How do you make ducks imprint on you and not their siblings?

[berIin]

The ducks seem more attached to each other. I sorta want them to imprint on me. They seem scared of me. They are still young enough too.

 

[KaleIAm]

How old are they?

 

[berIin]

How old are they?

They hatched yesterday

 

[KaleIAm]

They hatched yesterday

If you want imprinted ducklings I recommend spending all your time with them. Don't do anything that scares them. Mother ducks are with their babies constantly.

Still, they might not imprint on you. It seems like the more ducklings there are the less likely human imprinting is. I could be wrong about this, it is just a personal observation from my own life and reading many threads here.

And even if they don't imprint on you they can still be delightful, wonderful pets. Imprinted ducks are high maintenance!

 

[berIin]

If you want imprinted ducklings I recommend spending all your time with them. Don't do anything that scares them. Mother ducks are with their babies constantly.

Still, they might not imprint on you. It seems like the more ducklings there are the less likely human imprinting is. I could be wrong about this, it is just a personal observation from my own life and reading many threads here.

And even if they don't imprint on you they can still be delightful, wonderful pets. Imprinted ducks are high maintenance!

Thank you!

 

[fatty and friends]

don’t imprint ducks unless you plan to keep them for their whole lives of 10+ years (rehoming and being away from you is way too stressful) and are able to give them attention daily. my ducks are imprinted, but they are loved pets who are with us all the time

 

[Ruby Rogue]

I hatched 3 ducklings for a friend a few months ago, the first one came about 36 hours before the second 2. He chirped for me constantly, I called him beeper and we would beep back and forth from different rooms, such a sweetie. As soon as he had a real friend he didn't even like me anymore.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

You have to spend pretty much ALL of your time with them to imprint and as others said it's not a 100% thing. Don't worry though if they don't imprint as you can still end up with friendly ducks without imprinting. I personally don't let my ducklings imprint on me simply because a mother duck is with them 24/7 for the first few weeks and since I simply can't be with them constantly I don't feel that it's right to create that bond then not be able to be right there with them 24/7 like their mother would (again I don't judge it's just how I feel with my ducks personally). However, once my ducks hit the crazy teenager stage is when I start working on a bond with them. All of my adult ducks follow me around, if I lay on the ground they all come over to forage around me and even if my toddlers are sitting on the ground my ducks come up to them. When moving my husband and father-in-law ended up taking care of the ducks for a month while my kids and I lived with my parents (we had to finish remodeling our old house before we sold it and kids and construction zones don't exactly mix). When I finally was reunited with my ducks as soon as they saw me they started going nuts and all came over to me. My husband even commented "Wow I never knew ducks could act happy to see a person much less remember who they were after being away so long.". The method I like to use is to sit on the ground with their favorite snacks. Don't move and don't reach for them just let them come up to you. Eventually move the snacks closer and closer until they have to eat out of your hand to get them. It has worked like a charm for my ducks!