help! my ducklings are scared of me!

[cookie2018]

i have 3 pelkin & 2 khaki campbell that are a week old. i actually didn’t buy these little guys, my neighbor decided to impulsively buy 6 of them & after 2 days she decided she didn’t want to take care of them anymore. the first 2 days she had them was very rough, they had no heat lamp, hardly any water & the wrong kind of food. due to her lack of knowledge one of the poor things has passed. so i decided to take them in before any more die. so i’m not sure if this is why they’re so terrified of humans now, but this is my 3rd day with them & they don’t like me at all i sit with them every day for hours, talk to them, feed them. sometimes they let me pet them, then sometimes they run in terror. they run & cry if i pick them up. a couple have eaten out of my hand but i tried to hand feed them today & they wouldn’t come near my hand. i don’t know what to do, it makes me sad they’re so scared of me what can i do to make them not be so scared?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

So they're less than a week old? I wouldn't worry. Out of hundreds of chicks, I've only had a handful that from the start weren't scared of me. Give them some time to get off baby brain and realize you're not a threat

 

[threelittleduckies]

Aaw that’s really sad, you’re very kind to take them in and care for them. Sorry I don’t really know how to help as I’m new to keeping ducks as well. My babies are now 12 weeks old. I’d just persevere and give them time to trust you and bond with you. What a rough start, poor babies

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Ducks take awhile to warm up to people and the trust bond will take more than 3 days. Even if you spend 24/7 with them and give the best care possible they will still sometimes grow up flighty.
My favorite way to build trust is to lay a blanket down, sit on it and place some treats all around you. Wait for the ducks to approach you and don't initially try to touch or grab them. The first 4-5 times I do this with new ducks, I won't even reach for them I just sit there. I did this with some ducklings that my husband brought home from tractor supply last year that acted like I was the devil when they first came home. Now they are some of my friendliest ducks even though they're runners (known to be more flighty).

 

[cookie2018]

Ducks take awhile to warm up to people and the trust bond will take more than 3 days. Even if you spend 24/7 with them and give the best care possible they will still sometimes grow up flighty.
My favorite way to build trust is to lay a blanket down, sit on it and place some treats all around you. Wait for the ducks to approach you and don't initially try to touch or grab them. The first 4-5 times I do this with new ducks, I won't even reach for them I just sit there. I did this with some ducklings that my husband brought home from tractor supply last year that acted like I was the devil when they first came home. Now they are some of my friendliest ducks even though they're runners (known to be more flighty).
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i fed them about an hour ago & for the first time they all ate from my hand! they were nibbling all over me lol, one of the khakis even stayed in my hand for a minute. i did what you said & i think we’re making a little progress. the pekins stayed far away from me but both the khakis came up to me. i believe the pekins are a couple days older so i think they’ve bonded with each other but i’m definitely going to keep trying. thank you for the advice!

 

[cookie2018]

So they're less than a week old? I wouldn't worry. Out of hundreds of chicks, I've only had a handful that from the start weren't scared of me. Give them some time to get off baby brain and realize you're not a threat

i’m not 100% sure how old they are but i believe they’re about a week. the khakis are a little smaller so i think they’re a couple days younger than the pekins.

 

[LT71689]

You weren’t there when they were born so they imprinted on someone/something else, or each other. You may come to be trusted and wanted but it’ll take more than a few days (and like you said, they had a rough start and lost one of their siblings so...it’s just tough)

if you can, lay on the ground/floor with them. The lower you can go the better because duck instinct is ‘everything moving above my head is trying to kill me’

mine didn’t like getting in my lap/being held in my hands very much but if I laid down on my stomach they’d huddle up against my chest or under my throat in my hair when I put a pillow down. I could spend hours like that with them, but If I sat back up I was once again too tall and too scary

Around their 2nd and 3rd week if I held them they desperately tried to climb up my arms and onto my head, or up my shoulders onto the back of the couch/chair - basically they wanted to be as high up as possible. Give it a minute and they’ll be climbing you like a mountain