My ducklings are 4 weeks old....ish...as much as I want to put them on my pond - I know I'm supposed to wait another 3 weeks.....I do wonder, though, about when they finally do go on the pond....how will I get them back?!?!? (to their duck house)
The "kids" are still scared of me......but they do come "in the vicinity of me" when I feed. Keeping in mind that they're in the duck house - and not on the open pond......will they be comfortable and come near me when they're "free-range"??? I spend quite a bit of time with them.....I'm in the duck house at least 5 times a day......holding some and petting others (when they let me)....
Anyways, this is just one of the burning questions...........I've already forgotten the others! lol
Thanks!!
Heather
What to do with ducklings......
I don't have ducks but what I would do is, show them the food and lead them to the duck house. And time by time they'll get use to the duck house and where it is. I suppose you'd do the same with the chicken if their free ranging. Did I answer your question?
Eric
My ducks come when they see me but only because they expect food. They don't want to cuddle...lol. They will take food from my hand but don't want to be touched....
Chances are your ducks will return to the duck house because they are already use to it being home. But I know my runners (who don't need as much water as some breeds of ducks ) sometimes will spend after dark hours floating in their tub. Mine were raised as ducklings in the house then moved to the pen and seem to have a stubborn streak about where they should be after dark. But so does the rest of the flock.
They do not like to be confined and won't go into their house other than to retrieve food. They sleep outside on the ground in the pen or floating in their tub whichever is their preference of the evening it seems. I know I will have to force the issue come fall/winter....
When they are loose in the yard and get spooked they run for the chicken coop/pen because it is the safety zone.
~Julie
Ducks are several steps more wary and cautious toward humans than other poultry types .... even less than guineas. Expecting them to want to be friendly toward you really is expecting more from them than nature has created. Food is what motivates them to move toward humans. I have a Cochin hen who walks right up to me and I can pick her up. I've had another (a Cubalaya) fly up to my shoulder wanting a food treat.
My turkeys will fly and try to perch on me....lol. If they weren't suppose to go to freezer camp I might appreciate it more, but I'm trying not to get "pet" friendly.
~Julie =0)
That helps to know that they should follow me for food.....I guess my whole concern is just centered around the fact that the pond is in the front of my house....and the duck house is in the back. Just seems like a long distance to expect them to follow me! lol
My ducks have a favorite spot at the side of the yard to forage and when I call them for their treat (usually in the evening ) they come running to me along with anybody else who thinks "FOOOOOOOD"....lol.
They just have to be able to hear my voice and they come running. I'm sure once your ducks get into a routine they will do fine.
~Julie
Julie -
Thanks for the information! Now, how did you get them into a "routine"?? I can't hardly
even get my KIDS into a routine! hahahaha!
I guess I mean.....if they don't follow me the first day.....do I just LEAVE them outside?!? lol
Sorry about all the questions.....I just don't want to mess this up on my first try!! :)
Heather
you could leave a trail of food....like Hanzel and Gretel
thats how I got mine to go inside the fenced area to eat
heck,now the wild mallards walk right in there too
crestedchik -
what a great idea! duh!!! lol I'm too used to my dog & cat! lol I kept thinking "what if they don't come to: Here Ducky Ducky!" lol
I'll definitely try that out if they don't come to me calling for them!
THANKS!
When you go to the pen don't they come running to the door when they see you because they associate you with food ??? Mine do, they always have....lol, they like to eat.
Once out in the yard they don't follow me like the turkeys do. The ducks get their treat then do their own thing til I get home from work / evening then they know I am going to be filling feeders, changing water and doling out scraps and scratch. If I'm working in the pen during the day (after morning treat/food has been passed out) they don't come near me they have better things to do. They don't want to cuddle or use me for anything more than a hand out...lol
Julie
Julie -
That's the funny thing - they don't come running to me when I go out in the morning or evening to feed. As soon as they just "hear" me - they start what I call "Yelling at me" to feed them! lol They stay at the back of the duck house and quack......once I start putting food down, sometimes a couple will come around my feet to eat (I have two dishes with feed so all 13 can eat at the same time and not have to fight for a "space") - but as soon as I start to move - they scatter! lol It's quite funny, actually!
I am a little bummed - because I can't get them to eat out of my hand or come near my kids. My kids don't even go in there simply because I haven't wanted them to scare the ducks to where they won't come near them.....I try to spend as much time out there as I can so that they're used to me....but I don't think it's working! lol They just yell at me for food! haha!
I think if you had one you would have been able to tame it more to a pet which is what you sound like you want rather than a domesticated farm animal.
My personal opinion is ducks, like most other birds, are flock creatures. If they have other feathered friends they don't need you as part of the flock. If you don't provide them with other feathered friends they start to see you as part of the flock and are closer to you.......
Julie
from what I've been told,if you hatch just one
and it see's you as mom
and has no idea its a duck
then you can tame them easy
they bond to the first thing they see as their mom
you'd have to raise it alone in the house so its with you all the time
I had a duck egg the neighbors found
threw it in the incubator
it hatched out and was raised with the chickens
the thing had no idea it was a duck
(it was a wood duck)
it hung out with the Sumatras
It could even roost with them
Wanted nothing to do with the other ducks or swimming
didn't even really fly ....which is too bad cause the coon eventually got him
I read on another forum about some folks that hatched out a duck (can't remember what kind, sorry) and decided it was too late in the fall to put it outside with the other ducks. Kept it in the house, using the extra bathroom as it's main area ALL winter long.
They said it didn't know it was a duck and they couldn't separate it from their young son to put with the flock the following year.
My ducks will take bread bits or fruit from my fingertips but it's only because they see the chickens do it first and the chickens are so frenzied they get caught up in the "moment". It's like a snatch and run type thing...lol.
Maybe next year when your ducks lay you could snatch a new duckling to raise in the house as a pet ..........
Julie