Fearful runner ducks don't go outside

[darla.m]

Hello runner duck owners,

We recently adopted three runner ducks who were aged between 1.5 and 2 months when we got them. They've been with us for three weeks.

They were and still are very frightened of people and try to run and hide at the slightest advance. Maybe after three weeks it's a tiny bit better, but not by much.

They seem to have adjusted to their routine rather nicely in the beginning (going up into the duck house at night, on time, eating some pellets and water, then coming back out again at 9 in the morning when we open the door). We have a large grassy, mossy, shady, sunny, space for them full of greens and bugs. I noticed them going to forage right away when we got them, and even though they didn't find the kiddie pools right off, they figured it out once we placed them in a few times. (But only one that's sort of "hidden" behind their house. The other one that's more exposed in the middle of the yard they will not go to)

And then all of a sudden, I don't know why, they now seem to prefer spending all day inside the house, rather than going outside. The other day i had to manually clean each of their bills off with warm water and a soft toothbrush because they were all completely caked in mud and crud as I'm assuming they no longer go to their pool. One of them also has what seems to be eye infections in both eyes. I've been rinsing them every day with warm saline solution.

I used to see them camped out by their kiddie pool all day, and foraging, now I'm pretty sure that if we don't "scare" them out of the house in the morning, they stay in there all day (we only give a small amount of mixed wheat berries+ grower pellets and a waterer at night. they do not have free access to infinite food. They get approx 150g total for the three birds inside the house before bed). When they do go outside, I see them mostly huddled at the back of their park against a rock wall and hidden by some bushes. It's a spot with not much vegetation, so I can't imagine them foraging there, given the fact that they're constantly hiding there.

I'm worried that something is stressing them out so much that they won't even venture out to bathe and forage any more. What should I do? Am I feeding too much? but then why were they foraging more in the beginning? I feel like the more I need to clean their eyes and such, the more I scare them into hiding...

Would really, really appreciate some advice as unfortunately ducks can't talk to tell me what's wrong... Thank you!

 

[BlakeDucks1515]

More than likely they got traumatized. Runner ducks tend to be very shy and skittish. Maybe a hawk swooped down? Something of the sort. Do they have a secure, covered pen? I have found that ducks feel much more secure when they are in a covered run. They really can recognize and understand their surroundings.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Why are you feeding them such a small amount of feed? at their ages they need feed all day long Runners have a high metabolism to so they seem to need more than other ducks. I have Runners Buffs and Muscovy my Runners weigh much less than the other 2 breeds but eat more.

I agree something has scared them most ducks don't like to be out in the open they have the instinct to know about flying and 4 legged predators.

They also need to have water in containers deep enough they can dunk their heads into it and keep their bills and eyes cleaned themselves. Give them buckets of water and the ones eyes will most likely clear up.


If you have any pics of them I'd love to see them. Especially the one with the eye problems

 

[CrystaBub]

I agree something has scared them most ducks don't like to be out in the open they have the instinct to know about flying and 4 legged predators.

Agree with Miss Lydia. My runner won't even go into the open (no trees) part of our yard until she has looked at every inch of the yard and sky to make sure no predators are there. If she sees anything flying above her, even a small bird, she runs/flies back to her pen - like lightning! They are smart and very much aware of the possibility of predators.

 

[darla.m]

Thank you all for your anwers, I can at least better understand their behavior. It's possible they did see a predator as we live at the edge of the woods and in the country so I'm sure there's plenty of animal action about.

Miss Lydia I was only feeding them that because when I was giving more they seemed to be a good amount of it left over in the morning, so I figured it was too much and I was also hoping to encourage them to forage. If you say it's too little I will try giving more to see how it goes...

Also, they have two kiddie pools available full of clean water in their pen that they have free access to all day long. They are deep enough for them to dunk their whole bodies in. That was part of my biggest concern, is that they used to spend the whole day in or by the pool, and now they don't even go in anymore. I can tell because the water stays clean. Hence the cruddy bills and eye problems... I've been trying to pick them up and hold them until the calm down and very gently place them in the water to encourage them to bathe (which worked about two weeks ago where they played and splashed in the water right next to me, as long as I didn't move) but now unfortunately are big enough that they jump right out and run away back to their spot whenever I try.

Unfortunately it would be pretty difficult for us to make a covered run because the terrain in their pen is really irregular, sloping, and full of boulders in spots (not so much that they have any difficulty getting around, but would make it really difficult to make a good "seal" from predators). So we were really hoping to not have to go that route as it would require a lot of work.

That being said, do I need to worry about them hiding out all day? I could leave more food out for them, but will that teach them to get lazy with foraging? how to judge if they have enough for their growth but not too much so they don't forage anymore?

I will go and get photos of them tomorrow, and the infected eyes...

 

[Lil Drake40]

My Runners and all my birds have feed out during daylight hrs and my Runners are very busy bees.

 

[Lil Drake40]

They are just over 2 yrs old.

 

[CrystaBub]

Sounds like your terrain is similar to mine. I hate to be negative, but you're probably going to lose every one of your ducks in 6 months if you don't cover their run. Too many predators to count that can get inside. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-ducklings-just-lost-their-mum.1255404/ Check out this post from today - that fox had probably been stalking their run for a while just waiting for the right moment. So sad. Wouldn't want you to be heart-broken. Could you at a minimum cover it with avian netting? It won't keep out everything but it's better than nothing.... It's not terribly expensive and comes in some pretty large sheets.....

 

[darla.m]

We had been planning to build a covered run for them this autumn because neighbors where we lived said that weasels would come and kill their chickens in the daylight starting in the fall because that's when they have babies to feed.

I'm just a little disappointed because we had heard so many great things about their foraging abilites for slugs (our garden could have been named slug capital of the world this spring...) but if they won't even venture out from their rocky corner or their house, not even to go to their swimming pool (which is still quite "protected" and only a few meters from where they spend their whole day!), I have a hard time seeing how they are going to comb the garden of slugs this year...

Should I try placing one of the pools directly next to their "spot"? I'm really worried about them not bathing. They have drinking water at night for eating but it's not deep enough for their heads. Soon though, I am building a water dispenser for inside their hosue out of a large pvc pipe that I will install horizontally so they should have at least 10 or 15 centimeters deep of water.

I put more feed out for them today, I set it by their spot so they find it at least because I'm sure if it's anywhere else they won't go to it.

They first image is their yard, the pool that you see is the one they won't go in, the second one is behind to coop. You can see in the second photo how they stay constantly in this corner where there isn't much of anything to eat. The third one is poor Bees' eyes, they are actually doing much better today than two days ago where it seemed like he could barely see...

If I could just be sure that they are washing their heads and eating/foraging properly, I would be less worried about them not moving all day...

 

[darla.m]

I also have another question: We're planning to adopt a couple more from a friend of a friend in August or September. According to her, they are quite calm compared to ours. Is it wishful thinking to hope that adding some calmer adults to the group will reassure everyone else, or will the flight response just take over the flock and I'll end up with six ducks crammed in a tiny corner of the garden all year?