Help Please!!!!

[Sue S]

Could really use some advice, Please. I'm so upset & frustrated at the same time!!!! Okay, I have 2 pekin ducklings, I got them from TSC when they were about a 1 1/2 -2 wks old & I've had them for about a month & half now, they had constant contact with me when they were in the garage & when I moved them outside to the duck pen a couple weeks ago, I keep them separated from the adult ducks ( but they can still see & hear them ). I put them into the run every morning & back into the pen every night, they should be used to me but their Not they act like I'm going to kill them every time I even walk near them, I say their names as I'm walking to the pen or near them, & today I let them out of the run to hangout with the adults & it went pretty well until I walked by them, they jumped into the stream that's by the pen & couldn't figure out how to get out so I walked down to help them & they went crazy, ran up over the bank, so I put them back into the pen & later I went down to the pen with treats sat on the floor, put some treat on the ground & they just cowered into the corner, I slowly crawled over & picked 1 of them tried to hold her with treats in my hand & talked softly to her, showed her the treats while petting her head & neck, all she did the whole time was freak out.. I know some ducks don't like to be held & that's fine but I don't want them to freak out everytime I go near them. I would have thought that they would be used to be by now since I'm the only person they have interacted with since I got them.So, advice will be greatly appreciated
I don't want to rehome them but I don't want to keep ducks that are afraid of me & only want to stay in the run.

 

[danceswithronin]

It just takes some time, they will probably calm as they grow older and you keep working with them. In my experience poultry from age 2 weeks to around 4-5 weeks is especially skittish for some reason, but then they start to mellow out as they fledge.

One thing I've done to combat this with chickens is to just spend like, 20-30 minutes a day doing nothing but sitting on the floor of the run and letting them move around me as they please, without trying to touch or catch them or feed them anything. Do it every day and they start getting more used to you and realize you aren't a threat to them.

 

[Sue S]

I hope so!!!

 

[Sue S]

It just takes some time, they will probably calm as they grow older and you keep working with them. In my experience poultry from age 2 weeks to around 4-5 weeks is especially skittish for some reason, but then they start to mellow out as they fledge.

One thing I've done to combat this with chickens is to just spend like, 20-30 minutes a day doing nothing but sitting on the floor of the run and letting them move around me as they please, without trying to touch or catch them or feed them anything. Do it every day and they start getting more used to you and realize you aren't a threat to them.

I will try doing that but like I said all they do is cower in the corner while I'm around them, they won't move!!!

 

[quackiemama]

I call it puberty! The little adolescents do go through a weird time in life.

 

[danceswithronin]

I will try doing that but like I said all they do is cower in the corner while I'm around them, they won't move!!!

How long do you stay in there? When I'm doing this I start out not even looking at or talking to the chicks, I'll go in there and read a book or my phone or something and completely ignore them, just sitting cross-legged on the ground for 20-30 minutes. Eventually their curiosity gets the better of them and the bravest ones will approach me.

In two weeks I've gotten a chick who used to run terrified every time I saw her to actually jump up on my lap of her own accord this way. The whole flock used to run from me when I entered the run too, and now they run towards the sound of my voice because I consistently go out and visit with them every afternoon, and bring treats when I do.

 

[Sue S]

Great!!!! I guess I'm just not used to ducks acting like this cuz all the other ducks that I've had/ have never acted like idiots!!!!

 

[sourland]

Ducklings tend to go through a squirrely stage in their teen aged weeks. Interestingly in my experience this is not as noticeable in ducklings raised in a flock by a mother.

 

[Sue S]

How long do you stay in there? When I'm doing this I start out not even looking at or talking to the chicks, I'll go in there and read a book or my phone or something and completely ignore them, just sitting cross-legged on the ground for 20-30 minutes. Eventually their curiosity gets the better of them and the bravest ones will approach me.

In two weeks I've gotten a chick who used to run terrified every time I saw her to actually jump up on my lap of her own accord this way. The whole flock used to run from me when I entered the run too, and now they run towards the sound of my voice because I consistently go out and visit with them every afternoon, and bring treats when I do.

When they were still in the garage I was in there with them all the time cuz the garage is more like my husbands man-cave!!! So, I would be in there for hrs with them. Now that their in the pen I spend about 10 mins in the morning with them & move them into the run then about 10 in the evening when I put them back into the pen at night. But, I go down to the run a few times a day & check on them & talk to them.

 

[danceswithronin]

When they were still in the garage I was in there with them all the time cuz the garage is more like my husbands man-cave!!! So, I would be in there for hrs with them. Now that their in the pen I spend about 10 mins in the morning with them & move them into the run then about 10 in the evening when I put them back into the pen at night. But, I go down to the run a few times a day & check on them & talk to them.

Pretty sure it's just a phase. Half of my teenaged chicks are doing this right now and scurry away if I reach for them like I'm trying to murder them, the other half (the brave half) will hop up in my lap just like a cat or a dog.