Fiona is 11 wks today and boy is she LOUD! She quacks if she hears my voice, senses my presence, or wants goodies. We went with Cayuga because they are supposed to get a quitter breed....and this was true up until a week ago. Physically she shows no signs of illness, she gets along swimmingly with her WH "sister".....but man is she noisy. Can anyone else relate or impart wisdom that this is a passing phase?! My neighbor's are being wonderful about it, teasing that my "dogs" are barking really loudly....and I've promised everyone eggs....but she's on quite the bender! Stops if I tell her to.....for a minute....or if I go into the run and hang out.
Well, my ducks used to be loud as ducklings, but are quiet now. Is she very tame? What kind of life and environment is she living (in) now?
She's quite tame, as both her and the WH are our pets and have spent quite a good amount of time on our laps watching Netflix and being read to by my daughters. They spend days out in an 11'x11' outdoor pen with a pool, toys (that she primarily plays with), and decent forage though neither girl will actually forage. The best I can get them to do is drilling mud holes...I've tried showing them how to forage for sweet grasses and bountiful insects. Quite honestly, they're spoiled, hand raised ducks At nightfall, they come inside and spend time in the living room before going to bed in a large shower stall. She doesn't appear frustrated, irritated, she's just demanding. I do not reinforce the quacking with treats or bonding time...they only get those when they are quiet. I'm sure this is in great part due to bonding/partially imprinting...though I believe there's a hormonal component because of the increase seemingly out of nowhere. Interesting side note, to me at least, while she was hatched on the same day as the WH, she has always been developmentally behind in size, feathering, quacking, etc. It feels a bit like she's exercising her quack now that she HAS it!
Were they imprinted on you? Sounds like she's trying to manipulate you to get more attention, so don't give up! Keep rewarding her when she's quiet. Also if she was recently moved, or introduced to anything, she might be unsettled
I totally agree, she's trying to train me. I just find it so odd that it's gotten to this scale in the past wk or so, as I've NEVER rewarded the behavior (the WH went through a tremendous quacking phase but has since slowed down). No changes in environment but if I look at it objectively, the kids and I are not spending as much time out there with them as we had been but this was a gradual, intentional taper. I'm honestly not sure if they imprinted or not. That's why I say bonding/partial imprint...though I know it's really an all or nothing deal. If I had to say, I's say Fiona has always seemed more likely to have imprinted than the WH. Nonetheless, she's a persistent little bugger! Luckily, I think I see what's happening and I'm not one to give in. Thanks for the feedback!
You're welcome. They may have imprinted if you saw them (ordered as day olds or hatched artificially) within 48 hours of hatching.
Yes, there was a shipping delay so technically they arrived on day 3 but, like I said, Fiona has been behind the WH in all developmental milestones since they arrived...so she appears to have been hatched out later than Dolly....so much so that we were a little suspect that Dolly WAS hatched on the same day. She was at more than double Fiona's size (but I understand Fiona was likely a runt), quacked first, feathered first, ditched the heat lamp first, etc. They are now equal in size but Fiona still retains the last little tips of her baby fuzz on her neck and up until this week, on her tail feathers....Dolly lost those weeks ago. I will persist in not bending to her will and hope she gets the picture soon! Thanks again, was just kind of beside myself with UGH this morning
Try offering a gigantic bowl or pan of chopped veggies or cutie or frozen veggies like peas or frozen fruit like blueberries. You can chop up grass seeds herbs etc. from your yard, too. Once they get the taste for yard grass etc. they may be more inclined to forage in the yard. For a social treat you can add their favorite bugs like dried mealworms or At that age they could potentially spend hours with water play and feather grooming. Water encourages them to groom and preen. They don't need a lot of water for this activity--deep enough to cover legs should be fine. Every flock elects a talker. Sounds like the Cayuga is the talker.
My Cayugas went through a loud phase, I don't remember exactly how old they were, but they'd quack and quack whenever they wanted something. Food, treats, company. They have quieted down quite a lot now, you may just have to be patient. One of my girls is still pretty loud, she starts quacking when she sees someone standing on the deck and she wants something, usually a handful of peas tossed to her quiets her. Good luck! Hopefully she'll figure out that yelling doesn't get her want she wants!
Great suggestions and some hope for eventual quiet! At this time, I'm treating with pool and bowl fulls of goodies when I catch them quiet, about 3x a day, and that seems to get me a couple hours of peace. I hide when I'm on the patio and whisper when I need to talk out front Such an experience, but love them to bits!
