how do you get your ducks to go to bed?

[showjumper_girl2002]

i'm having a hard time getting my 2 ducks (2 months old) to go to bed willingly without haveing to chase them to get them in

they are very friendly and like being loved on but are too smart for their own good! they know when i want them to go in their home and make it hard for me to get them there! i try treats which they have no problem taking from me any other time, but when they know it's when i'm trying to get them to bed they completely ingore the treat and me

any other time they follow me and cuddle. so....how do you do it!!!

 

[Komaki]

Thats easy! Ready? Its just like getting a duck to lay where you want. Cant be done! At least I never could. I am going to follow this post if you dont mind, I would love to know also. Thank you for posting it. ( Im a chicken guy, but I have ducks also)

 

[showjumper_girl2002]

Quote:

I was afraid of that lol

 

[annie3001]

mine go to bed when its dark. they free range with our chickens. i dunno, thats how mine do it.... hopefully someone else offers some advice. try treats.

 

[BoutrosBoutrosGalusGalus]

mine used to go to bed nicely at the appointed time, now they want to hang in the pond all night

I chase them in with a pole

 

[showjumper_girl2002]

Quote:

 

[pirtykitty]

I put romaine lettuce cut up in one of their water bucket in their night pen and they come it for that .. to get started I would show them the romaine and they would follow me in for it.. it'd also put some on their ramp and they'd eat it and go in and find the bucket..

They also love chopped cucumbers floated in water..
I also shake their mazuri and they come a runnin in the evening... they also come to "duck duck duck"...
I also try to put them up the same time every night..

 

[mhwc56]

i have always made a certain sound/ call when i have some peas...they trip over themselves to get to me for those! So bribbery works real well if they know it's going to be a bowl of peas at the end of their day.

However, i have always told them "okay, time for bed! Let's go! time for bed!" so if they haven't automatically put themselves up i just say that and off they go probably 9 times out of 10. that other 1% i have to get up behind them and sort of herd them along .Also on occasion "Splash"will sit and stare at me until i pick her up and carry her while "Puddle" runs along after us. There are just times that Splash wants a little extra attention..LOL

 

[mommyofthreewithchicks]

I trained mine by.... Not feeding them until right before I wanted them in there. I feed in the barn and now that they are trained I can feed any time of day and they still go in at bedtime. I think I fed them for about two weeks just to make sure they were trained.

I wouldn't suggest doing this all the time because if they still have food in the dark that is asking the rodents to find them but... Chasing them even with my herd of three kids ended in disaster and left me very frustrated (made the kids giggle). I do also have a fishing net that I can try to catch birds with but the ducks are very fast outside... Usually faster than me.

 

[gryeyes]

Mine have not wanted to go into any coop where I used to live. They're Cayugas, so they became Ninja Stealth Patrol Ducks at night. (A call duck pair simply nested under a very low, overgrown tree all night.)

I moved from the valley floor to just under 2200 feet elevation and instead of several separate coops, there is just one former garage transmogrified into a 17 X 22 coop. In the interim, I got some Cayuga ducklings and a pair of Toulouse geese. The geese troop into the coop after all the chickens.

When I brought the adult Cayugas to the property, it was at night and I simply PUT them I to the coop that first night. The next day, theyexploredand stayed out quite late.... The geese came out twice to natter at the ducks, but then reentered the coop and stayed there. I waited a while, then opened the people door to the coop and kinda herded the Cayugas through it. The calls followed. Then I herded the ducklings in with some effort.

Since then the ducks and ducklings have gone into the coop all on their own.

I think there are three reasons for their compliance: LOTS of room, plenty of feeders, and the nights are getting colder than they used to get down on the valley floor. It's all comfort to ducks.

I just hope they keep it up, because chasing/herding ducks makes me crazy after the first 15 minutes. I know they're laughing at me, too.