New duck owner!

[Dees ducks]

Hi all, have been reading posts on this site for about 6 weeks now with great interest. Several months ago I woke up and had the idea of getting some ducks. Not only am I a great animal lover but I love duck eggs and duck quirky mannerisms and behaviour. I spent several months building nice enclosure in garden with pond and converted shed for the ducks. I now have 3 ducks - one buff orpington, one peach/white Campbell and one white aylesbury. All females with very very different personalities! My query is the the buff and Campbell ( both bought from a specialist wildlife trust) love the pond and are constantly in and out, splashing and playing and it's a joy to watch their antics. The Aylesbury I bought from a small farm and she's an egg layer( the only one at the moment as the other two are only about 6 months old) but she NEVER goes in the pond. Should I I try to encourage her or just put it down to her not wanting to paddle? Lastly, I'm I'm also trying (1st time) to hatch 6 Cayuga eggs and on day 18 with all looking ok at present - wish me luck!

 

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

Welcome! I would just let the allysbury be, some ducks just don’t want to swim
Good luck with your hatch!

 

[Dees ducks]

Thanks - that's exactly what I've done but does seem such a shame that she's missing out on all the fun!

 

[Brahmachicken240]

I used to buy ducks from local farms and they all had a bad case of wet feather till they molted and grew in new feathers.
Try dunking her in the pond, if the water runs off her then she’s fine, if she gets soaked than she most likely has wet feather.
try herding her in a couple of times just to get her used to being in water as she may not have been able to get in water and splash around in that small farm you got her from, good luck !

 

[CrystaBub]

You could try tossing her favorite treats in the pond. My ducks would walk through fire for meal worms Congratulations on being a new duck parent!!!

 

[Dees ducks]

Yes I've tried that. She is the greediest of the three and would do almost anything for mealworms, however, when I put a handful in the pond she stood right on the very brink of the water and I've never seen a duck neck stretch that far!

Needless to say she managed to get her fair share of the meaworms without even getting a feather wet!

 

[Dees ducks]

The non swimmer is Jemima nearest to camera, Mildred is the water babe in the pond, always in the water and preening herself - a real girly, and Guertrude is the Buff Orpington and is the leader, boss, most vocal and quirky of the three.

 

[CrystaBub]

The non swimmer is Jemima nearest to camera, Mildred is the water babe in the pond, always in the water and preening herself - a real girly, and Guertrude is the Buff Orpington and is the leader, boss, most vocal and quirky of the three. View attachment 1699114

Your pond set up is so beautiful! I had a good laugh at your other post - trying to picture poor Jemima stretching her neck out to get a bite of meal worms My Abby, a Pekin, doesn't love the water either. She's the girl at the pool that just sits on the side sunbathing LOL. She will get in but she doesn't stay long. She may not know how fun it is yet. Have you tried getting her to go in while the others aren't around?

 

[Dees ducks]

The only time she ever went in the water was the day I brought her home from the farm.The other two ducks (who I had only just picked up the day before) were locked away in the shed and she was in a box which I opened up in the pen and stood quietly by waiting for her to emerge. Well after about 10 seconds the box started to shake the she came blindly charging out loudly quacking straight into the pond! Thereafter followed alot of flapping and scrambling to get out (along with half the pond water that she had displaced with her flapping). I just think that she never learned what its like to swim or have access to a pond and anyway her priority is eating which I can easily live with as, out of a household of 3 ducks, 2 dogs, one housemate and 8 ghost koi, she is the only one "earning her keep" with eggs God bless her!!!

 

[CrystaBub]

OH she sounds so precious!!!!!!! Bless her little heart!