Duck Herding

[Amiga]

Okay, I am actually serious about this.

I thought of using "training ducks" as the title, but imagined I would get "advice" about circus acts.

Some chuckles are good, but I am looking for some serious advice.

My setup is going to involve getting runner ducks from their night pen to their day pen, which will be moved about a bit (temporary fence I can roll up and set up elsewhere). I have read that they have been herded from village pens out to rice paddies, following staffs with ropes or ribbons tied to the upper ends, so they are trainable that way.

I am expecting to get ten day-olds in a couple of months, so I should be able to train them to some extent, to follow me to their daytime enclosure and then later back to their more secure night pen and shelter.

Any clues on how that is done? Do they just bond with their humans and follow them instinctively? Does this mean I need to introduce them to their ducksitters early on so they will respond well? Has anyone tried using an object they would recognize to get them to follow? I am sure treats are involved!

The farthest distance I expect to have to herd them is just around the house (50 feet long, so a distance of up to 75 feet) and down a twenty foot path. It isn't terribly far, but it is not a straight line, and I don't want to have to chase runners all over the neighborhood, which is full of large dogs. Yikes!

A tractor does not make sense for this location - it is a hillside, with some of the paths as narrow as three feet. There are level areas, but most of those are raised garden beds or the ducks' night pen and tiny pond.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[ChickBond 007]

I had to laugh when I read your title.

Here's how we herd 17 ducks in nightly.
1. Don't try to early. It isn't worth the frustration.
2. I use two long sticks, a cross-country ski poles, a rake/etc, you get the idea.
3. Move slowly behind the last of the pack. Wiggle stick ends as the herd begins to vary left or right.
4. Use your cowboy voice, and say "get in there, ducka, ducka, ducka". I don't know if this helps but you definately feel more like a herdsman while making this noise.
5. Use two people when possible. Three even better. Dusk is your friend, as ducks know it's time to sleep.

Also, when you settle your ducks into their home, don't let them roam for the first 3 days or so. They need to learn "here is where we sleep".

Good luck

 

[randomchick]

I am so jealous of your ambition and idea. I may be tempted to try this too.
I have trained pigs to follow me, but I am not sure how much this will help. Every time I am near the pigs from day one, I do the same thing in the beginning. I pat once behind each ear and then give a piece of fruit, or fresh grass or something. When they get loose, which they sometimes do, I know they will follow as soon as they get a pat behind the ear.
Don't know if this will help at all, but perhaps you could make the same kind of noise around the ducks and give them lots of healthy treats every time you see them.
Good luck.

 

[L0rraine]

I 'herd' mine all the time (and so does my collie, much to their annoyance). You'll get the hang of it - and so will they. I started out by taking mine for walks around the yard a couple of times a day. In the picture below I was heading them towards a visiting friend who wanted pictures. Mine don't follow me yet, but they do send a few brave souls to come and find me (and quack their little heads off) if they think it's time to eat 'crumbles' instead of forage.

(My chickens finally come when I call now and follow me back to the hen house, so maybe the ducks will do the same some day.)

 

[priss]

My ducks always come running towards me when they see me unless:

1. They are doing something they know they're not allowed to do.
2. When they know it's bedtime!!!!!

 

[Amiga]

Thanks, everyone!

I know it sounds kind of funny, duck herding, but I seriously don't want to lose these little critters if I can help it. And right now fencing the entire place is not on the horizon. In many references, there is an explanation that they get herded, but no details on how they (and the duckherd) get trained. I don't want to spend three years as an apprentice in the Malaysian rice paddies. It would be lovely, no doubt, but I have prior commitments.

LOrraine had some good soothing words - we will all get the hang of it - thanks!

With my cats (a very different animal), I shamelessly bribe them. It works most days, but sometimes I have to go to the south end of the house and do a "south side pickup," hoisting a cat onto my shoulder and carrying her in.

Can you all imagine how long it would take to "south side pickup" ten runners? As if they would all be mellow enough to allow that in the first place?

I like all the suggestions, and ChickBond 007's "get in there, ducka, ducka, ducka."

We plan to name them German numbers (eins, zwei, drei, etc.) . . . "on eins! on zwei!" a la Night Before Christmas. I can see it now . . .

Blessings all

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

hands down, this is the best advice i've ever seen:

4. Use your cowboy voice, and say "get in there, ducka, ducka, ducka". I don't know if this helps but you definately feel more like a herdsman while making this noise.

i like it!

remember too that they can see you behind them...so keep scooting them along. once they get the idea of what you are doing (is she nuts or WHAT!?) then they'll do better (ohhh... we're going to our fun play spot... ok i'm game!). stick to a routine, they'll figure you out

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[tia]

When you talked about herding, I thought about this clip on u-tube. I hope you herd your ducks more gently. : )


It is funny how a person's perspective of things can change. I watched this when I just had a border collie and I thought it would be neat to have runner ducks. I just watched it again and it bothered me. The poor ducks, it is a wonder they aren't having a heart attack, and they are not giving them much of a break either. I would never let my dog do that to my runners.

 

[duckyfromoz]

I know a few people out here in Australia who use ducks for starting to train there herding dogs, but from what I have seen it is not so stressful for the ducks.

I actually just use food and get them to follow me where I want my ducks to go. I walk with the container shaking it, talking to them .....and they run behind. They soon get used to the routine and know where you want them to go. All my ducks are hand raised and very tame from hatching- so that helps alot too.

 

[nzpouter]

they do it all the time in Asia....