Friendly ducks

[HayleyCrum]

I have read manys opinions on what to do with ducks of they are scared of you. i have raised mine since they were babies and feel like they still don’t understand im there owner. i give them treats often but unless i have treats they do not want anything to do with me. this makes me so sad because i just want them to be friendly and follow me. I have two pekins and two khaki campbells and i feel like my khaki campbells scare my pekins and thats why they don't come ti me. once i have my pekins in my lap there fine and will sit there all day but they run unless there in my arms. i dont know what else to do im lost.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Spend time just sitting by them. They will eventually come by you. Keep at it with the treats too They go through a stage at 3-5 weeks old when they are scared of everything. Try not to take it personally.

 

[Quatie]

This is a really good thread on socializing them. I followed a lot of the tips in this thread and it changed their behavior of my ducks in a few days.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/anyone-need-help-taming-their-ducks-its-a-thing.1443804/

Some ducks are harder to socialize than others. Usually when I need to treat them for some reason, they become much easier to handle due to the consistent contact. However one of my runner ducks took months to finally accept us some. She has been my biggest exception.

I will also say my most social duck took over a year before he was super social. Now he will we follow us around and will allow and even like the occasional pet. A lot of it just takes time.

 

[CoriM]

Also I think it's good to have reasonable expectations for the type of animal they are. I've had three batches of ducklings now, and my last two I spent lot of time holding them while they were young and living in the brooder, but still, once they go outside with the big ducks, they don't like to get caught and picked up. I think this is just normal duck behavior. I picked up my friendliest baby today - she's about 11 weeks old - and put her on my lap. She used to love snuggling and sleeping on my lap up until a few weeks ago when she moved outside. She pecked my clothes for a few seconds, then hopped off to do her own thing. My ducks go crazy for treats and crowd all around me, but they also graze nearby if I am out and about, and will hover near me if I'm weeding in hopes they will get a worm. I know they trust me, but most of them still don't like to get picked up and they hardly ever come when I call them - ha, unless there's a treat. I'm just content knowing they trust me and feel comfortable when I'm close.

 

[HayleyCrum]

Spend time just sitting by them. They will eventually come by you. Keep at it with the treats too They go through a stage at 3-5 weeks old when they are scared of everything. Try not to take it personally.

my ducks are much older than this

 

[blklangshandude]

I have read manys opinions on what to do with ducks of they are scared of you. i have raised mine since they were babies and feel like they still don’t understand im there owner. i give them treats often but unless i have treats they do not want anything to do with me. this makes me so sad because i just want them to be friendly and follow me. I have two pekins and two khaki campbells and i feel like my khaki campbells scare my pekins and thats why they don't come ti me. once i have my pekins in my lap there fine and will sit there all day but they run unless there in my arms. i dont know what else to do im lost.

I know. I have never had a duck that wasn’t terrified of me. When I visited Disneyland they had ducks that totally trusted humans. It is that common question. Nature versus nurture. Were these ducks at Disneyland friendly because of the breed or were they just around humans so much that they learned to trust them?

I think ducks are entertaining as heck whether they like me or not. I have just learned to accept their rude behavior as normal.