My Antisocial Khaki Campbells.

[weirdobeardo]

I have 3 Khaki Campbell ducks. They are 4-5 weeks old. I have had them since they were a week old. These guys are petrified of everything and completely antisocial. They flip out I they even hear something in the same room. They do not respond to treats or like to be held or even touched at all. They only respond to each other. I have been taking them for swims everyday and giving them all sorts of treats. They will eat the food after I'm long gone but run and panic when they see me coming. Whenever I manage To Get ahold of them to pick them up they freak out, panic make all sorts of noise and you can feel their hearts thumping out of fear and it seems that no amount of holding and petting calms them. I'm starting to get worried because they will be going outside the enclosure and on the pond soon and I have no doubt they will not return and I will not be able to get close enough to them to catch them and boy do we have a lot of predators for ducks that won't come off the pond at night. They love each other but that's about it. Any advice or help? If they are going to be this difficult or antisocial I might swap them out to someone. I have lots of chickens and turkeys and they stick right to me and love to get treats and attention.

 

[The Pinto Pony]

How big is the enclosure that they are in now?

 

[weirdobeardo]

I have a chicken/turkey tractor I made that I wasn't using that is 12 foot long and 4 feet wide and almost 4 foot high. Rood wise its Covered in tin on one end and chicken wire on the other and then the side are all chicken wire, and I have a 300 gallon stock tank with water in it and a fishtank pump and airsstone in it for them to swim. I have plywood under the enclosure right now with a mix of woodshavings and straw under it. I was hoping to get rid of the plywood and put them outside on the grass underneath it next week because they are stinking my garage out with the water mess no matter how much I clean it. Which is to be expected with ducks. I just wish they weren't so scared of me and everyone. Do you think it is too much space for 3 of them? They are always stuck together in the corner. I always thought more space was better after we ditched the heat lamp.

 

[The Pinto Pony]

Thats way too much room for them to have one on one contact with you. Maybe thats why they're so wild. If you downsize the pen it will help, it should be three sq feet per duck.

 

[weirdobeardo]

Ok thanks for the advice. I will do some swapping around in the morning and see if it makes any difference in the future.

 

[The Pinto Pony]

Ok thanks for the advice. I will do some swapping around in the morning and see if it makes any difference in the future.

Your welcome .