lonely duckling & broody duck...

[Alpops]

Hi everyone - please can anyone offer some advice! We have a week old duckling who has been raised by us with a little chick to keep him company. Everything was going great until the chick died....now we have a very lonely duckling. We also have a broody duck who has been sitting on nothing for 2 months.....do you think the broody duck will accept the duckling or is he/she too big now? The last thing we would want is for her to attack it and kill it :-(

 

[nchls school]

I would not risk putting a week old duckling with a broody hen. Most likely neither will accept the other. Give the duckling more attention or find another chick/duckling for a companion. Quite likely the broody hen would kill the duckling.

 

[Alpops]

Thank you! I went with my gut feeling this evening and didn't put our duckling in with the broody duck....just incase....I managed to find a little chick locally who is a few weeks older, but they are getting on fine and have been 'chatting' to each other constantly for hours and following each other round their pen Thank you for your post - it has helped confirm we did the right thing - it's our first duckling and we only had the one because the mother kicked out her one and only egg after a couple of weeks and never came back, so I scooped it up and put it in the incubator with our chicken eggs...we really didn't want him to die!

 

[nchls school]

Thank you! I went with my gut feeling this evening and didn't put our duckling in with the broody duck....just incase....I managed to find a little chick locally who is a few weeks older, but they are getting on fine and have been 'chatting' to each other constantly for hours and following each other round their pen Thank you for your post - it has helped confirm we did the right thing - it's our first duckling and we only had the one because the mother kicked out her one and only egg after a couple of weeks and never came back, so I scooped it up and put it in the incubator with our chicken eggs...we really didn't want him to die! 

You're welcome and best luck for the future.

 

[Carcajou]

Thank you! I went with my gut feeling this evening and didn't put our duckling in with the broody duck....just incase....I managed to find a little chick locally who is a few weeks older, but they are getting on fine and have been 'chatting' to each other constantly for hours and following each other round their pen Thank you for your post - it has helped confirm we did the right thing - it's our first duckling and we only had the one because the mother kicked out her one and only egg after a couple of weeks and never came back, so I scooped it up and put it in the incubator with our chicken eggs...we really didn't want him to die!

Sounds like you are also giving the little duckling lots of TLC which helps. They will always need a companion, probably another duck as it gets older as ducks are not solitary birds though I am not sure how the duck and chick will bond and interact when they are older.

Best of luck!

 

[Alpops]

Thanks The duckling certainly gets loads of cuddles - from my daughters and from me we passed the night without a peep and sneeked in this morning to see the chick and duckling snuggled up together under the hot plate When they are both fully feathered and much bigger they will go in with the other chickens and the duck couple, who all live together anyway....do you think that will be enough for the duckling or will he/she want their own partner...? I have been told that each male wants 2 females, even though I thought they paired up as couples!

 

[Carcajou]

Thanks The duckling certainly gets loads of cuddles - from my daughters and from me we passed the night without a peep and sneeked in this morning to see the chick and duckling snuggled up together under the hot plate When they are both fully feathered and much bigger they will go in with the other chickens and the duck couple, who all live together anyway....do you think that will be enough for the duckling or will he/she want their own partner...? I have been told that each male wants 2 females, even though I thought they paired up as couples!

As a general rule each male should have 3-4 females. Males can overbreed females and sometimes they die from overbreeding. When your duckling nears adulthood it can be introduced to the duck couple. They should be separated by a fence until they get used to each other. If the duckling is in sight from now until then that will help.

 

[needlessjunk]

Thanks The duckling certainly gets loads of cuddles - from my daughters and from me we passed the night without a peep and sneeked in this morning to see the chick and duckling snuggled up together under the hot plate When they are both fully feathered and much bigger they will go in with the other chickens and the duck couple, who all live together anyway....do you think that will be enough for the duckling or will he/she want their own partner...? I have been told that each male wants 2 females, even though I thought they paired up as couples!

Duck pairs are not at all common. I personally believe each Drake should have at least 3 females. I had 1 drake to 5 females and he was over breeding 3 and tore up their backs. I ended up finding him a new home and my flock became much more peaceful. Also drakes and chickens don't generally mix well unless you have many female ducks. If a drake mates a chickens it's very bad news for the chicken and could result in serious injuries. Let's just hope your little duckling is a female and that will save you lots of trouble.

 

[Alpops]

Our duckling and chick are living in our bathroom at the moment in a huge rabbit pen I made.....easy reach for snuggles ;-) It's cold in the chicken coop, so I thought we'd put them out in our 'chick' area later, next to the main chicken/duck field so they can all get used to each other. Oh dear, I had no idea the drakes liked so many females!! Our poor lady duck...I was thinking he was hassling her a lot even when she was broody :-/ So it's probably the cause of the problem with her giving up on her egg, and previously in the summer giving up on her whole nest of eggs :-( :-( Thank you both - we'll know for next year anyway....and yes, hopefully our little Lucky is a girl!!

 

[Carcajou]

Our duckling and chick are living in our bathroom at the moment in a huge rabbit pen I made.....easy reach for snuggles ;-) It's cold in the chicken coop, so I thought we'd put them out in our 'chick' area later, next to the main chicken/duck field so they can all get used to each other. Oh dear, I had no idea the drakes liked so many females!! Our poor lady duck...I was thinking he was hassling her a lot even when she was broody :-/ So it's probably the cause of the problem with her giving up on her egg, and previously in the summer giving up on her whole nest of eggs :-( :-( Thank you both - we'll know for next year anyway....and yes, hopefully our little Lucky is a girl!!