How to get ducks to go outside?!

[Crayonsmom]

Remember Haystack, Dave, and Scuttle? Well first of all, Haystacks a drake and Dave and Scuttle are girls.

Second of all, they have their own space outside now and a small area inside. But I think I kept them on the porch too long... The ONLY time they'll come outside is when I got out there and sit with them. Would closing off the inside be too "mean"? We were thinking of just building a little overhang to give them some shade and closing off their door to the inside. Another part of the problem is that when I go sit with them out there, my horse comes over to say hi and scared the ducks inside. But there's nothing I can do about that other than try not to let my horse know when I'm there. Any ideas?

Here they are, a few weeks ago. Haha. Now they're almost fully feathered and of course, outside.

 

[Silkie Sue]

They look pretty comfy to me

 

[LLCoyote]

It sounds like they're really bonded to you. A blessing and a curse. I know that within a week I've gotten my Welsh Harlequins to walk from pen to pen. (I'm too parinoid to let them roam without a protective fence) Anyway, mine were older, and I herded them. Since they weren't used to human contact and still aren't totally it was very easy. With some time you may be able to do the same. I'm not really experianced yet but I do know that my ducks will gravitate towards water. With their down I know you can't leave them unsupervised with water. I'd say don't worry about it just yet. Once they get adult feathers and some water they should come out. Maybe feed them outside. I haven't done a lot of ducks but I'm a horse and dog trainer and positive reinforcment never lets me down!

On a last note please please PLEASE be careful with your horse around those ducks. I can tell you from personal experiance that while a horse may like the duck the horse doesn't realize how big they are. My first ducks were brutally trampled by my horse while I slept. I know he didn't do it on purpose because often when they would hollar or quack he'd come running, keeping the dogs away from them. So just be careful, I don't remember the last time I felt that terrible. Those were my babies as I'm sure yours are too. They are beautiful by the way what kind are they?