Ming Mei and that color red, I tell ya! She just loves it. When I lived in Alabama, I noticed when we were on walks she used to walk to each red car in the parking lot, stop and admire it, then move on to the next red car. Nowadays, if you give her a choice of something red and something not red, she'll go with the red every time (like when she has to pick out a pair of shoes, she loves her red ones and hates the blue ones). She also likes to have her toe nails painted, so I'll hold the bottles up for her and she'll pick the color. she almost always picks red. One time she freaked us out by picking blue, so I obliged and did them blue.... she then got really angry with me and insisted I re-do them for her. Turns out she was attacking the blue, not picking it... She then picked red. lol.
Most of my ducks are pretty tame. 5 outta 6 are well behaved enough to take to public places all the time. Ming Mei and Victor are very good, but they are the oldest and have had the most training/attention thus far. Ming Mei is heavily imprinted on me and is a wonderfully tame duck (she tolerates everyone else, lol). Victor is very laid back and is nice to everyone he isn't scared of. He's our best "walker" and likes to show off a lot in the the park. Moxy is up there too, she just loves all people (and she listens well). She'll sit for you and let just about anyone pet her (we call her our ambassador duck). Norie is very sweet but a bit spastic, lol. She'll run away from you scared out of her wits, then stop dead in her tracks with her back flattened wanting to be pet... lol silly duck...
I adopted Vinny and Ollie when they were about 8 months old. I adopted them from my old roommate. Vinny was originally my duck, so I raised him until he was 3 months old (side by side with Ollie) and Ollie was to be my roommate's duck. But Vin and Oll became friends and bonded together a bit, so I offered to give Vinny to my roommate. Eventually my roommate couldn't keep them anymore, so I ended up with both of them. He didn't do a good job handling and bonding with Ollie so she can be a huge brat. Vinny is well behaved, but we had to train him not to bite or squawk at all hours. Ollie has been a bit tougher to socialize and get to trust us. She's decided she likes Joe, but not really me.... She likes to bite me and she likes to YELL. She also likes to bite her harnesses a lot, so we're still teaching her things. We've had them both since november, so we may never get Ollie to like/trust us completely but she loves the other ducks and likes living with us (she likes the benefits of having spoiling ducky parents, lol). She just never bonded with a person during that important time when a duckling....
For anyone planning on keeping a house duck, I recommend getting only one at a time, or in twos. They should be separated from each other in two separate brooders until they are at least 5-6 weeks old. They shouldn't be given mirrors, but they should be handled one at a time endlessly. At least 2 hours throughout a day. That's how you get them to bond with you. If you can put their brooders in whatever room you happen to be in, that works very well (We use plastic containers for brooders, so we could move them around easily). I also recommend a duckling that was incubated, not sat by another duck/chicken. A duckling imprinted on people make for better indoor pets usually, so if you have the choice I'd go with that. I would not get a duckling any older than Day old, or a shipped Day old. If the duckling has spent more than a few days with other owl, it may not bond to you. I had that problem with teo duckies named Peter and Sammy. They spend the first week of life with 8 other ducks and 8 chicks, so they were never that interested in me. I had to find them another home when they were about 3 months old.
I think Ming mei and Victor turned out so well because I had Ming Mei alone for about two weeks before Victor came along. Since the big size difference, I had to separate them, so I spent a lot of time with the individually. They only took baths together. Right after I got victor, I broke my knee and was in the house 24/7 for three months, giving me ample time to spend with each of them. I was able to teach them tricks and diaper them often. Moxy and Norie are on their way to being like vic and ming as well, they are only 5 months old now. Those two are not imprinted on me however, they are Joe's ducks.
Since I work from home, I can spend a ot of time with all the ducks. I go to their pen and visit them often throughout the day, which helps keep the bond strong. Even Ollie gets excited to see me in the morning. And they all get upset when I go away for a few days, then act extra loving when I get back. lol. I love my ducks
