How do I go about NOT having 1 lone call duckling imprint on me? I have a call sitting on 4 more egg

[donziclassic22]

HI Have gotten into a bit of a predicament ( I blame it on my Brinsea which operates flawlessly, allowing us to hatch poultry with little or no work LOL ) This is our 1st hatching duck, we have lots of ducks just never hatched one out ourselves ( chicken is another story we do that in our sleep ) I have a lone call duck egg in the incubator it pipped last night . I also have a call duck ( the eggs momma ) sitting on 4 eggs outside in a coop ( it has been VERY cold here in upstate NY this winter we have heat lamps on her ) The reason for the lone egg is she was laying but not sitting, the eggs were always dirty or frozen. So when we got a good one we threw it in the incubator thinking it was our only chance. Of course less then a week later she was setting on 4 clean eggs, if they hatch it will be a week from now .

So my problem is I do not want this lone duckling imprinting on my family or I , the thought of it being outside ( and it will be outside ) and thinking it is one of us is heart breaking.

What do I do in order to NOT to imprint on it?
Do you think momma duck ( if I bought her and the other ducklings in temporally ) would accept an older ducking after the siblings hatch?

Thank you

 

[Amiga]

For the duckling about to hatch I would get an unbreakable mirror, a washable stuffed toy, and very carefully try introductions. But watch closely, duck moms are - from anything I have read - unpredictable.

 

[Finny]

I have a problem with a lone duckling too. He is about 5 weeks old and is very attached to me and I am very attached to him, but he has had no duck interaction since he was two weeks old. (He had duck buddies but when they reached two weeks all but two went to my aunts house but one of the two i kept died shortly after.) Anyways I have been trying to get my older ducks to come inside to meet the duckling, but they are afraid to come into the house and i dont know why. I cant bring the duckling outside because it is too cold. I want him to join my existing flock when he gets older but i am afraid he will want nothing to do with them. Will the interaction he had with other ducks when he was little be enough for him to want to be with the other ducks and not me? If not, what do you suggest i do?

 

[Amiga]

With ducks, I have found that they can adjust, however slowly. Letting them see each other first, sometimes for days, then giving them treats at the same time, then supervised time together, sometimes one step forward three steps back.

Took a year for our flock to become one flock with only minor conflicts. sigh. But it can be done and it is done all the time.

 

[Finny]

Thanks Amiga, I feel much better about that now. I was very worried he could never become part of the flock. Phew!

 

[donziclassic22]

Will definitely do the mirror thing .I have had it in the back of my mind that mom duck probably will not accept this one, will have to try and watch. Think I will know pretty fast if it will work.
This may sound stupid but I just printed out life size call duck photos and glued them onto a board that I put in the brooder LOL way to much time on my hands LOL . And now that my car is off the road in about 3 foot of snow stuck somewhere in the middle of our driveway (its a very long driveway) coming back from the feed store in a blizzard I really have to much time. Thank you for your advice.

 

[Amiga]

Tell me you are fine, have a way to either stay warm and hydrated or get to the house easily.

And the life size pictures may be a stroke of genius.

 

[donziclassic22]

Yes we are fine thank you. The car was only 200 feet away from the house in the driveway took over an hour to get it out. Driveway sucked in another car this afternoon LOL spring cannot come fast enough.

 

[Amiga]

Thank you!