Excited about chick's & ducklings!

[LorelloFarms]

I just got 6 chick's and 3 ducklings from our local feed store and could not be more excited! The chick's are great and seem like a breeze compared to the messy ducklings! The guy that convinced me to buy my sweet ducklings apparently had no idea what he was talking about, but I'm all in now! Btw, does anyone know the breed of my precious pooping

tornados?

 

[Tenrec]

Those look like little Khakis!

Ducks are absolutely messy and remain messy for the rest of their messy lives. The cuteness/silliness makes up for it, though...Plus the eggs are absolutely divine.

 

[LorelloFarms]

That's what I thought from the research I've done. Do you have experience with them? They are very skiddish and elusive. Will they always be like that?
Also, thanks for your quick reply!

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas and

! Pleased you joined our community! You can pick up a lot of great articles in this link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/256233/ducks-sticky-topics-index
Best wishes and thanks for joining BYC!!

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under LorelloFarms

Welcome!

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

You might want to also pop in and say hello on your local thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/26/where-am-i-where-are-you ‘Find your State’s thread.

If you would like to share more pictures and stories of your flock, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out

 

[Tenrec]

That's what I thought from the research I've done. Do you have experience with them? They are very skiddish and elusive. Will they always be like that?
Also, thanks for your quick reply!

I haven't raised khaki's specifically, but I have mallards, which can also be fairly skittish.

Since they're babies, they're going to be easier to habituate. They're in a new environment right now, so some skittishness is to be expected. Also, this goes without saying, but don't ever pursue your ducks if they run from you. They're prey animals and some things are just going to upset them.

Food/treats is always the best way to win any animal over. Try to get them to come to you and associate you with that.

Also if you let them sleep on you/under your covers with you (don't try sleeping yourself though, you can roll on them and crush them), they'll trust you more...You just have to tolerate a bit of pooping.

They're small little prey animals, so don't hover over them too much. Try to get closer to their level. Most things that hover over baby ducks and grab at them are trying to eat them! Just hold them a lot and make sure they associate you with food/safety, basically.

 

[drumstick diva]

Khaki Campbells are beautiful. You may want to check out the duck thread for more info on having them trusting you. Ducks certainly are much messier than chicks, both with splashing water on everything and being so much more creative in decorating with poo. They do have the cutest faces though. Welcome to Backyard chickens (and ducks)