Looked at Jack again (as he fled in terror from me and a bucket of water
) and he does have the green shimmer to his head. They are still spending most of their time hiding. I just need to be patient and they will come around....I hope
They are still afraid of me, my husband, the wind...pretty much everything. There is a cinder block in their run area. They "hide" in the holes when I am in there. So there head is in the hole against the fence and their duck butts are hanging out the back. They seem to think if they can't see me, I can't see them!
They are eating the chicken feed I got to get them started and I am introducing other foods to see what they will eat. So far, they like spinach and romaine lettuce. They do not like celery and cauliflower.
As I've read, Khakis and Runners are already quite skittish birds--seldom can become hand tamed (though some can succeed somewhat, with effort).
I wouldn't expect these birds, esp. as adults to ever really come around. If I were you, I would breed the Khaki pair to start a family if you can. Get a Muscovy hen as a natural mother--since you like the 'natural' side too! She will set the eggs, if she has good mothering instinct.
We will be getting 10-15 Campbells in the Spring--babies......
great luck to you, and I do hope that you are one of the lucky ones and your new babies really calm down for you--I am sure they will 'somewhat'...
. Once the days get longer and the girls start laying, I will check their eggs to see if Jack is doing his job. If they are fertile, I might just whip up one of those cooler incubators MissPrissy posted plans for and try hatching a few. Muscovy's are really interesting looking ducks so that is always an option. I just don't want to grow the flock too big until I see how the yard holds up to daily duck use.
Add tomatoes to their list of DON'T LIKES. These ducks are acting a lot like a cockatiel I once adopted. It had never been offered anything but seed as a chick and would not even try fresh fruit or veggies. At least the ducks like lettuce and spinach. I will just keep trying new stuff.
Our ducks LOVEEEEE mango, but there Muscovies.... so it's there hispanic heritage. If you can manage to get some pasion Fruit or Mango, your ducks will go gaga over it.