HELP! Duck introduction

[joesandy1822]

I searched the archives and only one thread was even remotely similar to my situation. Most people are introducing one duck to a flock, or babies to a flock, or at least more than one duck to one duck.

Back story: I had a pekin and a Muscovy, both hens. They were almost 3 years old and pretty bonded. We had to have the pekin pts last week. I did not want to leave my Muscovy alone, even though she is VERY tame and bonded to me also. But I’m not a duck. Everything I read, btw, basically said muscovies are unique in that they are usually very accepting of new ducks.

So today I drove almost 2 hours one way to get a companion for Weezie. This is a young hen born this spring. I had the new duck in a pet carrier, so when I returned home, I just put it on the ground for about 15 minutes. Weezie explored the carrier and new duck. I then removed the new duck from the carrier and clipped her wings. Then I let her out. They were fine for a little bit, but then Weezie commenced chasing the new duck. I’m not sure what “normal” looks like, but it did not look very friendly. I let this go for awhile and it didn’t stop. I put them in a smaller penned area together and Weezie kept aggressively pushing the new duck to the ground and aggressively preening, or more likely pulling the new duck’s feathers. I tried putting them in the coop together with food and water, and that yielded nothing better.

Right now I have the new duck locked in the coop alone with food and water (ick), and Weezie is roaming the yard.

Nightfall will be soon. What do I do? I only have one coop to protect them at night. During the day, they would normally be free ranging my small, fenced suburban yard or in my small pond, which I closed yesterday for the winter.

I guess I was not as prepared as I should’ve been, but I did try to be. Just couldn’t find much info.

I did notice Weezie is acting like she’s trying to go broody the past couple days if that matters. She’s practically always “going broody”.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[KathiQuacks]

Is this new duck a Muscovy or a mallard-derived breed?

I’d expect a one-on-one to go smoother than this, but it’s okay that it’s not. Do you have any kind of fencing or crate you can put in the coop for your new duck to sleep in overnight? That way, they can see each other without getting to each other.

Ideally, you’d want another separation pen during the day, too, at least for a little while. When you put them together out in the yard, watch them close. Any chasing or shoving is fine. Separate again if you see any more biting or feather pulling. Continue to introduce and monitor their time together until they seem to be getting along better.

 

[joesandy1822]

Is this new duck a Muscovy or a mallard-derived breed?

I’d expect a one-on-one to go smoother than this, but it’s okay that it’s not. Do you have any kind of fencing or crate you can put in the coop for your new duck to sleep in overnight? That way, they can see each other without getting to each other.

Ideally, you’d want another separation pen during the day, too, at least for a little while. When you put them together out in the yard, watch them close. Any chasing or shoving is fine. Separate again if you see any more biting or feather pulling. Continue to introduce and monitor their time together until they seem to be getting along better.

Thanks so much!

Yes, the new duck is also a Muscovy.

I figured out how to divide my small coop in half, using bottom grates of small animal cages. It is working well. I did leave food and water for the new duck only. I typically don’t, but she had an almost 2 hour ride home and didn’t eat or drink during or afterwards because of all the commotion. I have a cheap camera in the coop too, so I can see what’s going on. It was there already…nothing I added special for today.

I’m thinking hormones might be coming into play here, since Weezie is trying to go broody again. She is a gentle, sweet duck, even when I have to lift her off her fresh feather nest and destroy it, and lock her out of the coop for the day. She squeaks, that’s all. She's never tried to bite me. But once or twice in the past couple years, I saw her chasing after the pekin she was otherwise bonded to, and trying to grab her feathers. She was grouchy because I think she was broody at the time.

 

[ruthhope]

My son has done intros putting a new duck in with the flock and he has got away with it. It's a bad idea whether its a flock or one on one.

My own flock are mainly muscovy and I always go see no touch for 2 weeks. Sometimes its been as long as 4 weeks before its been calm enough to let them out together in my back yard during the day. sometimes, I have to have the new muscovy in a dog crate in the coop at night for further weeks. [I have pekins introduced that always sleep in dog crates at night as they are so much smaller than the muscovy. The pekins like it!!!]

Your new set up with the coop partitioned is good. Give the two girls two weeks before letting them together during the day and probably more weeks separate at night.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Just as an aside, the new duck looks male to me (although a bit difficult to tell).

 

[Quatie]

I put them in a smaller penned area together and Weezie kept aggressively pushing the new duck to the ground and aggressively preening, or more likely pulling the new duck’s feathers.

This behavior is pretty normal for muscovy ducks. I would expect to see it no matter how long you take to integrate them. This is the way the establish their dominance over one another. While it can look really aggressive, I have never seen any of my ducks actually harmed from this behavior. The drakes are usually the ones that really fight and it is far more aggressive with their claws, beaks, and wings really trying to take down the other drake. The key thing to look for is if there is actually any damage being done. If not, I personally would not be concerned about the behavior. I see this behavior commonly with my integrated muscovy ducks.

Lone ducks can be challenging to integrate. I would certainly keep them separated at night in the coop for at least until they can get along ok in the shared run. As for during the day, this is a bit more tricky and you will have to see how they do. If the new duck seems ok in a separated run you can do that for a while. But you may find the duck prefers to be with other duck despite the challenges. One lone duck I integrated this summer nearly hurt himself to be with the flock. I have a large flock, which has been through several integrations, so I had ducks I knew I could put him with on day one. Obviously you don't have this option, but gives you an example of when it might be better to avoid slow integrations. I believe there is a good chance you will still see behavior for them establishing dominance. I would have multiple water and food areas. It makes it harder for them to completely control it. The bigger area they have the better as it will give them more space to get away.

 

[joesandy1822]

Just as an aside, the new duck looks male to me (although a bit difficult to tell).

Oh my gosh. That was one of my fears. What makes you think so? The farm I got her from seemed to be fairly certain, based on comparisons within the same clutch, that it is a hen. I’m praying you’re wrong (no offense). I don’t want or need a drake.

 

[joesandy1822]

This behavior is pretty normal for muscovy ducks. I would expect to see it no matter how long you take to integrate them. This is the way the establish their dominance over one another. While it can look really aggressive, I have never seen any of my ducks actually harmed from this behavior. The drakes are usually the ones that really fight and it is far more aggressive with their claws, beaks, and wings really trying to take down the other drake. The key thing to look for is if there is actually any damage being done. If not, I personally would not be concerned about the behavior. I see this behavior commonly with my integrated muscovy ducks.

Lone ducks can be challenging to integrate. I would certainly keep them separated at night in the coop for at least until they can get along ok in the shared run. As for during the day, this is a bit more tricky and you will have to see how they do. If the new duck seems ok in a separated run you can do that for a while. But you may find the duck prefers to be with other duck despite the challenges. One lone duck I integrated this summer nearly hurt himself to be with the flock. I have a large flock, which has been through several integrations, so I had ducks I knew I could put him with on day one. Obviously you don't have this option, but gives you an example of when it might be better to avoid slow integrations. I believe there is a good chance you will still see behavior for them establishing dominance. I would have multiple water and food areas. It makes it harder for them to completely control it. The bigger area they have the better as it will give them more space to get away.

Thank you! So nice to hear from you! As you probably read, sadly we had to put Georgie down last week.

I will give your suggestions a shot. I’d rather not drag this out any longer than necessary. The post above yours just mentioned the duck looks male. Oh my gosh. I’m hoping NOT!

 

[Quatie]

Thank you! So nice to hear from you! As you probably read, sadly we had to put Georgie down last week.

I will give your suggestions a shot. I’d rather not drag this out any longer than necessary. The post above yours just mentioned the duck looks male. Oh my gosh. I’m hoping NOT!

I am sorry you had to put her down. That is never an easy decision to make. I remember she was having egg laying issues a couple years ago. Was it related to that?

A lot of the integration really depends on the different ducks' temperament. Hopefully it is not a drake. I can see why it could look like one, but it looks a bit hard to tell. The sound will tell you though. I can't remember when their voices change.