Raising ducks like children - please don't

[Nebraskagirl]

I recently read an ad for a duck for sale online locally. It said the duck had ONLY been indoors, worn a diaper, been ONLY hand fed and slept inside as well. The owner is moving and cannot have duck and is willing to let it go for free to a home. Lordy, I hope whomever gets this duck has good luck with it. I hope your duck bonds with the rest of the ducks and acts like a duck.

 

[LorraineM]

Well it's been 4days and it feels like a month

She is fine when i am in her sight, otherwise she is honking all day. I can handle the noise
i can handle having to almost hand feed her and having to place her in her pool. I can handle
being patient and allowing her to free roam so she is 'acting' like a duck, i'm also fine spending time with her
but what i can't do anymore is the 4.30am wake up honking. (and i am guessing my neighbours don't like it either)
My son stayed here last night and did the 'morning call' so i could sleep in and he walked down the road to the shop
and said you can hear her about 8/10 houses away.
I covered the pen with black plastic yesterday hoping to make a 'blackout' effect and it worked wonderfully
when i put her to bed, but she still started at 4.30am this morning.

I have been out with her for about an hour, i just sit in the chair and she plonks right next to me.
If i walk away she is right behind me, if i turn the corner on the house for 4seconds she starts honking.

I realise she's is suffering seperation anxiety and it's quite sad.

But i think i am going to need to find her a home where someone
has a property big enough for her to make some noise and have patience with her
for her to adapt to being a duck.
(i have the patience but i don't think my neighbours will for much longer)

I personally don't want to give her back to her previous owners as i think they were pretty clueless
on not only raising her but informing me of how 'humanized' she actually was.

 

[duckluck]

What if you were to rehome this duck to someone wanting a duck for a pet, or wanting a duck that would be sociable for a child to handle? There has to be someone out there, what with all the people we often hear complaining "My duck/ducks don't like me, what should I do?"

 

[LorraineM]

yes a home with a child or two would be perfect as Charlie is very socialable.
And the previous owners said she used to take her to school at drop off time and the kids loved her.

My only concern is the noise she makes and being so close to neighbours.

I say that now and she has been pretty quiet the time i have been inside.

If i could stop her making the 4.30am noise, i think all would be fine to keep her.

Gosh dilema

 

[duckluck]

I wonder if there was something done to the duck to condition her to make this noise at a specific time, such as the previous owner getting up and feeding her then. I had a particular Call hen who was a great layer, was giving me an egg every day, so every night when I came home from work at 12am I'd go down to the barn and throw her an extra handful of catfood for extra calories. Well, pretty soon I had to cut that out, because every time she heard my van pull in the drive, she'd start screaming her head off for cat food...and she was VERY loud. It took a few weeks to break the habit but she did quit. You just may be in for more of a stretch than a few days.

 

[duckins]

Id take her in a minute my daughter loves to baby our ducks lol but we live in va. That's strange though all our ducks are loved plenty but are very independent. I agree with duck luck something must have been done at that time because ours started fussing at 10:30 am that's the exact time I let them out for the day and its feed/treat time. Do u think bringing her in say a basement in a large tote with a soft radio ( just at night) and ignore her at 4:30 am would help. I know you want her outside with others and you would really hear her then but maybe the neighbors wont and when she realizes your not coming it would break her routine.if that stops her then she can go back outside all night just a thought. Best of luck.

 

[Mac14]

Wow, I can't imagine how annoying that would be! I hope things go well for you VERY SOON.

 

[duckluck]

Well, for me, the problem I had with my duck was just a phase she went through...got the problem as an adult so it was also a bit more breakable than an imprinted problem...the side of the property she was located on was where the duck-friendly neighbor was, so I just let her run her course until she decided to learn to cope.

I can feel the OP's pain though as I have a horse who has a problem that, while maybe not necessarily "imprinted", is still a learned behavior he has gotten over the course of about 5-6 years and so is difficult to break. He has made progress but I hope to have some major breakthroughs with him when we get into the riding season. He has shown progress in coming around and has a mind that is willing to learn even while being skeptical of new things. The problem with trying to break a horse of an almost lifelong habit versus a duck is horses are very prone to ulcers under stress, and he was extremely stressed and took a long time to acclimate to his new home when I brought him here last year...he went from a 30-40 horse herd down to just one companion, and NO stall mates if he is in the barn. He has now not only gained weight but gotten a touch pudgy, which tells me we are on a good road of becoming a bit more relaxed. Some of these "projects" take time and patience, and are worth it when you see signs of a good result being possible. He is a horse of unusually good temperament otherwise which is why I decided to go with him in the first place, and it sounds like the OP's duck is as well.

 

[LorraineM]

She has been a little better each day outdoors.
I am going to keep trying, as she is a beautiful Duck and i would like to keep her.

My only dilema is the 4.30am/neighbours, cos she really is very loud.

I'd be happy to ignore her and make her wait it out till a reasonable time but i think my nbors would throttle me.
I am thinking of dropping a personal note into their letter boxes asking for their patience while i teach the duck to be a duck
and allow them to drop a note into my letter box if they have a problem i can address.
(I don't know my neighbours well enough to be asking/giving out phone numbers)

But, i need to break the 4.30am habit.

I couldnt bring her inside as i only have a one level house,
and she even hears me if i am walking on the floorboards inside when she is outside...lol

I am going to post a new thread asking how i can break this bad habit asap.
I will link it to here.

Oh and today i lifted her into the pool threw some fresh pulled grass in with her and she went to town on it
so Quacker thought it looked like fun and got in too. Which i thought was a great success
Charlie usually jumps right out, but i stayed close and moved Quackers beak away if she started to pull at Charlie's feathers.
So that was a good thing today

 

[Carebearsmiles]

Sounds like you have amazing patience. I'm glad this duckie found you.
I hope things get easier.