fatedfaithfulfatal
In the Brooder
- May 1, 2023
- 29
- 37
- 44
I'm not sure what happened but in the course of a single day my ducks have decided that not only am I an axe murderer, but their house must be a slaughterhouse.
Yesterday morning, I let my ducks out and gave them their breakfast. They seemed completely normal. Not scared of me at that point. I went out at another point to give them some fresh greens and did not notice anything odd. Brought them dinner, they came out of the pond to eat. An hour later when I went to put them to bed, it just wasn't happening. The previous night there were no issues whatsoever. I've been working with them and they were at the point of going inside voluntarily with only verbal commands. I used to have to lure them with peas, but now they go in first and then get the peas. But last night, they wouldn't even come out of the pond. Not even when I put the peas down on the ground. I tried using a broom to gently corral them, but they were SOOO scared. jumping against the fencing to the point I was worried they might hurt themselves. So then I tried grabbing one while they were cornered. I got the one I knew was always the best being handled, and was able to get him without much trouble. He didn't struggle. I brought him over and put him in the duck house hoping the others would go follow him in. They all ran back to the pond, and after a minute he came back out and joined them. So I went back inside for a while, hoping that once it got fully dark, they would go in. No luck. So I tried again talking to them, the usual verbal commands for bedtime. I went to the edge of the pond and showed them peas in my open hand, nothing. Tossed the peas on the edge of the pond and stepped back, nothing. NOTHING. They wouldn't even come up to the edge to eat peas! So I put a light on inside their house hoping still they might decide it was too dark and scary to be outside, but when I came back later, they were still in the pond. It was midnight, I was exhausted. I gave up and resigned to the fact I may wake up to a massacre.
I live in the mountains with many predators and there's a raccoon that does visit frequently. Their nighttime house is predator proof, but I still have to bury the fence around the run to prevent digging in, and even then, its 1inch so if the ducks decided to sleep against it, it still isn't safe. Their pond is only 6x8 and they drift when sleeping so even in the pond they're not reliably out of reach.
Anyways, luckily they all seem to be ok this morning, but when I brought them their breakfast this morning, I also brought greens. They still won't come to me. They were eating out of my hand just yesterday and now they're so utterly terrified of me they won't even come out of the water to get food I've tossed 10 feet away from me. They won't come out until I leave the run.
1) I don't understand why they are suddenly so scared of me and their house
2) Any tips to get them locked up safely tonight? Even if they hate me and don't ever want to eat from my hand or be held again, I still want them safe.
Yesterday morning, I let my ducks out and gave them their breakfast. They seemed completely normal. Not scared of me at that point. I went out at another point to give them some fresh greens and did not notice anything odd. Brought them dinner, they came out of the pond to eat. An hour later when I went to put them to bed, it just wasn't happening. The previous night there were no issues whatsoever. I've been working with them and they were at the point of going inside voluntarily with only verbal commands. I used to have to lure them with peas, but now they go in first and then get the peas. But last night, they wouldn't even come out of the pond. Not even when I put the peas down on the ground. I tried using a broom to gently corral them, but they were SOOO scared. jumping against the fencing to the point I was worried they might hurt themselves. So then I tried grabbing one while they were cornered. I got the one I knew was always the best being handled, and was able to get him without much trouble. He didn't struggle. I brought him over and put him in the duck house hoping the others would go follow him in. They all ran back to the pond, and after a minute he came back out and joined them. So I went back inside for a while, hoping that once it got fully dark, they would go in. No luck. So I tried again talking to them, the usual verbal commands for bedtime. I went to the edge of the pond and showed them peas in my open hand, nothing. Tossed the peas on the edge of the pond and stepped back, nothing. NOTHING. They wouldn't even come up to the edge to eat peas! So I put a light on inside their house hoping still they might decide it was too dark and scary to be outside, but when I came back later, they were still in the pond. It was midnight, I was exhausted. I gave up and resigned to the fact I may wake up to a massacre.
I live in the mountains with many predators and there's a raccoon that does visit frequently. Their nighttime house is predator proof, but I still have to bury the fence around the run to prevent digging in, and even then, its 1inch so if the ducks decided to sleep against it, it still isn't safe. Their pond is only 6x8 and they drift when sleeping so even in the pond they're not reliably out of reach.
Anyways, luckily they all seem to be ok this morning, but when I brought them their breakfast this morning, I also brought greens. They still won't come to me. They were eating out of my hand just yesterday and now they're so utterly terrified of me they won't even come out of the water to get food I've tossed 10 feet away from me. They won't come out until I leave the run.
1) I don't understand why they are suddenly so scared of me and their house
2) Any tips to get them locked up safely tonight? Even if they hate me and don't ever want to eat from my hand or be held again, I still want them safe.