Ducks afraid of their Pond

[OmAnNom]

Oy Vey! We built our (now) 2.5 month old ducks a small pond that they absolutely loved until we decided to stock it with some tiny feeder fish the other day, now they are terrified of it. (complete story here: http://peregrinfarms.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/ducks-afraid-of-the-water/)

Has anyone ever had ducks that were afraid of the water? They have loved the water (sink, bath tub and pond) up until this point. Do you think they will grow out of it as they get a little older?

 

[melissamerry]

This happened when I took my ducks to visit my dad. He has a pond in it with a really old red ear turtle. He baby sits for me when I'm out I town.

They saw the pond for the first time and went running to and then stopped at the waters edge when they saw the fish. At this point I had fed them feeder fish before, but they had never seen ones quite so large, let alone a turtle!

I ended up getting them in the pond by throwing some cat food in it right by the waters edge. It's their favorite treat.

It took a while, but they warmed up to the strange creatures. They all get along really well now. Have your ducks seen fish before? Maybe put a few small ones in a bowl for them or bath tub to try out and realize that fish are food.

 

[michellemcfeely]

The first time I raised ducks years ago I actually had to walk out into the pond to get mine to go in.

 

[carcar80]

I had this trouble with my three last year. They eventually went in on their own, once they were of some size.

 

[OmAnNom]

I'm so glad we're not the only ones! It's encouraging to hear that all of your guys' ducks ended up in the water. I'd hate to think we went trhough all the effort of building a pond that would never get used.

Thank you for the great tips, Melissa. We will try some of those suggestions! The ducks had not previously seen fish. The fish were so tiny, neither of us even considered that the ducks would ever be scared of them. Go figure.

 

[melissamerry]

Let us know how that works out! Ducks can be scared of the strangest things! Mine are afraid of a broom, but not the vacuum. They chase after bees but run away from butterflies. They met my parent's tortoise the other week and they let out the strangest quacks and darted back to the pond to safety when they saw this slow moving giant eating their lettuce. It was quite the sight. I bet once your ducks taste the fish they will enjoy the pond once again. What kind of ducks are they?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Could you pond be hiding a snapping turtles, they are predators to ducklings and ducks.

 

[OmAnNom]

Lydia, there are no turtles - it's a 125 gal. pond insert that has been burried and landscaped, so there is no place for anything to hide. Good thought, though!

Melissa, we have a pekin and a swedish. I think the swedish is a drake, but we don't know for sure yet.

 

[DuckCommander]

I had to put all my ducks in the empty kiddy pool that they grew up swimming in and push them into the middle of the pond in that. if they wanted out they'd have to swim to shore. It actually worked! lol

 

[OmAnNom]

THE DUCKS ARE BACK IN THE POND!

It's a long story (http://peregrinfarms.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/water-therapy-the-escape-and-the-return-to-the-pond/), but we ended up getting our ducks pet ducks and it worked

They saw the babies playing in the pond and worked up the courage to get in it themselves. I recall saying that I only wanted 1 duck... now there are 4 (that escalated quickly), but at least they're all happy.