Like a duck to water.....?!?

[dpenning]

I must have defective ducks. My Pekins are just not interested in the pond. With as much rain as we have hade lately they are perfectly content with mud puddles. I have gently herded them down to the pond daily for a couple of weeks now. They only stay as long as I do, once I back up they start sprint waddling back up to the house. I have not been giving them any fresh water close to the pen but again the rain has been more than ample. I have also been putting their food down by the pond. They will only stop at the feeder when I am herding them down. The rest of the time they just free range and eat whatever they are scavenging (and digging holes in the field).

I am seriously considering re-homing them. I need them to understand the pond is a safe zone for them. I have lost three to my dog. THe first one my husband didn't realize the ducks were out and he took the dogs outside to work with him and left them unsupervised. The dogs ran around the house, through the fence and got one of the ducks before I could pull him off. The other two the dang ducks dug a hole at the fence line and went under the fence into the dog yard while the dogs were in the house, but they have a doggie door!!!

I've read so many posts that say once your ducks find the pond you won't be able to get them back to their pen at night. I wish I had that problem! They would be safer! I'll keep trying but at some point I'm going to have this a failed experiment and find them a new home so they don't get picked off one by one by my dogs or other predators.

 

[thumper650]

Try putting some cracked corn in the pond. They might go in.

 

[LilyLoo]

Ducks are intelligent and for some reason they choose to return to you as their parent/person and not stay at the pond. Maybe because they look to you for protection or security. Maybe the pond doesn't feel safe to them. It could even be that the Pekin is more of a people friendly duck and doesn't like being so far from you. If plan #2 doesn't include a safe enclosed area then re-homeing might be the best idea for them.

 

[Kiki]

Silly ducks.
I'm sorry the dummies dug a hole.

 

[dpenning]

That is what is so funny, they are afraid of me. I can’t get close enough to touch them. They do waddle away from me now instead of panicked run but I am definitely not their safe zone, hat is their pen. Unfortunately their pen is a 10 x 10 dog run that I hadn’t thought about moving.......hmmmm, I wonder what they WOULD do if I moved the whole thing closer to the pond. Interesting to th8nk about, thanks!

 

[dpenning]

Ok, drastic measures were called for. I took apart their pen and moved it close to the pond. Left them locked in for a day so they would recognize it as their safe place and put up temp fencing around the pen and up to the waters edge.

I’m happy to say they are being ducks! It took about five days but they are finally getting far enough in the pond to paddle their little webs!

Not venturing too far out but they are only 12 weeks old. I’m so happy! They actywent on a walkabout down the dam and ran back when they realized how far they were from home. Funny they didn’t realize they could swim across the shorter distance.

I’ll try to get better pictures of them “ducking”a little later but this one was taken from the patio this morning.

 

[Miss Lydia]

What a beautiful pond. Congrats!

 

[LilyLoo]

Beautiful and how lucky they are to have such a great place to be ducks Is there an island out there or a safe place for them from over night predator's?

 

[Kiki]

Congrats! Go Street go...to the water!!

 

[Raenh]

Floating coop! I so want a pond just so I can make a floating coop!