I made a mistake *upset*

[Feathered Wings]

When my 7 baby calls hatched i was just ecstatic i had just had gotten the parents and was amazed at them laying and setting eggs so soon.
They hatched and were the cutest little fuzzies i have ever seen!

These are my first broody ducks i have never had any experience with baby ducks and their personalities till this year.
My calls i hatched in the incu this spring were so friendly and fun to raise i could'nt wait for these little ones to hatch.

They hatched and all was well the mother was superb in takeing care of them and at 3 weeks they were becoming more friendly and active and were never afraid of me.
They would follow their mom and i just enjoyed them so much i even posted a video of them swimming here at 3 weeks old.

I had known from the get go i would be selling these and had tried to keep things calm so they would be people friendly and they were doing good.
I wasn't expecting to much as i knew ducks don't like being handled.
Just wanted them to be like my adults calm and come to the door to see what treat i have.
They were coming to the door with mom and peeping like they were glad to see me.
But one got a little boo boo on his toe and i caught him to check it.
He was wild and frightened and peeped loudly i was upset at his franticness of me holding him.
So i thought maybe i needed to remove them from their mom to allow them to become attached to me.
This was all theory as i had no idea what the turn out of it would be.

So when they turned 4 weeks last sunday 9/13 and was starting to really feather out i removed mom.
There was the usual peeping and the mom calling and them answering they didn't appear to upset.
I gave them their pan and they swam and for 3 days things looked good and their was no panicky behavior.
I don't remember which day it was last week but i walked up to their pen and they freaked and i mean totally freaked.
It has steadily got worse over this past week and they now run and scream and run into the wire
I'm beyond upset a lady came yesterday to see my animals and when she walked up to their pen they ran and crashed into the wire.

Just really upset and ashamed of myself i feel like i have really let these little ducks down in the worst way

The only thing i know to do at this point is to try and put thier mom back with them and see if she can calm them down.
I don't know if it will work or not as i stated i'm very new to these ducks and thought i was doing the right thing. (just so ashamed)

I posted this so others could see my mistake and maybe it would help them.
At this point i'm at a place where i don't know if i will hatch my future ducks the natural way or incubate them.
I have learned a valuable lesson that if i choose to let the mother hatch them i will let the mom stay with them till "they" decide it's time to be on their own.

 

[SunAngel]

I wouldn't be upset with yourself, most ducks are freaks!

I brooded tons of ducklings this Spring/Summer and the first week or two they are really friendly, hopping out of the brooder to be cuddled. Soon after that, they all freak out and act like you are there to eat them. The ones I let be hatched and stay with mom, never went through that cuddle stage. They were always afraid of us.

The babies do continue to calm down as they mature though. My adults are much better now and were scared of us as babies. I think Muscovies are about the only really friendly duck. Unless you just get one duckling and raise it alone.

 

[Mrs. Turbo]

we are around our ducklings all the time and they go through a spell where they are afraid of everything....they will calm down as they get older, I promise.

 

[tia]

My runners are about 7 weeks old and they are scared of me. I walk up to their pen and they all run to one end. When I pick on of them up they will cuddle up, but when I try to catch it to pick it up it freaks... once picked up it is okay though. When I get the peas out they come right to me and eat out of my hand and they nibble on me when the peas are gone. Maybe take some treats when you take people to see them.

 

[Duck Keeper]

You can have mama ducks hatch out babies, but make sure to handle them A LOT from day one so they stay calm around people.

Imagine you had never been up high before. You go up a ladder, look down, and obviously you'd be scared because you've never done it before.


They just freaked out because you didn't handle them enough as very tiny babies.

No worries, you can try again next year.

 

[Feathered Wings]

I tried to put the mother duck back but ducks must detach very quickly.
They were glad to see her but she snapped and bit at them then preceded to chase and bite them.
Funny when i removed her they didn't seem to mind at all and went about their business.
I caught one and picked him up and sat down with him and he calmed down and stopped peeping.
Beats me but i filled up their little tub and they didn't run and jumped right in and me standing there

Heres hoping this good feeling they have last longer than just a pool swim.

I have learned so much about these ducks and it's all hands on and just

at times.
But me and the ducks have both survived my fumbles and bobbles and i think "they" are teaching me alot!
And here i thought hatching chicks was tough