How to get friendly ducks

[Y-Knot]

I have four ducks who I really love. Even though they were raised in our spare bedroom they have not turned out to be really friendly. I think it might be from the little pen they lived in when they first moved out of the house. They have gotten so they don't really want to take goodies from my hand.
I will be getting four more babies the 3rd of March. Once again they will be in the bedroom untill they move out of the house. We have a better pen and accommodations and won't be moved in with the older ducks, who about four months old.
Any ideas on how to make them more friendly?
Thanks for any input.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

What kind of ducks do you have? In my experience with my ducks they're not as touchy friendly. Once in a while they will eat from our hands, but it's quick grabs mostly. My SO will quack at our female and she quacks back. They will follow us around the yard and hang out near us, but do not like to be touched.

The best advice I can give you is to move slowly around them and even just sit a while so they can get used to you. If you throw some yummy snacks down they'll start to associate you with good, but it may take a while so don't be discouraged if it doesn't happen overnight.

 

[Y-Knot]

I have one Pekin, two Khaki Campbells and one Rouen / Khaki Campbell cross. I go out in the field, call, "Duck, duck, duck shake your boody." They follow me out in the field. I sit on the ground and toss them some lettuce. I just sit there, talk to them. They will get about three feet away but nocloser. Since they got bigger, I've never gotten to touch them. Oh well, at least they come when I call and eat my goodies. They do love the worms I give them. There is no way I can go past their pen on the way to the house without them announcing my approach.
Thanks,
Yvette

 

[Amykins]

Some ducks just aren't the touchy-feely type. I raised Wobbles indoors and he's VERY strongly bonded to me, and he's incredibly friendly. But it could be anything, it could be the breed (runners are notoriously skittish), it could be that you didn't spend much time with them during their upbringing, or they could just be having the typical "rebellious teenage" phase that a lot of juveniles go through.

Just be patient, Bay had a good idea to just sit there and let them get used to their presence.

Another good tip is peas. Most ducks will do ANYTHING for peas!

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Oo yes mine love peas, tomatoes, meal worms, lettuce, and sunflower seeds. They will gobble it up like nobody's business

 

[Amykins]

Oo yes mine love peas, tomatoes, meal worms, lettuce, and sunflower seeds. They will gobble it up like nobody's business

Wobbles is terrified of mealworms!

But I think he's the exception, not the rule. The best way to a duck's heart is through their stomachs!

 

[BayBay Peepers]

I couldn't agree more!

I have never heard of a duck being scared of a worm haha mine are afraid of their pond. Last winter I brought them inside to swim in the tub and in spring we put in a pond. They avoid it like the plague but will jump in any puddle. Silly creatures

 

[Y-Knot]

I spend quite a bit of time with them when they occupied our back bedroom but the outside pen we put them in at first was a bit small and I think they were worried we'd step on them. It also took them a few days to get used to the little duck house we borrowed. That might have made them a bit skittish.
I'll go out and sit with them more often. The ladies at the local store give me some of the greens they are going to get rid of. I'm not sure why they get rid of some of it, it's really good stuff. They get lettuce, peppers, tomatoes and so on. They get their goodies at least twice a day ... usually more. They like the lettuce and chopped celery but they love playing keep-away with sliced tomatoes. I found that they love worms. I feel very guilty feeding them live worms that I find but a few won't hurt.
I will take some frozen peas out to their pen and bribe them. The peas were rather old anyway.
No runners yet. They are in the plan though.

 

[needlessjunk]

I think it is the nature of ducks to be scared. Mine were hand raised and I spent a lot of time with them till they went outside. Now that they are outside and it has been cold I haven't been spending as much time with them and you can tell. They still come up when called and eat out of my hand but really don't like being touch. When it warms up we will be able to spend more time with them.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

I agree. Beyond just spending a lot of time with them and feeding them delicious foods there's not much more to do. My ducks are not like my chickens when it comes to comfort. If I tried to hold my ducks they'd have a heart attack, whereas my chickens have gotten more used to me handling them. (not all, but most)