Meet Boris and Sage...Finally LOL

[Ducklove334]

Boris and Sage are the two ducklin's we got along with our chickies from ideal, Boris is (supposed) to be a drake,he's the pekin, and Sage is (supposed) to be a hen, she's the blue swedish.

everyone just turned 3 weeks old yesterday, these pics were taken on the 18th with meh cell phone.

Sage says "yo...?" she wasn't so sure about the peas in my hand.

but then I told her that peas will make her not fat...like boris

there was peas there..

"plz dady? I can haz peez?"..Boris sucking up with neck rubs

"MMMMM PEAS!"

"uhhh.... thats all folks!!"

I love these lil doods, Boris is much more lovey than Sage though,even though they were both handled and are both handled equally.

 

[ChanceRider]

They're adoreable! Thanks for posting pics

.

 

[herechickchick]

So cute, I love ducks.

 

[nettie]

awww your little guys remind me of mine when they were babies. And mine LOVE LOVE LOVE peas! they will do anything for peas. Even if it means climbing over my lap and climbing onto my shoulder. I recently taught them how to wait for their peas by putting their heads down rather than rushing and attacking me for them, lol.

 

[Ducklove334]

they are very much the best ducks I've had, I learned that this evening, I've never really had "tame" ducks, ones that would come up to you...or stay with you..no matter what i tryed, none of my ducks ever tamed..

well anyways, Boris and Sage are getting rather big now...thier brooder is a 90gallon fishtank that is about 2 1/2 feet tall...Boris is less than a 1/2 inch shorter than the top rim...he's gonna be a big boy, he probly comes up to Big Lenny(my crested pekin drake)s shoulder

...so anyways, they're about 3 1/2 weeks old, so it's time to start thinking about introducing them to the big guys..

ANYWAYS! we took them out after dinner, while we still had about 30 minutes of sun, INTENT (well, becca was, me not so much) on leaving them out there..,we went into the pen, set them down, and sat down with them for a while, they would NOT leave our sides, they would walk about as far as the "pond", (about a foot and 1/2 away from the pen gate), and back, so we got up and walked to the other side of the pen, Boris and Sage did too

they wouldn't even check the other ducks out, and the geese..nothing doing

.

so as it started to get dark, they made no guesses that they were cold, and getting hungry(IE climbing up into my lap and tugging on my pant legs) LOL, so back inside they are.

I am going to do a gradual introducion with them..


but my question is, I'm afraid that once they ARE out there, they won't be tame anymore

I want so badly to have some ducks that wil come up to me and greet me, will they stay like they are now, or will the other ducks teach them to be wary of me??

 

[nettie]

it sounds like your ducks imprinted on you or a humans in general. they will probably want to be near you until they get to be about 2 months old when they trail off on their own. My ducks are skittish and don't come up to us unless we have a treat (peas, lol) but once by us, my male will let us pick him up and snuggle him. He rolls his eyes back when you pet his head.

I kept my ducks inside until they were 2 months old since i was afraid of hawks. i built them a simple pen out of wood and chicken wire. It's abut 3 feet high, maybe 6ft by 4 ft. (I used 2x4's to build a frame and stapled the wire on like a canvas for the painting, then i screwed the four pieces together)you could probably go a little smaller if you had to. I put one of those plastic tarps (like the kind they use for boats, like 3 dollars from home depot) on the bottom to catch poop and food bits. I had the wood cut at the lumber yard (i had to pay extra and gave them the dismensions) and just screwed the sections together. If you have very basic building skills this should be easy peezy. On a short side i attached it to the others with hinged so i could open it to clean it easily. After my ducks moved to outside i moved the pen outside. It now serves as a basic pen for when i move the ducks around or for the dog. I considered it worth it to keep the ducks inside for a few weeks. I think it took me two hours to put together. here's a drawing of it:

It was plenty big for two ducks, their food , and toys. I kept a collaspable dog carrier i got from the thrift store in there for them to sleep in. I have a painting studio so i shared the space with them, so they kept me company while i painted.

What can i say i spoil my ducks. I plan to use the pen again inside when i get a new duck in the spring...