Our first ducklings

[GimpyDuck]

So on Tuesday we had 4 ducklings hatch, we've never had ducklings before, only got our ducks back in the fall so really it's all still very new to us. Ducklings seem to be doing wonderful, growing quick and getting braver every day, they love the pool and have been in it since day two splashing about and mimicking mom. We had to remove dad as he was trying to kill them which we found out later was normal behavior so he's in a separate pen for now. Curious, mom is so protective and quite nasty to anyone that comes around or in the pen, we'd like to make these little guys more people friendly then their parents are. The babies stick close to her when we come near and we don't want to stress any of them out. Should we separate mom from babies so we can get them more people friendly?

 

[Amiga]

That is something to consider . . . at the same time I am not sure it's guaranteed. Hope someone with more experience checks in.

Congratulations!

 

[Trifolium]

So on Tuesday we had 4 ducklings hatch, we've never had ducklings before, only got our ducks back in the fall so really it's all still very new to us. Ducklings seem to be doing wonderful, growing quick and getting braver every day, they love the pool and have been in it since day two splashing about and mimicking mom. We had to remove dad as he was trying to kill them which we found out later was normal behavior so he's in a separate pen for now. Curious, mom is so protective and quite nasty to anyone that comes around or in the pen, we'd like to make these little guys more people friendly then their parents are. The babies stick close to her when we come near and we don't want to stress any of them out. Should we separate mom from babies so we can get them more people friendly?

One way would be spending lot of time with the birds so they can see you often and maybe hours and on in close proximity. Hand feeding them treats also helps. My ducks love greens and I hold them in my hand for them to come over and pull it from me. They also have no other way of accessing the greens unless I give it to them so that may not work if they have free access to grass, clover, and other greens on your property.

Ducklings also learn from their parents. So if they parents are scared of you and runs away, the ducklings will probably do the same... and there are also individual temperaments of each duck.

 

[dotknott]

It will be tough now that they're more than a day old, but yes if you separate and brood inside you'll likely get less fearful ducklings.

I did this recently with ducklings and just moved them back in with adults who were always afraid of me. After 2 weeks of adult lady duck seeing the ducklings come to me for treats I got her to eat out of my hand a few times. She has always been terrified of me, so this is a nice change.

She still doesn't like if I pick up the ducklings but she'sstopped attacking my shoes so I'm seeing some improvement.

Boy duck remains unfazed and prefers I throw peas to him from at least 6 feet away.

The ducklings fight to get closer and I'm trying to get them used to being handled.