New ducks

New ducks, March 2026

After several years of trying for some more ducks, we have finally adopted another three females.  We like having ducks, which are excellent at slug hunting, and also lay very nice eggs.  The eggs are just a nice bonus in my view;  pest control is the main draw for me.  We haven't quite settled on a cohort name (we no longer name individually, but as a group) though the daughter has suggested the White Ducks.  Not a bad name!  But we have had a group of White Ducks in the past, so we might think about it a little longer.

The son and I fenced off the small section of garden next to the chicken yard, also enclosing our old chicken tractor in with them;  our two old ducks shun any sort of shelter--they were even sleeping out in the snow this winter--but the new ones have been raised in a barn and aren't used to the open.  We'll keep them enclosed for a week or two while the other ducks free range, to let them get used to each other.  Last time we introduced new ducks, Boy Duck took all summer to finally accept them.  I hope they can get along sooner this time, not least because there are more new ducks than old.  I won't lock them in a yard together until I'm sure everyone is friends.

Boy Duck and Girl Duck are around 8 years old now;  while I don't know how long ducks normally live, I feel like 8 is pretty old.  None of our other ducks lived that long.  These three new ducks are around 12 weeks old, so I hope we get at least 8 years with them too.  Or at least I hope they outlive Boy Duck, as the last duck standing needs to be a girl:  the only reason the ducks live separately to the chickens is because Boy Duck is such a jerk to them--otherwise all our birds could live in one mixed flock.  And of course one duck can't live on its own;  they need a flock or they get too stressed.