Duck Bands?

[knightie]

I'm using cable ties I'll have to watch them as they grow but they are easy to snip off so I can put bigger ones on as they grow

 

[tweetysvoice]

I think I'm going to Velcro band both of my Pekins, in case one of them falls off. I'm wondering about using a red/orange on though, since they will be cooped with the chickens, I don't want the chickens to be fascinated with that color. LOL

 

[Johnson5326]

I like the velcro idea. With the background, I actually got the ducks for several reasons. Number 1 of course being that I just wanted them and have the means to provide everything they need for their entire life span. But my son wants a dog. We don't want to get him one until we can sell our house because we are on a main highway and have lost several cats and dogs since being here. So, I bought him a lovebird. I had one that loved to be cuddled and held and even rode on the steering wheel and then in my pockets when we went anywhere. His however, does not. It wants to sit on our shoulders but not touched. Plus, the neighbor's dog is here most of the time anyway and we just love her. Last month I brought a rabbit home for him. Same thing. It tolerates us but has scratched him a few times so he's a bit hesitant to hold it as much as when we first got it. That's alright with the rabbit. He's in the 12'x16' pen with the ducks just being free to do rabbit stuff.

In January we finished our small pond (a 13'x7'x3' deep goldfish pond). Then my son broke his collar bone President's Day. He can't lift his arm up or move it outward so he has been VERY limited on his movements. I found it was easier to let him play the wii for hours than to run around and get hurt. He couldn't really play, go to school, or normal 5 year old activities. I felt like a bad parent letting him spend so much time on the video games (I had him doing sight word programs on the laptop, writing his name, doing art projects, etc. too but those didn't take up nearly as much time). So, I looked at other animals that wouldn't be a problem on the main highway, that could live outside and not make us feel like bad pet parents or worry about traffic (our whole yard is also fenced), and that would force my son to be calm and move more slowly.

The ducks just seemed natural. They would be entertaining, we could do spring pics, they would keep many of the bugs out of the yard, we can eat their eggs or let them hatch next year, my son gets to watch them grow and learn hands on how to take care of them, and they just seemed to be the perfect fit for all 3 of us (and the lovebird, cockatiel, and rabbit). Everybody has been thrilled to have them here. We just love all 6 of them and couldn't be happier. Who knew ducks could be such ideal pets for us? Well, maybe the several people on this site!

 

[Amiga]

Ducks have been quite therapeutic for me.

David Holderread was a child when he started raising ducks, and many children participate or completely handle duck care. As long as your son is the kind of person who understands small and defenseless and needing tenderness, things should be just great.

And it sounds like he is, by the way!

 

[Johnson5326]

You know, he is. The 1st day he was a bit awkward when holding them. When I told him to hold underneath and cover their heads to make them feel safe he was holding their heads just enough so they couldn't move. So we worked on that and now he's (almost) a pro. There's such a HUGE difference in the way he looks at and hold animals compared to the little terror next door. Their dog had 10 puppies last month and I was so worried one of their kids would just squeeze them or drop them one too many times. They all made it though.

 

[knightie]

I've got my ducks and chickens together and as I said I use zip ties to mark everyone and of course the package I have had. Blue green orange and red (needless to say some have 2 bands cause I had more than 4 birds ) but I use the red and orange and no one is doing anything to the right at first the Roos were funny standing on their heads looks at the bands pecked at their own for a minute then said ok and went on with life.

 

[tweetysvoice]

I put on velcro bands on the two pekins yesterday and Quackers is obessed with his. It is almost chewed off already! Ducky's looks brand new, so I don't know what's up with that. I'm going to have to switch it out again. grrrr..

 

[Lute]

I also use cable ties. I just cable tied the one that we'll be eating Sunday.

(we plan on just cable tying the ones that we plan to eat)