New to ducklings...is this normal?

[mrsquackersinoz]

I would love to know if other people have experienced this and if it's normal.

We brought our ducklings at about 5 days old. When we put them in their new home and left them they "tweeted loudly" over and over until someone spoke or went to visit them. We then put a radio on for them and that has helped slightly. We wouldn't mind but we live on a 1088sqm block in the Metro area with neighbours close by and we are hoping they don't complain to the council.

Now the ducklings are roughly 4 1/2 weeks old no-one has complained luckily as we are buttering up the neighbours with our chook eggs.

They still have times in the day where they will "tweet loudly" over and over until someone attends to them!! If we let them out for a free run & a splash they will only follow us around and if we go out of view they “tweet loudly” until they see us again. e.g hanging out the washing I have them out on the grass and if I move slightly and the leg of the trampoline is in the way they panic and "tweet loudly" until I say it's Ok I’m here and they flap, flap, flap over to me. It's very cute that they want us and I guess they have adopted us as mummy!! We haven't had ducks before and so we can't compare. Is this normal behaviour or are these ducks extra noisy...oops I mean special.

??
Thanks in advance for any responses
P.S here are photos of my noisy babies.

Poppy

Charlie

 

[bigchickenman]

Not for sure, but they are beautiful ducks.

 

[Feathered Wings]

Yes this behavior is very normal for ducklings and it will subside as they mature.
They have bonded to you and your family and want to be near you like they would their mom.
Sometimes just speaking to them works or just a hello seems to calm some down.
I think it's sweet when they get attached and they will be your life long "buds"

I love it when mine are so happy to see me and do their quacks and tail wags.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Yes I would say it is fairly normal.
BTW are you in Australia? Your use of the term "chook" Indicates Australia as does "1088sqm block in the Metro" "complain to the council" "hanging out the washing". as far as I know chook is pretty much typical Stang. The rest could come from the UK but metric hasn't caught on there so much for land measurements. council could be anywhere. but hanging out washing suggests a more sunny place than the UK. Throw in the fact that your ducks are 4 1/2 weeks old suggests a late winter hatch "Down Under" rather than a late summer hatch in the North. G'day just in case I am right.

 

[mrsquackersinoz]

Oh, Feathered Wings thanks for reassuring us with what we were thinking.
Yes, it’s an amazing feeling when your little friends are so excited to see you and put on a lovely performance. Our babies stretch out including their wings and tweet loudly....lol...and wag their tail madly.

I just can't believe how much personality ducks have and how much joy they give you...We've got our chooks (chickens) and they have some funny things going on but they are not as interactive as the ducks.
My concern is if they turn out to be boys will their personality and behaviour change? A friend of ours has two Muscovy ducks and raised them from about 2weeks old. They were friendly as ducklings but once the male hormones kicked in they became nasty and aggressive. I truly hope our cute babies don’t turn out like that.

Lol...yes goosedragon you are correct I do live in Australia....good detective work

 

[shelleyd2008]

It is normal, it just sounds like they have imprinted on you a lot! I don't handle my ducks too much, so mine don't do that. About the only time they peep is if they need (Or think they need) food or water.

They should grow out of it, though they'll probably always 'greet' you. If either of them is a duck, this could be quite loud. But the good thing is they won't do it all the time

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Great Detective, I caught all the little clues and completerly missed you screen name that spells it all out! good news is that muscovies are very quiet and produce wonderfull eggs. The bad news is that an agressive Muscovy Drake is about the nastiest poultry around. I had two drakes. hand raised like yours, one stayed a gentleduck, the other turned outlaw and I shot him in self defence!

 

[Feathered Wings]

I was recently given a pekin male he was one of those easter ducks.
He was very aggressive to everything in my yard including me i had to rehome him to a friends pond.