I dunno, I guess I have a strange group of Runners. They are all friendly, not at all flighty or skitterish, some are huggers. But we went through a time when their development needed some patience and some advice from wise Duck Forum friends.
At three weeks, mine suddenly became terrified of me. It was sad. From BYC DF, I learned many ducks hit a point of hypervigilance, and during that time, anything taller than they, getting cornered, entities suddenly appearing unannounced, could send them into a panic due to their self- preservation instincts kicking in.
I learned to always sing or talk when approaching the brooder, find ways to avoid needing to pick them up or corner them, approach from as low a position as I could manage.
I made sure that whenever I needed to get close to them to have peas ready. During brooder cleanup I put an old sheet in the hallway and let them hang out there. After cleanup, we would have a pea party, and I would sit in the hallway with them for a few minutes just talking to them. Then I would let them walk back into the brooder.
They are just being themselves, after all.
It took some time, patience and compassion. But by the time they were four months old or so, they had begun to relax -and now they are easy to be around.
When I squat down and start digging for worms they press up against me, lean on me, stand on my feet. It is sweet. It took a while, but again, they are ducks and once I learned how to work with their developmental stages, that made a positive difference.
