How to tame my ducks?

[Rammy]

I hatched some Khaki Campbells in March. I handled them alot when they were smaller but even then they seemed scared of me. I thought they would bond with me when they were born?
I moved them outside into a bigger pen when they got bigger and they just run from me when I feed them or try to get near them. They wont go into thier house for shelter either.
What am I doing wrong? I feed them frozen peas and stuff from the garden. Talk to them. Sit outside the pen and just be near them and they just run around until I leave.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[PaulX]

The earliest days are the most important. How much time did you spend with them the first week? the first 3 days? the first day?

Did you pick them up a lot? Did you hold them tightly? Both these will make them afraid of your hands when they start to enter puberty (around 3-4 weeks), and both will never sit well with them even when they're young. To hold them, try to avoid lifting them off the ground as much as you can. Put them down, and try to make a wall around them with your arms them rather than actually hold them. If they're skittish they'll try to escape, but eventually will settle down and allow you to pet them.

Always try to move as slow as possible when approaching them or reaching for them. Better yet, avoid having to reach for them. Stand as close as they'd allow you (normally I can stand right next to my imprinted ducklings), then crouch or sit down, hands on your back if needs be, then slowly bring your hands back forward to pet them.

For ducks that already turned too skittish, that'll be more challenging. I'm sure others have more experience than I do so I'll leave it to them to chime in. But what I get the general idea is you have to let them come to you. Feed them as close to you as they'd approach, gradually decrease the distance, until you can hold the food bowl without them being afraid, then feed from your hand, those kinds of things.

To make them go into their house, you might have to let them get a little hungry (or as hungry as they need to be), before luring them inside with food. Me, I use a 'movable coop', which I have to put over them, so I make a point to never feed them until they're inside the coop. They get more stubborn as they get older, but hunger always trump any stubbornness they have.

 

[MissouriNewb]

I hatched some Khaki Campbells in March. I handled them alot when they were smaller but even then they seemed scared of me. I thought they would bond with me when they were born?
I moved them outside into a bigger pen when they got bigger and they just run from me when I feed them or try to get near them. They wont go into thier house for shelter either.
What am I doing wrong? I feed them frozen peas and stuff from the garden. Talk to them. Sit outside the pen and just be near them and they just run around until I leave.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Personally, I think this breed i more prone to being nervous in general. If this of concern I would have likely started with a different breed of duck. Now that you love them though !

I have found success by introducing a bird that is not scared of you and having it stay with your flock. Be it a guard goose etc. I have also done it with chickens, turkeys, etc.

I really like khaki Campbells for how well they lay, but have not loved how skittish they are.

Maybe that will help you as well.

 

[Tyson_chickens]

I have 2 Pekin ducks. MissourisNewb says it's the breed, which makes sense, so maybe my input won't be as useful.
But I had them since they were a day old and I made sure to handle them often. Right now they are 6 months old and they come to me when I chirp for them and especially when i have food (unless they are preoccupied with playing in the water) They are stubborn little butts though. They do not like being touched by me. They'll come to me to gobble up all the food in my hand but if I reach out to pet them they always try to move away from me. I was hoping they would love my affection (imprint on me) but that never happened. I think it's because there are 2 of them they grew attached to each other more. You can not seperate them otherwise they'll quack and complain.
My friend told me that ducks just aren't general affectionate birds especially compared to chickens or other house birds.

 

[Jbently28]

I have khaki campbells and welsh harlequins. I've raised all of them from ducklings, and they were all handled the same from the time that I aquired them. My WH are very docile. My KC on the other hand DO NOT like to be bothered. They're not mean or aggressive, but they prefer to be left to themselves. I love my KC, but they are just in general a more skittish breed. I also disagree with @Tyson_chickens when it comes to ducks not being affectionate. This is one of my WH ducks with one of my daughters. We can do anything with this duck. She is constantly coming up to us for attention and loves to be held. When you hold her she will actually nestle her head under your neck when petted. I think in generall it just depends on the bird. The same goes with chickens. I have some that will jump up in my lap to be pet and some of the same breed that I couldn't handle

if my life depended on it.

 

[Thunderduck9]

I have khakis also I have one that is like a kid he sits on my shoulder he plays with me and a Pekin also she is that way also but the rest of my ducks are stand off ish.it all
Depends on the duck. I raise all mine from eggs so its not a thing of handling them because mine are handled from day one and I spend a lot of time with them its just an instinct thing built into them.

 

[PaulX]

Personally, I think this breed i more prone to being nervous in general. If this of concern I would have likely started with a different breed of duck.

Yes I forgot this point, though I also have runners, which are supposed to be skittish too (not as much as Khakis though).

I used to have 2 pekins (started with 6 until 4 weeks old) and 5 runners until 3 days ago. Now I have 1 pekin and 3 runners. The pekin is 4 months, runners are 7 weeks. I hatched them myself.

My 6 pekins, I picked them up every day, and around 3-4 weeks old they all became afraid of my hands and won't let me put my hand near them easily, I could still stand right next to them, they still come to nestle with me, they just wouldn't let my hand near. It took a while before I could pet and hug them again.

My 5 runners, I didn't force-pick them up after 12 days old, and they never became afraid of my hands. I can always pet and 'hold' them to this day. And runners are supposed to be more skittish than pekins.

My pekins used to follow me all the time until 3-4 weeks ago when I always shooed them away due to the drake always charging to bite the runner ducklings. So I'd say they're fairly tame. My runners still follow me. I can pet and hug my 2 pekins almost whenever I want. They don't climb onto me or anything, because I don't want that and never made them, but I can reach over to pull them in to hug them. I'm very satisfied with how tame they are. And they were the 2nd and 3rd least friendly of the 6 when I gave the other 4 away. Presumably if I had kept the more friendly ones they'd be even tamer. Now I'm waiting to see how friendly the runners will remain or become after they're past the duckling stage.

 

[Rammy]

So maybe its not me after all. I was hoping they would imprint on me since I hatched them but they didnt apparently.
Ive done just about everything mentioned and suggested that you all have posted on here in response except the friendler bird one. This is my first experience with ducks. I hatched them out for someone else because he lost his entire flock, but due to distance and finances, he doesnt want them right now. It would be a year before he might be able to afford to get them.
Its more disheartening to me that they dont see me as thier "mommy", even though I gave "birth" to them. I even won them a new duck house in a raffle. Will they appreciate it? Nooooo! Kids!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yes I forgot this point, though I also have runners, which are supposed to be skittish too (not as much as Khakis though).

I used to have 2 pekins (started with 6 until 4 weeks old) and 5 runners until 3 days ago. Now I have 1 pekin and 3 runners. The pekin is 4 months, runners are 7 weeks. I hatched them myself.

My 6 pekins, I picked them up every day, and around 3-4 weeks old they all became afraid of my hands and won't let me put my hand near them easily, I could still stand right next to them, they still come to nestle with me, they just wouldn't let my hand near. It took a while before I could pet and hug them again.

My 5 runners, I didn't force-pick them up after 12 days old, and they never became afraid of my hands. I can always pet and 'hold' them to this day. And runners are supposed to be more skittish than pekins.

My pekins used to follow me all the time until 3-4 weeks ago when I always shooed them away due to the drake always charging to bite the runner ducklings. So I'd say they're fairly tame. My runners still follow me. I can pet and hug my 2 pekins almost whenever I want. They don't climb onto me or anything, because I don't want that and never made them, but I can reach over to pull them in to hug them. I'm very satisfied with how tame they are. And they were the 2nd and 3rd least friendly of the 6 when I gave the other 4 away. Presumably if I had kept the more friendly ones they'd be even tamer. Now I'm waiting to see how friendly the runners will remain or become after they're past the duckling stage.

What happen to your Pekin last I read you had 2?

 

[PaulX]

What happen to your Pekin last I read you had 2?

I gave the pekin drake away to a homesteader that wanted him, along with the 2 runners. I miss him though, past 2 weeks he had begun to let me pet and hug him, but I only hatched my runners from the start because I wanted to replace him with some runner females, so I had to stick with the plan. Here is my last photo of him.