So last week I went to TSC for the first time in forever and they have goslings, poults, bantams, and ducklings there. I never saw turkeys or goslings there last year so it was surprising. I bought 2 ducklings that from the top looked like blue Swedish but unfortunately did not after a closer look. Still not sure what they are I posted a thread asking and got a total of zero responses. I also got 3 goslings. The whole tub of geese went nuts when the worker reached her hand in all running up to it and stretching their heads out like they were greeting some alpha goose lol.
So usually I never imprint any birds from feed stores and just keep them in a brooder inside my room for a few days before moving them to a brooder out in the coop but these ones were different. The geese were just surprisingly friendly to me, still hated to be grabbed at though. So I would just reach my hand in the brooder and they would go nuts greeting it and be all good as long as I didnt reach for them. The ducklings could really care less and would just go to the other side of the brooder.
So that night I decided to bring the babies to come sit with me and I laid out a sheet for them so they wouldn't be crapping all over the place. The geese were not very cool with being picked up but they quickly settled in and started to chew on me and their sheet and my clothes and anything they could grab. The ducklings did not waste much time and just followed right along chewing and biting at everything in sight.
The next day the weather was nice so I brought them outside for a while. At first they didnt really get the idea when it came to following us and were more worried about sticking by eachother. I brought them over to some grass and sat with them for a few hours and let them run around and eat. They also became very interested in my little brothers who sat with me for a while. After that they got the idea that I was their parent and they started to chase after me like their life depended on it.
I brought them out again the next day and walked them around more, the ducklings at first were more shy but really became the most active and friendliest after being imprinted. They would spend a lot of time climbing over me when I was sitting with them.
So now that they are imprinted so well on me it will be fun to see how friendly they become as adults. I'll be posting updates of their growth here often and am interested to know if anyone else is hand raising some birds right now too or has in the past and wants to share their story. I have some videos of mine too that I will be sharing tomorrow.
So usually I never imprint any birds from feed stores and just keep them in a brooder inside my room for a few days before moving them to a brooder out in the coop but these ones were different. The geese were just surprisingly friendly to me, still hated to be grabbed at though. So I would just reach my hand in the brooder and they would go nuts greeting it and be all good as long as I didnt reach for them. The ducklings could really care less and would just go to the other side of the brooder.
So that night I decided to bring the babies to come sit with me and I laid out a sheet for them so they wouldn't be crapping all over the place. The geese were not very cool with being picked up but they quickly settled in and started to chew on me and their sheet and my clothes and anything they could grab. The ducklings did not waste much time and just followed right along chewing and biting at everything in sight.
The next day the weather was nice so I brought them outside for a while. At first they didnt really get the idea when it came to following us and were more worried about sticking by eachother. I brought them over to some grass and sat with them for a few hours and let them run around and eat. They also became very interested in my little brothers who sat with me for a while. After that they got the idea that I was their parent and they started to chase after me like their life depended on it.
I brought them out again the next day and walked them around more, the ducklings at first were more shy but really became the most active and friendliest after being imprinted. They would spend a lot of time climbing over me when I was sitting with them.
So now that they are imprinted so well on me it will be fun to see how friendly they become as adults. I'll be posting updates of their growth here often and am interested to know if anyone else is hand raising some birds right now too or has in the past and wants to share their story. I have some videos of mine too that I will be sharing tomorrow.
