Does this duck look good?

[myduckduckie]

Please don't get me wrong and think I am trying to push you into doing something you aren't sure about, I just worry the other 4 need a home where they are taken care of properly since they are domestic and not wild. We see dumped ducks so often it's heartbreaking to think at one time someone was caring for them and then they were left to take care of themselves.[which usually ends in death for abandoned ducks] Duckie would be so happy to have a flock to hang out with once he and the others got used to each other. But always up to the person who has started the thread and didn't ask for my opinion.

You are right i should need to take them in my yard but they live here now for 4 to 5 years by the river i dont know if i do good to them to put them in a yard where they are not free like they are now. I would love to take them if they want too

 

[Miss Lydia]

We live above a mountain river and someone dumped 4 drakes into it one time, I made friends with them by taking feed down to them every day, they would hear me whistle and come swimming as fast as they could to eat. Once they got used to me coming to visit and feed them I set up a dog X pen [it's a pen the you can move around] I set it up right at the edge of the river then began putting feed in it until they were walking all the way inside to eat. I could then get to the open end and close it before they had a chance to get out. It took about a week. I walked inside the x pen and picked each drake up placed him in a dog carrier and brought them home. I found homes for all but one and we could never catch him at the river wasn't long before we saw him dead.
Since you haven't any predators to pick them off I guess it's up to you if you want to make these part of your family. Duckie may like to have some duck company though.
Is Duckie a drake? if you can get pictures of these ducks I'd love to see them.

@CoriM had a similar experience with a Runner she just rescued from her neighbor that had ducks on a pond getting picked off till there was only one left. maybe she'll share how it's going integrating her new runner into her flock.

 

[CoriM]

My neighbor has a pond right by her house and three years in a row got about 10 ducklings and after they were old enough she released them in her pond, after a very half-hearted attempt to keep them in a coop. So they would live out there like semi-domestic ducks, coming up to her barn twice a day to eat food. One by one they would get killed by wildlife since we live in the woods and there are lots of predators. She pretends to be sad everytime but then just gets more ducks to replace them the next year. This year she was down to one duck and it was swimming alone on her pond for two weeks before she caught it in her barn and gave it to me to add to my flock. I was unsure how it would go since this girl, Opal I've named her, had been enjoying tons of freedom and a huge pond, though also likely living in terror, having seen all her mates getting picked off in violent ways. My current flock was 7 ducks. I put her in their run enclosed by a fence. She was very afraid of me and also didn't understand the concept of wire and fences, so the first few minutes she wildly flew into the wire fences, trying to get away from me and to the other ducks. We just left her be and she soon settled down enough to drink water. At night my ducks sleep in an attached enclosed room and I put Opal in there separated by a fence. The next day I let my ducks out of the run - I usually free range them for a little bit a couple times a day then they go into a portable house on the grass for a couple hours. I moved the house really close to my run and when my ducks marched in there Opal went right with them. Her big desire was to be part of the group and she wasn't caring at all about running away and getting her freedom. Long story short (ha, I know it's already long, I could talk about my ducks all day!) I gradually integrated her by adding the ducks that most accepted her to her side of the fence. Then I spent lots of time watching them all together free-ranging and breaking up scuffles. A couple of my ducks really chased her around and would bite her. Everyone was a bit stressed for the first 3-4 days. By the end of the week they were all combined and there was still some chasing of Opal, but decreasing. Now, I'm about three weeks out and she is just one of the group. Two of my ducks that least accepted her will still chatter at her or give her a little nip, but that will pass in time. I'm so happy that she has shelter now from the winter weather and protection from the predators. She seems so happy and content and accepted the new lifestyle with ease. In the end ducks are defenseless domestic animals, and they deserve protection from the weather and predators and anything that can harm them. It's certainly not your responsibility to rescue them, but your duck does need company and the chance to live a normal duck life outside, so perhaps it could be a win-win for you to try to lure them into your yard and give them a domestic life. And I'm not saying your situation would be as easy as mine - just relating what happened with me. I only rescued one duck! You do need to look out for the ratio of males to females though and make sure over-mating doesn't occur.

Also, for anyone reading this who wants to advise me about proper quarantine when rescuing a duck - I know! I had really tight time constraints to integrate her because I was going out of town for Thanksgiving and I had to be able to leave them all together. Rather than say no to rescuing her I decided to take a chance and it turned out well, which I'm so thankful for.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My neighbor has a pond right by her house and three years in a row got about 10 ducklings and after they were old enough she released them in her pond, after a very half-hearted attempt to keep them in a coop. So they would live out there like semi-domestic ducks, coming up to her barn twice a day to eat food. One by one they would get killed by wildlife since we live in the woods and there are lots of predators. She pretends to be sad everytime but then just gets more ducks to replace them the next year. This year she was down to one duck and it was swimming alone on her pond for two weeks before she caught it in her barn and gave it to me to add to my flock. I was unsure how it would go since this girl, Opal I've named her, had been enjoying tons of freedom and a huge pond, though also likely living in terror, having seen all her mates getting picked off in violent ways. My current flock was 7 ducks. I put her in their run enclosed by a fence. She was very afraid of me and also didn't understand the concept of wire and fences, so the first few minutes she wildly flew into the wire fences, trying to get away from me and to the other ducks. We just left her be and she soon settled down enough to drink water. At night my ducks sleep in an attached enclosed room and I put Opal in there separated by a fence. The next day I let my ducks out of the run - I usually free range them for a little bit a couple times a day then they go into a portable house on the grass for a couple hours. I moved the house really close to my run and when my ducks marched in there Opal went right with them. Her big desire was to be part of the group and she wasn't caring at all about running away and getting her freedom. Long story short (ha, I know it's already long, I could talk about my ducks all day!) I gradually integrated her by adding the ducks that most accepted her to her side of the fence. Then I spent lots of time watching them all together free-ranging and breaking up scuffles. A couple of my ducks really chased her around and would bite her. Everyone was a bit stressed for the first 3-4 days. By the end of the week they were all combined and there was still some chasing of Opal, but decreasing. Now, I'm about three weeks out and she is just one of the group. Two of my ducks that least accepted her will still chatter at her or give her a little nip, but that will pass in time. I'm so happy that she has shelter now from the winter weather and protection from the predators. She seems so happy and content and accepted the new lifestyle with ease. In the end ducks are defenseless domestic animals, and they deserve protection from the weather and predators and anything that can harm them. It's certainly not your responsibility to rescue them, but your duck does need company and the chance to live a normal duck life outside, so perhaps it could be a win-win for you to try to lure them into your yard and give them a domestic life. And I'm not saying your situation would be as easy as mine - just relating what happened with me. I only rescued one duck! You do need to look out for the ratio of males to females though and make sure over-mating doesn't occur.

Also, for anyone reading this who wants to advise me about proper quarantine when rescuing a duck - I know! I had really tight time constraints to integrate her because I was going out of town for Thanksgiving and I had to be able to leave them all together. Rather than say no to rescuing her I decided to take a chance and it turned out well, which I'm so thankful for.

 

[myduckduckie]

We live above a mountain river and someone dumped 4 drakes into it one time, I made friends with them by taking feed down to them every day, they would hear me whistle and come swimming as fast as they could to eat. Once they got used to me coming to visit and feed them I set up a dog X pen [it's a pen the you can move around] I set it up right at the edge of the river then began putting feed in it until they were walking all the way inside to eat. I could then get to the open end and close it before they had a chance to get out. It took about a week. I walked inside the x pen and picked each drake up placed him in a dog carrier and brought them home. I found homes for all but one and we could never catch him at the river wasn't long before we saw him dead.
Since you haven't any predators to pick them off I guess it's up to you if you want to make these part of your family. Duckie may like to have some duck company though.
Is Duckie a drake? if you can get pictures of these ducks I'd love to see them.

@CoriM had a similar experience with a Runner she just rescued from her neighbor that had ducks on a pond getting picked off till there was only one left. maybe she'll share how it's going integrating her new runner into her flock.

Thats awesome. Duckie is a drake yes.
I only have 1 picture of them with my duckie.
The other pictures are Just duckie.

 

[myduckduckie]

My neighbor has a pond right by her house and three years in a row got about 10 ducklings and after they were old enough she released them in her pond, after a very half-hearted attempt to keep them in a coop. So they would live out there like semi-domestic ducks, coming up to her barn twice a day to eat food. One by one they would get killed by wildlife since we live in the woods and there are lots of predators. She pretends to be sad everytime but then just gets more ducks to replace them the next year. This year she was down to one duck and it was swimming alone on her pond for two weeks before she caught it in her barn and gave it to me to add to my flock. I was unsure how it would go since this girl, Opal I've named her, had been enjoying tons of freedom and a huge pond, though also likely living in terror, having seen all her mates getting picked off in violent ways. My current flock was 7 ducks. I put her in their run enclosed by a fence. She was very afraid of me and also didn't understand the concept of wire and fences, so the first few minutes she wildly flew into the wire fences, trying to get away from me and to the other ducks. We just left her be and she soon settled down enough to drink water. At night my ducks sleep in an attached enclosed room and I put Opal in there separated by a fence. The next day I let my ducks out of the run - I usually free range them for a little bit a couple times a day then they go into a portable house on the grass for a couple hours. I moved the house really close to my run and when my ducks marched in there Opal went right with them. Her big desire was to be part of the group and she wasn't caring at all about running away and getting her freedom. Long story short (ha, I know it's already long, I could talk about my ducks all day!) I gradually integrated her by adding the ducks that most accepted her to her side of the fence. Then I spent lots of time watching them all together free-ranging and breaking up scuffles. A couple of my ducks really chased her around and would bite her. Everyone was a bit stressed for the first 3-4 days. By the end of the week they were all combined and there was still some chasing of Opal, but decreasing. Now, I'm about three weeks out and she is just one of the group. Two of my ducks that least accepted her will still chatter at her or give her a little nip, but that will pass in time. I'm so happy that she has shelter now from the winter weather and protection from the predators. She seems so happy and content and accepted the new lifestyle with ease. In the end ducks are defenseless domestic animals, and they deserve protection from the weather and predators and anything that can harm them. It's certainly not your responsibility to rescue them, but your duck does need company and the chance to live a normal duck life outside, so perhaps it could be a win-win for you to try to lure them into your yard and give them a domestic life. And I'm not saying your situation would be as easy as mine - just relating what happened with me. I only rescued one duck! You do need to look out for the ratio of males to females though and make sure over-mating doesn't occur.

Also, for anyone reading this who wants to advise me about proper quarantine when rescuing a duck - I know! I had really tight time constraints to integrate her because I was going out of town for Thanksgiving and I had to be able to leave them all together. Rather than say no to rescuing her I decided to take a chance and it turned out well, which I'm so thankful for.

I could try that. its almost new years and here is a lot of fireworks always maybe i could try to get them in the yard before its new years i always think its sad for them because they cant hide and problably dont know whats going on with al the explosions and lights. Is it a problem that i problably have 3 drakes then and 2 female ducks?

 

[CoriM]

That could present some problems, but you can just watch and see. If it seems the girls are being over-mated or ganged up on, you could separate girls and boys. Or you could add more girls or rehome a couple of the drakes.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I could try that. its almost new years and here is a lot of fireworks always maybe i could try to get them in the yard before its new years i always think its sad for them because they cant hide and problably dont know whats going on with al the explosions and lights. Is it a problem that i problably have 3 drakes then and 2 female ducks?

It’s a good sign that they’re already doing alright with a 2 to 2 ratio, though adding your drake could result in over-mating.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Might be worth giving it a try. They are beautiful ducks

 

[myduckduckie]

It’s a good sign that they’re already doing alright with a 2 to 2 ratio, though adding your drake could result in over-mating.

Isnt it bad for the female ducks that my drake is gonna try and mate now while its cold outside? i do not see the ducks outside trying to mate with each other.