DuckAmateur
Hatching
- Nov 8, 2016
- 1
- 0
- 7
So, I'll give you the low down.
We recently hatched some ducklings who have now grown to adults (about 4-5 months old), we originally had 12 eggs but only 3 actually hatched. We are duck amateurs (kept chickens all our lives but obviously ducks are a bit different). We have a very large pond, it is about 82ft x 52ft (25m x 16m). We researched a little at how to introduce them to the water, the pond, their house etc and that has all gone swimmingly (no pun intended) except for getting them into bed.
We began googling it and soon realised that ducks are not like chickens in that they will not put themselves in their house by themselves however they are quite good at being herded. Our first tactic was to try and herd them with a long rake (this was the only thing we could find which was long enough to have any effect) however, this was soon flawed when they would just sit in the middle of the pond.
It has now escalated to throwing stones near them to try and spook them into the direction of their house, whilst saying 'bed time' repeatedly, hoping that this would be learnt. Low and behold, it hasn't been learnt and we are now a bit stuck throwing stones into the pond sounding like idiots. Our only method isn't working as the pond is so big, they just swim in the wrong direction.
We also do have quite a lot of fish in the pond so the 'throwing' idea isn't exactly ideal. The only other thing we have tried is getting into waders, but obviously the pond is so cold now so it isn't really a great idea (English weather and all).
We have had a couple of miraculous moments in the Summer where they went to bed themselves but that has only been a handful of times.
Now the clocks have gone back, our entire household doesn't get home until 6pm or later, it's already pitch black before we have even tried to get them to go to bed. And when it's dark.... it's sooooo much harder!
My question is, does anybody have any tips or tricks they are willing to share in order to get these ducks to go to bed? I have just spent 45 minutes trying to get them in bed, so I've come to see if any experts can help.
We have one Saxony duck (we think is female) and two Cayuga ducks (one female, one male) attached some photos which aren't great but it kind of shows them in our giant pond (fyi, the pond has been cleared since these photos).
Any items to use? Methods? Calls? Whistles? Dance moves?
We are willing to try anything.
Please help. Thank you!
Victoria


We recently hatched some ducklings who have now grown to adults (about 4-5 months old), we originally had 12 eggs but only 3 actually hatched. We are duck amateurs (kept chickens all our lives but obviously ducks are a bit different). We have a very large pond, it is about 82ft x 52ft (25m x 16m). We researched a little at how to introduce them to the water, the pond, their house etc and that has all gone swimmingly (no pun intended) except for getting them into bed.
We began googling it and soon realised that ducks are not like chickens in that they will not put themselves in their house by themselves however they are quite good at being herded. Our first tactic was to try and herd them with a long rake (this was the only thing we could find which was long enough to have any effect) however, this was soon flawed when they would just sit in the middle of the pond.
It has now escalated to throwing stones near them to try and spook them into the direction of their house, whilst saying 'bed time' repeatedly, hoping that this would be learnt. Low and behold, it hasn't been learnt and we are now a bit stuck throwing stones into the pond sounding like idiots. Our only method isn't working as the pond is so big, they just swim in the wrong direction.
We also do have quite a lot of fish in the pond so the 'throwing' idea isn't exactly ideal. The only other thing we have tried is getting into waders, but obviously the pond is so cold now so it isn't really a great idea (English weather and all).
We have had a couple of miraculous moments in the Summer where they went to bed themselves but that has only been a handful of times.
Now the clocks have gone back, our entire household doesn't get home until 6pm or later, it's already pitch black before we have even tried to get them to go to bed. And when it's dark.... it's sooooo much harder!
My question is, does anybody have any tips or tricks they are willing to share in order to get these ducks to go to bed? I have just spent 45 minutes trying to get them in bed, so I've come to see if any experts can help.
We have one Saxony duck (we think is female) and two Cayuga ducks (one female, one male) attached some photos which aren't great but it kind of shows them in our giant pond (fyi, the pond has been cleared since these photos).
Any items to use? Methods? Calls? Whistles? Dance moves?
We are willing to try anything.
Please help. Thank you!
Victoria