Duckie Dynasty: The Unwanted

For the past three weeks, I've noticed one of our hens standing away from the group, but watching them intently. Initially, I didn't think much of her isolation until I caught Fabio lower his head, charge at her and push her away from the group.

At first, I assumed he was being a jerk about food since I noticed his behavior while they were eating, but I made a mental note to pay closer attention. Over the next few days, I observed him push her out while she tried to swim with them, when they nested down and engaged in general duck behavior. She's grown smaller in size and appears haggard and depressed. She's even grown skittish of us and will no longer feed from our hand.

I did some research online and the general consensus was drakes acting like punks wasn't unusual, but such behavior was short term and things should eventually settle down.

I've held out hope this would be the same in our case. I don't want to move her to our other pond with the new ducks because of the imprint issue and it's obvious she longs to be with them. But today I found her sitting on a pile of rocks while Fabio watched every move she made waiting for her to enter the water. She looked so pitiful.

She didn't press her luck with him and stood on the rocks until a while later, she moved to another area of the bank and continued to watch.

After a short time, she walked farther down the creek approximately 20 yards and quietly slipped into the water alone.

Her swim was peaceful, but brief. The moment Fabio noticed her, he lowered his head and paddled as fast as he could to reach her. She scooted out of the water and the drake abandoned his attack. She made her way to a patch of grass far enough away from the group to not cause them offense, but close enough she could still watch.

This is how she spends most of her days now: longing to be apart of the group but seemingly resigned that she'll only be an observer.

This evening, Perry and I will attempt to move her to our other pond and integrate her with the young ducks we hatched from an incubator.

Wish us luck. Our little girl needs it.