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I have 3 ducks. 2 Pekins and a blue Swedish. They are 5 weeks old. They don’t seem like like me very much. They have been raised inside my living room (in a plastic pool) and ive tried to hold them for at least 30 min a day. As they’ve gotten older and spend more time outside it has gotten less, maybe like 30 min every other day. But they’re still sleeping indoors, so every morning I have to carry them outside and every evening I bring them back in.
I’ve always tried to approach slowly, crouch down, and speak in a soothing voice. But if I even get close they run. one of the pekins, Lemon, tolerates me. When I approach she mildly tries to run away, but is easy to catch, and once I have her she’ll hang out for a few minutes and doesn’t run.
my blue Swedish, Blue, literally acts like I’m carrying a butcher knife every time I approach her. Catching her to bring her inside at night is something from a circus act. I try really hard to calmly corral her into a corner and then grab her, but it just turns into a “wild goose chase” so to speak. I try really hard not to full on chase her but more of a cornering and grabbing. But she doesn’t go peacefully and scratches and tried to run any chance she’ll get. I’m at a loss on how to bring her inside at night without causing a panic attack.
The other Pekin is somewhere in between those two.
i have always put the treats in their water bowl but it just occurred to me yesterday I should try feeding them out of my hand. I literally held out peas for like 30 min yesterday and none of them would approach or even get close. I would gently toss some and they’d grab it and run away. So then I decided I would hold each duck Individually (it’s nearly impossible for me to catch more than one at a time) and feed it treats. They would actually eat out of my hand this way. But like I said, catching them to hold them is always lots of running on their part and blocking on mine. Blue wouldn’t even eat out of my hand for like 5 min when I was holding her and finally she caved. I figure if I keep hand feeding them individually for long enough eventually I’ll get them to approach me. Is this going to work? What other methods can I use to get them to like me?
I’ve raised ducks before and they always loved me, however now I’m the mother of small children and i don’t have as much time to devote to my ducks. Pictures attached, one of them waiting outside the door. Most of them are of Lemon, since she’s the only one we can hold without running away!
I have 3 ducks. 2 Pekins and a blue Swedish. They are 5 weeks old. They don’t seem like like me very much. They have been raised inside my living room (in a plastic pool) and ive tried to hold them for at least 30 min a day. As they’ve gotten older and spend more time outside it has gotten less, maybe like 30 min every other day. But they’re still sleeping indoors, so every morning I have to carry them outside and every evening I bring them back in.
I’ve always tried to approach slowly, crouch down, and speak in a soothing voice. But if I even get close they run. one of the pekins, Lemon, tolerates me. When I approach she mildly tries to run away, but is easy to catch, and once I have her she’ll hang out for a few minutes and doesn’t run.
my blue Swedish, Blue, literally acts like I’m carrying a butcher knife every time I approach her. Catching her to bring her inside at night is something from a circus act. I try really hard to calmly corral her into a corner and then grab her, but it just turns into a “wild goose chase” so to speak. I try really hard not to full on chase her but more of a cornering and grabbing. But she doesn’t go peacefully and scratches and tried to run any chance she’ll get. I’m at a loss on how to bring her inside at night without causing a panic attack.
The other Pekin is somewhere in between those two.
i have always put the treats in their water bowl but it just occurred to me yesterday I should try feeding them out of my hand. I literally held out peas for like 30 min yesterday and none of them would approach or even get close. I would gently toss some and they’d grab it and run away. So then I decided I would hold each duck Individually (it’s nearly impossible for me to catch more than one at a time) and feed it treats. They would actually eat out of my hand this way. But like I said, catching them to hold them is always lots of running on their part and blocking on mine. Blue wouldn’t even eat out of my hand for like 5 min when I was holding her and finally she caved. I figure if I keep hand feeding them individually for long enough eventually I’ll get them to approach me. Is this going to work? What other methods can I use to get them to like me?
I’ve raised ducks before and they always loved me, however now I’m the mother of small children and i don’t have as much time to devote to my ducks. Pictures attached, one of them waiting outside the door. Most of them are of Lemon, since she’s the only one we can hold without running away!
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