*~*Runner Duck Club*~*

[ke5hde]

Thanks.
I saw your other post and just didn't get a chance to comment yet, so here goes.

Our runners are very skittish, even the babies are after lots of handling. I do the same thing you do. Spend lots of time in the pen with them, try to talk softly, no sudden movement.
Guess what.....it still didn't work. We have come to accept the fact that they are just a nervous duck and we deal with it.
I was able to get close to Bonnie when she was on eggs but even that wasn't easy....I still have bruises on my arm from being bit
Good luck with yours.

Chris

 

[Janelyn]

Wow, Chris how kind you are for taking the time to answer my question when you having a challenging day yourself.

I was really feeling like I was doing something wrong so thank you for the reassurance.

Janelyn

 

[Amiga]

While there are some generalizations we can make about runners, I find that in some regards mine don't follow the book.

They don't do well in the cold, they are anything but skitterish, and some need extra extra extra calcium.

I hope that eventually, treats and time around them will help your runners be a little friendlier, Janelyn.

Chris, that is sad to read. Staying one step ahead of predators is not easy. Feels to me like they can make a full time job out of thwarting our efforts, while we have other matters to tend to.

 

[ke5hde]

I really only have myself to blame for this. We've never made the ducks go in at night and haven't had a problem in 3 years.
They won't be happy tonight but I hope they understand somehow that cooping them at night will be for their own good.
I'll have to make a decision in the next couple days on my survivor. If I feel the damage is too much I will have to put it down. I'm not a fan of leaving it to suffer and die on its own.

Chris

 

[ke5hde]

So a little update on our runner. He or she definitely doing better. Not perfect but better. I have it separated in a cage out in the garage. The good news is, the breathing sounds better and it's not limping as much.
The bad news is it has lost 1 eye. At this point I have no intention of putting it down. I'll leave it in the cage for a couple more weeks and see how it goes. With any luck it'll be back in the pen with the others to live out its time here.

Chris

 

[Amiga]

So a little update on our runner. He or she definitely doing better. Not perfect but better. I have it separated in a cage out in the garage. The good news is, the breathing sounds better and it's not limping as much.
The bad news is it has lost 1 eye. At this point I have no intention of putting it down. I'll leave it in the cage for a couple more weeks and see how it goes. With any luck it'll be back in the pen with the others to live out its time here.

Chris

Oh, yay! Prayers it goes well.

 

[qwackers]

So we had a bad night last night. Woke up this morning to a 4wk old missing and another pretty beat up. Seems something got in the duck pen. No open holes in the fence. No holes under it either. I'm thinking an owl possibly or something went over the top.
I'm not sure the wounded baby will make it. 1 eye closed with a puncture near it, bad limp and from the sounds of it, some internal injury.
We never coop the ducks at night but I guess I'm going to have to now.
Not the Sunday morning I was hoping for :'(

Chris

aw no im so sorry to hear this. How is it doing?

I came down to let mine out the other day and something had eaten some form of bird. All that was left was a bit of guts and a tiny bit of bone and a bunch of feathers. Made me rather glad I shut mine away! Defo wasnt my cat's as they are in the house at night.

OK Group, I have a question that I'm hoping to get some help with. I have 5, 5 months old boys, all get along so wonderfully. The challenge is they are so nervous around people. I walk around the coop and run very cautiously, not wanting to alarm and hurt any of the boys.

I have 6 RIR hens that are really easy going and want to be in everyone's business.

My goal for the Runners is to have them comfortable, not run for the hills every time anyone gets within 10 feet of them.

Any tips, steps, thoughts would be great. I really hope it is not too late. I have had them since they were a day old. I spend time outside every day and thought they would come around like the chickens did. Guess that was dumb of me, and very wrong.

So instead of spending one more day beating myself up about my mistakes with this, I decided to ask you all.

.


I appreciate the help in advance.

Janelyn

Bribe them with treats! It worked for me!

I havent been on here much lately... But I have a good reason today. here is the newest addition to my flock.

aww cute ickle baby!

They're doing great. We have 4 that are about 4wks old now and 2 that are about 6wks old. I had to separate our drake after i found him on top of one of the 6wk old's. He gets to live with the layer flock for a while. I tried to explain to him that she was just too young, but he didn't seem to care. Bonnie has been a great mom to all of them.

Chris

haha, yeah my boys dont listen either!

 

[qwackers]

didnt see there was a whole other page to catch up on! glad to hear you duck is doing better chris even if it has lost an eye. I take it you never found the other one?

My runners are silly in terms of walking away from me unless ive got something which could be treats, so yeah the treats have been a good way foward for me. I hatched mine and they used to scream for me if I left them for a minute! Now they dont seem to give a monkies about me! Think it's just part of them growing up *sniff sniff*

 

[ke5hde]

didnt see there was a whole other page to catch up on! glad to hear you duck is doing better chris even if it has lost an eye. I take it you never found the other one?

My runners are silly in terms of walking away from me unless ive got something which could be treats, so yeah the treats have been a good way foward for me. I hatched mine and they used to scream for me if I left them for a minute! Now they dont seem to give a monkies about me! Think it's just part of them growing up *sniff sniff*

No we never did find the other. No sign of it anywhere. No feathers, no blood, no anything. The first night that we cooped them was a little tough but they seem to understand now it's for their own good and I just walk them in the coop. We were able to track down some other runners about 60 miles away and came home with another black and a fawn/white. No clue if they're ducks or drakes so now we get to wait and see. Chris

 

[qwackers]

yeah im sure theyd rather be put away than gobbled up. Im glad you got some more runners. It's not the same I'm sure but nice anyway. How old are these ones? You'll have to get some pictures up and show them off!