bonding with waterfowl

[kees]

I'm getting some waterfowl and am wondering if there will be a problem with bonding if I'm not the first person or animal that they see after hatching. Does anyone know the answer to this question?

Suzy

 

[SnoDuck2]

if you get them when they are young enough then they will bond jsut fine. If they are adults then It will be harder to get them bonded. of course all animals are different so there are exceptions

 

[Chicken Fruit]

When you get your fowl stick them on your feet, or between your feet (or the shoes you always wear) and keep them there and make a sound that you'll always use to call them and talk to them- we use "duckduckduck" all slurred together quietly. Keep them in that spot, if they try to walk away scoot them back, repeat repeat repeat.

After a few minutes of that take a step away and make that noise, they should follow. If not, start over and repeat.

It only takes a couple times before they realize theyre following you. Pretty soon they'll be big enough to see your face and recognize your voice and wont be so overly concerned with your feet.

 

[ChickenToes]

Give them lots of treats. My ducks never used to be people friendly, but now when they see me coming they run towards me looking for lettuce.

 

[kees]

Is it necessary to use my feet?

Would it still work if I had them next to me and brought them back to me every time they scooted away?

Suzy

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Well your feet are on their level. If you want lay down and let them climb (and poop ) on you.

 

[kees]

lol, I'll have to try that.

Suzy

 

[chicklady63]

I've heard there's a great book called Duck! There's A Goose In the House that answers a lot of questions about bonding. I have an African Gray gander that was hatched by me and is very friendly and bonded to us. I bought him a week-old friend at the local feed store who happened to be a female, that has never been as friendly. I do think from what I've read the first large object they see in their first 24-hours they bond to. I've even heard of some geese bonding to a person's vehicle and guarding it whenever anyone tried to go near. (It's actually on a YouTube video and is quite funny - to me, at least, not so much to the guy that was trying to get into the truck)

 

[goosedragon]

There is a difference between Imprinting and bonding. Imprinting is an instinct (usually stronger in geese) where the new hatched accepts the first larger moving thing it sees as its mother and imprints on it. If your ducklings or goslings run away from you at first they not imprinted. They may bond with you however. The process is like making friends, they have to learn to trust you and realize it is more fun to be around you than be away from you. bonding in geese is what holds mates together.
I once had a bonded pair of geese that were also bonded to me. They would wait by the door for me to come out and then follow me around looking for treats. The gander was killed and the goose suffered a lot, went a little crazy. She bonded to my trash bin that sat near the door I would come out of. When I would roll it out for pick up she would follow us both out and me back to the house,but when I left for work she would be sitting out there with the trash bin and would be there when I got home. I got a note from the trash pickup people to please confine my goose since it was attacking them when they tried to pickup the trash!

 

[chicklady63]

I stand corrected in my terminology. What I do know is that geese are really lots of fun and I appreciate the relationship I have with my gander, especially.