wncmtns
Hatching
- May 5, 2017
- 5
- 1
- 4
Hello, I have 5 juvenile ducks, 1 Pekin and 2 Rouen about 8 weeks we think and 2 Cayuga at about 6 weeks old.
No problems, I have used this site for info and it has been very helpful! I have a couple of questions.
They all currently live indoors in our house (it's a studio so one big room) in a baby pool we converted to a "pen" of sorts. They all seem happy. Lots of fresh water, food, treats, heat lamp, nice pine shavings bed and a view out the patio window. But even though we (my husband and I) spend as much time as we can interacting with them they still do not seem to like it when we first walk over to them or even walk past them (just getting up off the couch seems to rile them up) - they get loud and almost sound upset. Once we sit and give them treats they calm down. When it's bath time, we put them in the bath - literally - they seem to HATE us picking them up to take them to the tub. Sometimes we let them walk but sometimes it's easier to carry them because they haven't learned that when we take them out it's bathtime. They kick and squack (skwalk? Spelling?) when picked up. They squack and quack loudly and try and get away from us even though we hand feed them treats and have been trying to get them used to us. We got them at about 2-3 days old. I would have thought they knew us by now but they seem to be getting more stressed than domesticated if that makes sense. I would have thought they would be getting friendlier - they are a little spoiled haha. Just don't understand they still seem so wary of us.
Also we haven't been able to sex them yet. I'm most curious about our Rouen's - which I know look alike as juveniles but neither of them have the white ring of feathers around their neck which is leading me to think they could both be female. They still look identical other than one is slightly bigger than the other. No idea on the Pekin but based on the deepness of it's quack we think possibly female. And no way to even tell the Cayuga's apart! They have a very pretty chirp when relaxed! They are slightly friendlier than the others. We don't want to have ended up with more males than females. We are in the process of building them an outdoor duck house but from everything I've read and heard from the local farm shop where we purchase supplies they are still too young to live outdoors full time. None of them are 100% feathered.
Thank you for your help and I look forward to being part of this community!
Sonya
No problems, I have used this site for info and it has been very helpful! I have a couple of questions.
They all currently live indoors in our house (it's a studio so one big room) in a baby pool we converted to a "pen" of sorts. They all seem happy. Lots of fresh water, food, treats, heat lamp, nice pine shavings bed and a view out the patio window. But even though we (my husband and I) spend as much time as we can interacting with them they still do not seem to like it when we first walk over to them or even walk past them (just getting up off the couch seems to rile them up) - they get loud and almost sound upset. Once we sit and give them treats they calm down. When it's bath time, we put them in the bath - literally - they seem to HATE us picking them up to take them to the tub. Sometimes we let them walk but sometimes it's easier to carry them because they haven't learned that when we take them out it's bathtime. They kick and squack (skwalk? Spelling?) when picked up. They squack and quack loudly and try and get away from us even though we hand feed them treats and have been trying to get them used to us. We got them at about 2-3 days old. I would have thought they knew us by now but they seem to be getting more stressed than domesticated if that makes sense. I would have thought they would be getting friendlier - they are a little spoiled haha. Just don't understand they still seem so wary of us.
Also we haven't been able to sex them yet. I'm most curious about our Rouen's - which I know look alike as juveniles but neither of them have the white ring of feathers around their neck which is leading me to think they could both be female. They still look identical other than one is slightly bigger than the other. No idea on the Pekin but based on the deepness of it's quack we think possibly female. And no way to even tell the Cayuga's apart! They have a very pretty chirp when relaxed! They are slightly friendlier than the others. We don't want to have ended up with more males than females. We are in the process of building them an outdoor duck house but from everything I've read and heard from the local farm shop where we purchase supplies they are still too young to live outdoors full time. None of them are 100% feathered.
Thank you for your help and I look forward to being part of this community!
Sonya
Sonya 
