Ducks terrified of everything?

[arrowti]

My ducks used to be scared of the pool after we dumped it and refilled it because it was, always, in a slightly different position than where it was. (A couple inches to the right). They'd stand there and stare at it from a distance and then waddle off. It'd be another hour before they finally went in it!

You have to be patient... now they're 4 years old and they're not afraid of anything...

 

[Chickiemom25]

1. ducks don't like being in doors I have discovered... in fact some of their favorite nesting boxes done even have a roof. My house at the pond I dont think has ever been used but it is there in case of hard hail. I think they fear being trapped.
2. Ducks LOVE the rain.... while the guineas and chickens are huddled under a roof, the ducks are wagging their tails and prancing through the rain.
3. I think others are right, but the food on the ground... Mine will eat from all the ground feeders before they resort to the chicken's hanging feeder.
4. ducks love to forage,.. they may be getting some bugs etc from the ground.. I see you have them on dirt so maybe they are digging some.
5. Young ducks are fearful creatures. they grow out of it. I put a light in their coop, and everyone refused to go in.... go figure.. the guineas and chickens love their coop light. Also adding nest boxes or straw bales in the fall causes complete upset and fear of the coop. Fortunately my ducks are food motivated.

 

[firewalker1]

They seem to be doing a lot better. Been giving them tons of treats like water melon and corn cob. While I was at work and my wife was out of town my neighbor took care of them. I’m calling him the duck whisperer, I came back 48hrs later and they are whole new ducks. They use their house again at night and now have been following my dog around the yard, much less afraid of everything.
We did have a thunderstorm today that made them nervous, could hear their quacking inside the house lol.
I think a combination of putting their feeder on the ground and more treats is helping.

 

[jmoschner]

Last November we changed out the bowl used to feed the strays and they wouldn't come near it. It was a cheap Halloween candy bowl on clearance, same color as the old one just with a few decorations near the lip. I had to sand off the decorations before they would come near the bowl.

 

[Kimmyh51]

oh my goodness. . funny. . but not funny. . I understand!

Yes ducks are VERY resistant to change and anything different in their environment is interpreted as a threat and especially anything over head since that is where most of their danger comes from is above.
I don't *think* they would starve themselves to death. . but you may have to entice them to their feeder with treats they really like or something until they decide it's not going to axe murder them.

I wouldn’t agree that ducks hate change as mine often get REALLY excited about the smallest of changes.
For example I move a house within a run just a small way, and before I leave the run the ducks are making excited noises in anticipation of their investigative journey into the house in its new location. Or a new shelter put up in the ducks main outdoor area (we are talking some sheep fencing wire bent into a u shape with both ends plugged into the ground then some branches from pine or similar trees draped over and through the sheep netting to make a green half circle shelter) will have a dozen or more ducks waddling up to investigate, the girls making loud “uuuugggh, uuuughhh, uuughhh” noises, and 5 minutes later half the ducks have climbed on top of the thing and the other half are foraging their hearts out as if I buried a pot of gold under it!
As for fresh hay... now matter how often or how many times.. that’s ALWAYS a reason to party!
But ANYTHING that seems remotely threatening, for example things larger than them, things which move ‘by themselves’, things which cause light to reflect in a way that ‘might’ be a hawk or other predator coming for them... scares the crap out of them.
When it comes to tarps and wind... you have a HUGE thing right above the ducks... and it is MOVING!!! #Insert theme tune to Friday the 13th or psycho or similar here#
In a ducks head, the massive super giant hawk from hell is now hovering above them, deciding which duck is the juiciest morsel, or figuring out how many ducks it can carry in one trip and how many trips between here and the hawks hawk lair, it will take to get all the ducks back to the lair..and .......THERE IS NO WHERE TO GO TO ESCAPE!!!
And remember if you are a duck or another creature that is a prey animal... one single tiny mistake is all it takes to lose your life... or that of your ducklings, or both.... so they do tend to view the world with the utmost of caution...
In addition, ducks and other prey animals apparently decide who is a predator and who is not by physical appearance..
for example predators have eyes in the front of their head and prey animals have eyes on the side (predators to hone in on prey in front of them, prey to see as much as possible from every direction in order to evade approaching predators)
And hawks have claws/talons.. nail like structures that are found at the end of long, separate (as opposed to webbed or hoof like) digits...

We have eyes on the front of our heads
We have long visibly separate digits

Apparently to most prey animals we look like a very large predator with ENORMOUS talons!

Looking at it from that perspective it’s a wonder our ducks have anything to do with us at all even on the calmest wind and tarp free day....

And it’s no wonder they freak out when the large long talon’d predator (that for some unknown reason gives out food), suddenly invites HUGE owl or hawk friend to flap its wings and “hover above the ducks over there till you decide which ones you want to have for dinner”


Having said that.... sometimes... after years of spending all my money on food, vet bills, housing, treats and other stuff for ducks... and still being treated like I’m Freddy Krueger I do find myself asking my ducks:

“Seriously guys? When there’s a bucket of food or treats in my hand, I’m the best thing since sliced bread... more even... it’s like I’m a rock star or game show host.... but if I come near you with empty hands or the wind gets up... suddenly I’m a monster?
Seriously ducks?! If I were going to eat you... don’t you think I might have done so several years and thousands of dollars ago??
And if I am an axe murderer ducks... WTF?! kind of logic tells you to come running up to me risking your lives just for a handful of garden peas???!!”

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I wouldn’t agree that ducks hate change as mine often get REALLY excited about the smallest of changes.
For example I move a house within a run just a small way, and before I leave the run the ducks are making excited noises in anticipation of their investigative journey into the house in its new location. Or a new shelter put up in the ducks main outdoor area (we are talking some sheep fencing wire bent into a u shape with both ends plugged into the ground then some branches from pine or similar trees draped over and through the sheep netting to make a green half circle shelter) will have a dozen or more ducks waddling up to investigate, the girls making loud “uuuugggh, uuuughhh, uuughhh” noises, and 5 minutes later half the ducks have climbed on top of the thing and the other half are foraging their hearts out as if I buried a pot of gold under it!
As for fresh hay... now matter how often or how many times.. that’s ALWAYS a reason to party!
But ANYTHING that seems remotely threatening, for example things larger than them, things which move ‘by themselves’, things which cause light to reflect in a way that ‘might’ be a hawk or other predator coming for them... scares the crap out of them.
When it comes to tarps and wind... you have a HUGE thing right above the ducks... and it is MOVING!!! #Insert theme tune to Friday the 13th or psycho or similar here#
In a ducks head, the massive super giant hawk from hell is now hovering above them, deciding which duck is the juiciest morsel, or figuring out how many ducks it can carry in one trip and how many trips between here and the hawks hawk lair, it will take to get all the ducks back to the lair..and .......THERE IS NO WHERE TO GO TO ESCAPE!!!
And remember if you are a duck or another creature that is a prey animal... one single tiny mistake is all it takes to lose your life... or that of your ducklings, or both.... so they do tend to view the world with the utmost of caution...
In addition, ducks and other prey animals apparently decide who is a predator and who is not by physical appearance..
for example predators have eyes in the front of their head and prey animals have eyes on the side (predators to hone in on prey in front of them, prey to see as much as possible from every direction in order to evade approaching predators)
And hawks have claws/talons.. nail like structures that are found at the end of long, separate (as opposed to webbed or hoof like) digits...

We have eyes on the front of our heads
We have long visibly separate digits

Apparently to most prey animals we look like a very large predator with ENORMOUS talons!

Looking at it from that perspective it’s a wonder our ducks have anything to do with us at all even on the calmest wind and tarp free day....

And it’s no wonder they freak out when the large long talon’d predator (that for some unknown reason gives out food), suddenly invites HUGE owl or hawk friend to flap its wings and “hover above the ducks over there till you decide which ones you want to have for dinner”


Having said that.... sometimes... after years of spending all my money on food, vet bills, housing, treats and other stuff for ducks... and still being treated like I’m Freddy Krueger I do find myself asking my ducks:

“Seriously guys? When there’s a bucket of food or treats in my hand, I’m the best thing since sliced bread... more even... it’s like I’m a rock star or game show host.... but if I come near you with empty hands or the wind gets up... suddenly I’m a monster?
Seriously ducks?! If I were going to eat you... don’t you think I might have done so several years and thousands of dollars ago??
And if I am an axe murderer ducks... WTF?! kind of logic tells you to come running up to me risking your lives just for a handful of garden peas???!!”

I should've said they *can* be resistant to change.
Sometimes mine can't wait for me to leave the run so they can investigate a new thing. Other times they won't go near a new or different something. I have no idea what makes them do one or the other.
A week ago I put out a new water bowl with the heater in it for winter.
It is actually not new it's the same one I used last year.
It's not gotten too cold yet so their other bucket has not ever froze up.
They have not so much as dipped their bill in the new water.
That has to be just because it's new or different. Normally they have to dip their bill in every single water source there is.

 

[Kimmyh51]

I should've said they *can* be resistant to change.
Sometimes mine can't wait for me to leave the run so they can investigate a new thing. Other times they won't go near a new or different something. I have no idea what makes them do one or the other.
A week ago I put out a new water bowl with the heater in it for winter.
It is actually not new it's the same one I used last year.
It's not gotten too cold yet so their other bucket has not ever froze up.
They have not so much as dipped their bill in the new water.
That has to be just because it's new or different. Normally they have to dip their bill in every single water source there is.

Have you tried putting green garden peas in that new bowl? Most ducks I have met will throw pretty much every caution to the wind if green peas are involved, lol

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Have you tried putting green garden peas in that new bowl? Most ducks I have met will throw pretty much every caution to the wind if green peas are involved, lol

Haha.
They got over it as soon as everything else froze up and they needed a drink.