Ducks won’t swim. Super strange.

[corkse01]

We have a 3/4 acre pond. My 5 ducks grew up with 2 turkeys and now all they do is peck around the yard and landscaping all day. They will drink from the pond, but won’t go in it. If we put them in the water, they freak out and make for the shore. They will sleep in the sand though...and stand in the water...but no swimming. Ducks are 7 weeks old. We’ve separated them from the turkeys at this point. Any help would be appreciated, we keep ducks to clean our pond, but this batch is not working out, lol.

 

[Isaac 0]

I would suspect either a Snapping Turtle, Mink, Muskrat, or any aquatic swimming animal is lurking in the pond.

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

We have a 3/4 acre pond. My 5 ducks grew up with 2 turkeys and now all they do is peck around the yard and landscaping all day. They will drink from the pond, but won’t go in it. If we put them in the water, they freak out and make for the shore. They will sleep in the sand though...and stand in the water...but no swimming. Ducks are 7 weeks old. We’ve separated them from the turkeys at this point. Any help would be appreciated, we keep ducks to clean our pond, but this batch is not working out, lol.

If they were raised with the turkeys they may not want to swim!

 

[corkse01]

I would suspect either a Snapping Turtle, Mink, Muskrat, or any aquatic swimming animal is lurking in the pond.

YES! That must be it! We have a snapping turtle in our pond, but our previous ducks never minded him (or her). We spent part of quarantine building a floating duck house for them. Do you think we should wait until they get a little older to set it out? Right now it seems they would just be stranded on it, lol. I don't know what to do with ducks that won't swim!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Get rid of those snappers! Go to you tube you can find videos of snapping turtles drowning a full grown duck.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That is an awesome house, but how will the be protected from other predators? Mink and raccoons that will swim out owls in the night?

 

[DuckyDonna]

Maybe take off the floaty things and have it be a land house where you can lock them up every night

 

[WallyG74]

That’s super nice! If the ducks don’t like it I’ll hang out in it!

 

[Flockincrazy]

We have a 3/4 acre pond. My 5 ducks grew up with 2 turkeys and now all they do is peck around the yard and landscaping all day. They will drink from the pond, but won’t go in it. If we put them in the water, they freak out and make for the shore. They will sleep in the sand though...and stand in the water...but no swimming. Ducks are 7 weeks old. We’ve separated them from the turkeys at this point. Any help would be appreciated, we keep ducks to clean our pond, but this batch is not working out, lol.

Don't really have any advice except for keep trying you want to hear something funny I have the opposite problem I have a turkey that won't stay out of the pond with the ducks

 

[theautumnalfox]

Snapping turtles were responsible for decapitating a wild duck on my parents' small pond. I would recommend removing them.