The Duck Thread

[patolocoeggs]

Hi, is your new female Peking an older duck? Sometimes males sense an older duck in which they don't want to mate with and act badly toward them.

 

[Tapioca]

I don't know the age, but that could definitely be the issue. Thanks! Do you think he'll ever leave her alone in the long run?

 

[patolocoeggs]

If he is just pecking at her but not physically hurting her, I'd give it more time. Chances are he will eventually just ignore her. If he is hurting her now though, I'd remove him before it gets worse. Each duck has their own personality, so you will need to keep an eye on them. If all your other females are getting along with her, the male might just leave her alone soon. I have an older Peking girl that stopped laying eggs but we keep her because she is a cherished pet. All my males just ignore her knowing she isn't able to mate and lay eggs. It's the same situation as you with all my females liking her.

 

[Wynette]

Hello, we keep a low wattage 3w LED light bulb on inside our night time coop. This simulates enough extra daylight light for our ducks to lay eggs year round.

WELCOME, @patolocoeggs ! So great to see another duck lover coming to the thread!

 

[Tapioca]

Thank you. I fenced off part of their yard and have the male on one side and the females on the other. Think I might do the same for the duck house.

When the male is out the females follow him around and act scared of the pekin when he chases her. When he's separated from them, they have no issues with the pekin and aren't afraid of her. Maybe if I attached a bag of green peas to the pekin he'd like her lol

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'm having an issue integrating a female pekin into my flock of runners and khaki campbells. I only have one drake, a khaki, and I've had to keep him separated from the rest. The females have all accepted the new duck, but the drake has it out for her. Every time I put them together he chases her and nips her. It doesn't seem like he wants to mate, just keep her away from the other ducks. It's been well over a week now that he's been separated in a pen attached onto their duck yard, but he still acts like a dick when I put them all together. The pekin acts super stressed whenever the drake is put in the yard with her and I'm getting tired of having to separate them (lugging 2 buckets of water out when it's below freezing lol) I also bring the drake in at night to sleep in the bathtub because he harasses the pekin if they're all in the duck house together at night. I'm seriously considering finding a new home for him if this is how he's going to act every time I get a new bird. Any advice?

Either give them a few more weeks separated or find him a new home, not much else you can do especially if your ducks have accepted her, hard to understand why he won't.

 

[backyardflock1]

Hi guys! I will be receiving 2 pekin ducks by Wednesday. These will be my first ducks, but I have chickens. Any tips from experienced duck owners how to raise them to be friendly, basically any advice on raising ducks will be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hi guys! I will be receiving 2 pekin ducks by Wednesday. These will be my first ducks, but I have chickens. Any tips from experienced duck owners how to raise them to be friendly, basically any advice on raising ducks will be appreciated. Thanks!

How old are they? have they been raised by a family or on a farm? had much interaction with people? I'd first get them settled into their new home keeping an eye on the chickens because your ducks will be new comers and may get injured by a chicken who doesn't want them in their territory. Then begin by giving them good quality feed and fresh bucket of water a place to have a nice bath, ducks love water , this will be a good start because I found ducks like to eat too. lol good treats also come into play when making friends and helping them feel at home, we have a good list of treats that are safe too, Mine love Dreid meal worms, little thawed english peas, chopped romaine lettuce just to give you a few. If the weather is good take time to just sit outside with them once they know your care they will become more interested in getting to know you. Pekins have such sweet personalities any way and to me always look like they are smiling. Please let us know how it goes and of course pics when you can, and welcome into the wonderful worlds of keeping ducks.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/242460/the-ultimate-list-of-duck-treats-and-supplements

 

[backyardflock1]

How old are they? have they been raised by a family or on a farm? had much interaction with people? I'd first get them settled into their new home keeping an eye on the chickens because your ducks will be new comers and may get injured by a chicken who doesn't want them in their territory. Then begin by giving them good quality feed and fresh bucket of water  a place to have a nice bath, ducks love water , this will be a good start because I found ducks like to eat too. lol good treats also come into play when making friends and helping them feel at home, we have a good list of treats that are safe too, Mine love Dreid meal worms, little thawed english peas, chopped romaine lettuce just to give you a few. If the weather is good take time to just sit outside with them once they know your care they will become more interested in getting to know you. Pekins have such sweet personalities any way and to me always look like they are smiling. Please let us know how it goes and of course pics when you can, and welcome into the wonderful worlds of keeping ducks.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/242460/the-ultimate-list-of-duck-treats-and-supplements

They are ducklings and will be drakes, so they won't go in with the chickens quite yet or potentially never because I've heard drakes might try to mate with hens and kill them. Thanks for the treat info

 

[hennible]

Hi guys! I will be receiving 2 pekin ducks by Wednesday. These will be my first ducks, but I have chickens. Any tips from experienced duck owners how to raise them to be friendly, basically any advice on raising ducks will be appreciated. Thanks!

Good luck ducks are a lot of fun ( and a bit more work than chickens ) you got some great advise from miss Lydia. One thing I'll tell you is they hate change, much more cautious than chickens.