30th. Could there be something wrong with her? Is there any health concerns that would cause her to be so tiny and have so much fluff? On her tiny little wings the rachis ( I think that’s what they are called?)are exposed and big feathers are growing out of them. She seems to be healthy in every other way, she eats, drinks and gets around really well. I do notice her feathers that she dies have the water does not bead off as well as the other ducks but again is it because she really is younger than what I’m being told. The only thing I do notice is that she does seem to pant a lot but it’s really hot out and I’m sure she is stressed with the new situation. Thanks for your help!
If she still has fluff mixed in her waterproofing isn’t going to be as good as the other ducks yet. Hopefully she is just a late bloomer! If she is eating, drinking, and moving around like normal I wouldn’t worry too much about her size. I think you are right, the panting is just from all the heat and stress
I have a 10 week old Kahki Campbell (female), Goldie, who just lost her best friend duck. We got two 2 day old Muskovees which we are brooding inside and have been doing short introductions outside with Goldie.
What I notice is that one of the muskovees looks like they are preening Goldie’s chest feathers. Goldie looks almost excited by it, and seems to be nuzzling them with her bill and chest.
Is this normal? Do they like each other? Or is it a form of aggression?
That doesn’t sound aggressive, it sounds friendly. She is likely very sad from losing her friend and sometimes that loss can make them bond quickly to a new friend. Just keep an eye on them because Goldie is so much bigger than the little guys
Hi I have three welsh harlequin two males one female. They are 4 months old and I got a few Muscovy females to add but they are only two months old. They been outside everyday together for a few weeks but in separate pens. They can see and talk to each other all the time they are next to each other. I’ve tried twice to let the litter in with them but I feel like they get to aggressive with them. They grab at them or push them. I’m not sure how to go about adding these girls so they don’t get hurt. Should I wait till they are a little older then two months?
At two months they should be able to handle a little bullying, but if the males are grabbing them and wrestling them to the ground you might want to give it a few more weeks. Unfortunately with the boys nearing maturity they are going to be wanting to show off and show everyone who is in charge. A little fighting and jostling around is normal, but I usually draw the line if they are drawing blood, pulling an excessive amount of feathers, or keeping the little ones from the eating & drinking
I have 2 hens (ducks) on large clutches right now, they are apart of my larger flock of 9 ducks. When the ducklings hatch will they just join the main flock with their ducklings? Should I worry about the drake hurting the ducklings (they are his).I normally take the ducklings and raise them in the house, but its so late in the year Im letting the ducks do the work! The hens do come off and eat and play with the main flock daily still.
There are two ways to handle it, either you keep the mom & babies separate from the flock for a few weeks until the babies are bigger or you just let them raise them in the flock. It really depends on the moms and on the other flock members. I usually let them raise their ducklings in with the flock and haven’t had a problem. Some moms are very attentive and defend their babies if anyone even looks at them sideways, and some moms mostly go about their business leaving the babies unattended often. The other factor is your drakes. Just because the babies are his doesn’t mean he will accept them. Some drakes are fine with having babies around, others want their hen’s attention back and will try to kill the babies. So if you have a drake that goes after the babies and a mom that is less than attentive it could be devastating. Unfortunately, the only way to know how your ducks will act is to let it happen. The moms will likely keep the babies in the nest for the first day or so and then she will lead them outside. You will want to check in on them as frequently as you possibly can during those first couple days to see how everyone interacts. It’s a good idea to have an area ready in case you end up needing to separate them for 3-4 weeks until the babies are bigger. If you can’t be around often during those first couple days, it’s probably best to keep the families separate for awhile
okay so i have a year old hen (river she’s the mama) and a 10 month old drake river hatched 6 ducklings they are all 10 weeks now and i have 5 females and 1 drake i let the ducklings out with the older drake and he tries to mount them i’ve heard that drakes can ruin the females if they are to young! so is it ok to just let him have the females or do i have to wait longer?!
If possible, you should not let him mate them until they are a little older. Ideally mating wouldn’t begin until after 18 weeks – laying eggs is a good sign they are ready for mating. But I know drakes don’t often care about those things. I would give them at least until 15 weeks though before you let him in with the younger ones.
okay tysm!!! i will keep him separated from the younger ones till they start laying.
Hey we got two crested ducks and we got (well we use to have three females but one has a really bad seizure from poisoning and we had to put it down) so we have two. We got one drake naned Donald. The babies are 7 weeks old almost 8. Everytime I let them out along with our ducklings, It looks like Donald doesn’t do that aggressive neck down thing chasing the babies. Because whenever he chases them he wants to mate them because both of our ducklings are females is this rare???
No it’s not rare, it’s just that he is more concerned with mating vs protecting. You should really try to discourage him from mating ducklings that young though, they could get hurt. I would wait until at least 16 weeks
Our duck Donald every time we let him out with the ducklings he give the ducklings the neck like he strech and he shakes violently with his head. Idk what that means and it looks like he getting use to the ducklings, he no longer wants to mate them because it looks like mating season is done.
It’s good he has stopped trying to mate them. He is giving them a warning that he is in charge. That is fine, it’s all part of establishing the pecking order. That is pretty much the best reaction you could hope for, the other option is that he attacks them or chases them off. So in his duck language is is just telling them he’s in charge around here and they better respect him. If the new ones are females, it’s unlikely any of them will challenge him anyways
Thank you for the response. Donald doesn’t look he hurting them at all whenever he does that pecking order it looks like he punishing them making them go into timeout it. Thank you extremely much.
We have 18 month old runners, a couple females and a drake. They get along fabulously although he can be aggressive toward anything else that makes him feel threatened. We rescued a sweet, if sad, 8week old runner that was being raised by a family trying to raise her like a chicken with chickens with no open water to wash her face and no food source other than scratch. We went through these steps and all seemed well. Although our original 3 didn’t love little Mabel she was thriving and they all hung around and spent the night locked up without incident. They have a large free ranging area daytime and a large cosy locked up house at night. Now, in just the past week, after she’s been with us a couple months, we found our drake attacking her viciously and plucking out neck feathers until she bled. we’ve been trying all sorts of ideas, lock him up, lock just those two up, separate her with one friend, etc etc. we are at our wits end. Any ideas how to get them to get along??? My daughter is in tears not wanting to give away our drake that she hand raised but also not wanting to give away our sweet rescue Mabel. But keeping them together seems cruel. Thank for any ideas everyone.
oh no that is terrible! Drakes can be so touchy sometimes. It definitely sounds like you are doing everything right, the rest of it just has to be accomplished by your drake. I suspect the change in his behavior has to do with Mabel reaching sexual maturity. She is now fair game for mating and missing neck feathers is a classic overmating injury. It’s hard to say why a drake focuses on one female sometimes, it could be because she is new and he is accepting her into his “harem”, he could just be trying to put her in her place. I wish I had a magic answer for you, but you guys are doing everything you can. Short of rehoming your drake, I would try separating out him and give the ladies time to bond – for at least a week, if not more. Then when he is reintroduced hopefully be better behaved. Good luck
I put my 5 week old ducklings, (actually the off spring of my male and female pekins) out for just an initial meet and greet. They see each other every day through the duckling coop. My Drake made a beeline for one of the ducklings and jumped on it and pulled out some fuzz. Not sure what step to take next. I have not let them back out together since
Drakes can often make introduction difficult. Even when it’s their own offspring. In the wild, drakes have even been known to kill their own ducklings, presumably so the mother can get back to the business of mating. So he is just defending his area, his ladies, his food. At 5 weeks, they should be pretty big, but if he being difficult you might want to let them continue living side by side they way they are until 8 weeks. When you release them next try to do it in a really large area so the babies can run away. If he is just chasing them off that is ok, but obviously you don’t want him to hurt the babies and you need to make sure he isn’t keeping them from eating & drinking. If he is still attacking them you might want to try separating him and introducing the ducklings to the ladies of the group and letting them live together for a week or two to bond. At some point you will have to let them work it out. It sounds like with your drake there will be a bit of fighting. It’s best if the ducklings are at least big enough to handle a bit of nipping and feather pulling. To show dominance, sometimes the boys will hold the new duck down by the neck, pull their neck feathers, climbing on their back (not mating, but looks like mating). Good luck!
Hello. We have a male pekin and we recently lost our female kakhi Cambell that was he companion. Do you know if we got another adult male duck would they stay together like the male and female did before? I just want to be sure to get him another companion soon. We were offered a male for free but unsure if they will be good together.
They should get along fine. Occasional fighting among males is normal as they establish and maintain the pecking order, but for the most part they should get along
Hi Liz, I have five 14 week old ducks three males and two females. We are about to get 7 more females that are about the same age. Should we follow the same introduction method or will the ducks go together easily since they are all still young and not mating yet?
You should still keep them separated at first, but because they are so young it might not have to be for too long. I would start with letting them live side by side but separate for 3 days and then see how they do together. Some birds are also just easier going than others, so if you have a bully you just want to be careful. But each “flock” will likely stick with their hatch mates for several weeks or even months, as long as they aren’t fighting each other that is fine.
I have two rescued ducks a big white one and a black and white one. I do not know how old they are. I think I’m there third home. I don’t they’ve ever been with females ducks after watching them chase my hens around and catching them at first now the chickens know how to escape them. I sent off for 4 females ducks (Rouens)and their growing like wild weeds when I introduce them will my Drakes overwhelm them ?
I would definitely wait to introduce the females until they are at least 16 weeks, because the drakes won’t care if they are too young for breeding. But once they all settle in together, they should be just fine!
I also need help. I have two adult drakes and recently incubated eggs and have five ducklings of unknown sex. At about 1 month old I let them out to free range. It went well for a while but now the two adults are chasing and attacking the ducklings. One is injured enough that it can’t walk, one is limping. They need a larger area to run around in but how do I keep those mean drakes away?
Drakes are generally not super friendly towards ducklings. You will probably have to keep the ducklings separated until they are nearly full grown around 10 weeks (at least). The easiest way to do this is to get some 4 foot tall chicken wire and use it to divide your area so they can see each other but not get to each other. It will let the drakes get used to the ducklings being around but keep the ducklings safe until they are big enough to hold their own. For the injured ones, hopefully it is just a sprain or hurt leg that will heal on it’s own. Make sure you have plenty of fresh water & feed for them and that you are adding extra niacin to promote strong legs. Good luck!
My situation is so different than anyone else. We currently reside in an RV park that has ducks everywhere. One duck lost his mate about a month ago. It is rumored that she was run over. All the other ducks around our park have bullied him and now he hangs close to our RV. We are full timers that have a permanent spot in the park so we have started to take care of him. He now has a kiddie pool that he LOVES. He comes when I call him and for feedings. And I have even ordered a sign warning people about him and to slow down around our site. I know NOTHING about ducks. Looking up different species, I have concluded that he is a male Cayuga, probably around a year old. What else do I need to do? I want to keep him safe, but I also don’t want him to be lonely. We give him Fresh water daily and I empty the kiddie pool out every 3 days or so. Should I provide a different shelter than him hiding under our RV? I still allow him his space as I don’t want him to be scared off. Should I even try to introduce a couple of ducklings? Thank you for any help!
That is wonderful that you have taken this guy in, I am sure he appreciates it! I would definitely NOT get him ducklings. Adult ducks (especially males) are more likely to kill random ducklings than to care for them. It is quite normal for the other ducks to be bullying him, especially as the mating season is still going on. The good news for him is that ducks are not monogamous and don’t mate for life like other wildfowl such as swans. While he might be sad that his favorite female was killed, he is certainly not doomed to be alone. Do these ducks live on the pond year round? Cayugas are a domesticated breed of duck, so either he is a different breed or someone purchased him and released him into the lake. Determining his breed might influence how you handle the situation going forward. Cayugas (and other domesticated ducks) are not capable of flight, they might be able to get 7-8 inches off the ground but that’s about it. Domesticated duck breeds have been bred for generations to be too large bodied to fly, making them easier for farmers to keep. This means that he will not be able to migrate in the winter when the other ducks leave. Not only will this leave him lonely, but he is also likely to need more help in the winter staying safe from predators and finding food. If he is a domesticated breed and you stay at the RV park all year you might want to try and find him an adult female duck to hang out with. If he is a wild duck that will be migrating eventually you wouldn’t want to get him a friend that won’t be able to fly off with him! If you would like to email me a picture maybe I can help you determine his breed – liz@thecapecoop.com in any event, thanks for caring for this little guy!
Hi! I have a week old female buff whose sister unfortunately died shortly after arriving with us. I have 2 more on the way. When they arrive, the 2 new will be a week younger than our current duckling. We have been trying to strike a good balance between comforting the lonely chick and not handling her too much lest she develop separation anxiety when we put them outside. We have put mirrors and stuffies in her brooder, play chick sounds, and visit with her frequently. I’ll tell you what – they definitely want and need company! the others can’t get here soon enough!!
My question is do you think when the new ducklings arrive the existing duckling will accept them okay? anything I should do to encourage their bonding?
Awww sounds like you are doing everything right! Poor little one, they really don’t like being alone. We actually had the same situation last year but with goslings. It took us 3 weeks to be able to get more goslings so she wouldn’t be alone. Geese & ducks both grow SUPER fast – so the size difference will be a little shocking when the little ones arrive, but most likely the older duckling will be so happy to have other ducklings to hang with the bonding should be pretty quick. And the little ones will catch up quickly in size. Our little gosling immediately took to her two new sisters, it was very sweet. Good luck!
What do you feed your ducks?
When I have ducklings I use Manna Pro Duckling starter. My full grown ducks eat Nature Wise Layer Crumbles
I have some little over 3 month old Pekins and some maybe month old Blue Swedish. I let them out together when I can supervise to free roam and one of the males will charge them (but not make contact) and the female will chase them away (mostly just approaching them quickly and scaring them off from the mud hole, etc (for a few seconds… the ducklings are persistent). She’s about as adamant as one of our drakes. She is the only female Pekin with 5 drakes, which is one reason we got more ducks, so she wasn’t the only female. She does kind of run the show with the boys though so I guess I’m not too surprised at her reaction to the new ducklings
I have 6 week old ducklings. I’ve been putting them out side but always in a pen, where the adult male and female can’t get them. Today they were out of the pen for the first time. One of the little hens looks like a mallard. My drake chased a wild pair of mallards away from our pond this spring. Today he tried to bite the little mallard hen. I pushed him away with my chicken oar. He wasn’t after any of the others. It’s really time for them to be out in the pen. They have feathers and seem big enough. I’m going to supervise very close for a few days.
Do you have any suggestions? I don’t know what to do. He’s always been a good duck and he and my female have been together for a couple years. They’re the only ducks, the rest are chickens. Haven’t had any problems with him.
Drakes can be strange and territorial when introducing ducklings weather they are from a hatchery or even his own. It’s not usual for drakes to chase all of them or even single one out like your guy is doing (although it could be possible that little one is a male, they don’t get their adult coloring until about 10-12 weeks). Unfortunately there isn’t much you can do to make him get used to it. If all he is doing is chasing them it’s ok, they need to work that out. But if he is biting them or trying to mount them that can be dangerous and might just need to keep them separated a little longer. You also want to be sure he isn’t blocking the duckling’s access to food & water. Good luck! Hopefully he will get used to it soon
My drake keeps attacking the 3 month old ducklings. I have them in separate pens from the adult hen and drake. The few times he’s gotten in with them, he starts going for their head. Looks like he’s biting, but no wounds. I break them up and chase him out. They’ve seen each other thru the pen arms when I put the babies in the run. Babies are afraid of him. The hen doesn’t seem to care, but she and the drake are a pair so I don’t want to break them up. She sat on eggs and had a couple hatch. One died and the other I saved and raised and got 3 more babies to be with her. I’d appreciate any suggestions.
I would first try letting just the hen in with the ducklings for a few days. If you can get the female to bond with the new ducks it will be easier for the drake to accept them. BUT separating the drake and hen could just cause the hen to be so upset about not being with her drake that she can’t concentrate on anything else. It’s worth trying anyway. If that won’t work then it might just be time to let them work it out. Most of the time when a drake is in the flock there is fighting when you introduce new ducks. Ducks need to work out their pecking order in their own way. At 3 months old, your ducklings are old enough for a little light “bullying”. It’s a good sign that all you have seen is nipping with no wounds. It’s the drakes way of establishing that he is in charge. Nipping and chasing is normal, as is a little neck wrestling. If there are wounds or some birds are not allowed to access the food and water then you should step in (but it helps if you have multiple feed & water containers). It can be really hard to watch but hopefully it shouldn’t last more than a few days. Good luck!
Our Cayuga drake immediately had amorous designs on the first introduction. The young ones are 6 weeks old. Much too young for such a persistent boy. They have been in adjoining runs for a couple of weeks, so there’s already a positive comfort level between the ducklings and the older girls. How long do I have to keep the drake separate for? I’ve read that the ducklings mature between 4 – 6 months.
Drakes can be really hard to dissuade from mating so you will want to keep the ducklings separated from him until they are at least 4 months old. But they can likely be mixed in with the older females now that they have been in adjoining runs for a couple weeks