Show off your house ducks!

[Julie Birb]

x2!!!!

ChaCha is always getting into things she shouldn't! As soon as I turn my back she's into something else! She's an absolute toddler. But that's a lot of what makes her so cute and lovable =)

You are so right, kukupecpec. You cannot get mad when she does stuff like that. I had to replace a lampshade cuz my little flying poopers ruined it. Now I cover everything that they frequently land on. When I wrote this cupboard post I had ChaCha and Wobbles in mind...

 

[Julie Birb]

I love it when Wobbles looks into a mirror! I was leaning back on the bed with my laptop open but in sleep mode, so the screen is black. He runs up to me, stops, and turns to stare right into the laptop screen, tilting his head this way and that. It turns out he was looking at my reflection, confused as all heck! 

Cute, adorable and funny visual. Smart little male duck to be so inquisitive.

 

[Julie Birb]

Exactly. Wobbles loves nothing more than to do things he knows he's not supposed to do, LOL! Things like chase the cats, drill into the carpet, eat paper towels...the list goes on and on. But the best part is the look they give you when they're caught! 

haha, would love to see that expression of him caught in the act.

 

[Julie Birb]

OMG. Does he poop out little white paper towel peas? ChaCha likes to eat toilet paper when I'm not looking and if I don't catch her, I always find out later during the diaper change! I'm totally going to take a picture next time. She poops out these little peas (like bunny poop!) that are white and made of the toilet paper she knows she's not supposed to eat! It's gross AND hilarious.

that's funny. ChaCha is the alpha and in charge non-human being in your household.

 

[Amykins]

"His Royal Tinyness", hehe!

As for the look ducks make when they're caught doing something naughty, it's like a weird mix of surprise, guilt and total defiance. But it only lasts for a moment before going right back to the naughty thing!

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Also I had a question about punishment. What do you guys do when your house duckies get out of line? My husband has started implementing something he calls "the potato punishment". We hold him in our hands on his back and he scrunches his legs and neck in so he looks like a potato! He can't do anything in that position so he just sits there. It's hilarious.

He ain't silly, he's vicious! He keeps biting my hubby trying to protect me. Big no-no. But I'll totally get a photo of Wobtato!

Hey Kukupecpec, I have a question. ChaCha wasn't initially a house duck, correct? I'm trying to remember if it was ChaCha or Quackers who started out life as an outdoor duckie. I learned from Ariel that the ducklings were hatched by her, but they're not imprinted on her. They're sort of imprinted on each other; they recognize her, but she's not bonded with them and they'll start to get upset if separated from the others for too long.

I'm really worried that I won't have a close bond with this baby as I have with Wobbles and Pancake. And poor Pancake, at least he started out life with Milkshake, but it's been several days and I'm all he's got, so I worry about the transition.

Maybe I'm just getting cold feet, but I feel so anxious for this weekend! Do you think Pancake will be okay? I'm sure with time I can form a bond with the new duckling, but I hate the idea of traumatizing her by separating her from the others for the week or so it would take for her to get used to me.

Hey Amykins, I think these all go together. From what I have read and observed on ducks, the "normal" imprint is only for "mom" and although it is lifelong is kind of irrelevant because once a duck is grown, "mom" is just another duck - nothing special. However with Wobbles only having humans and no other ducks around during imprint, he has imprinted as a human which means he KNOWS he is a human just like you. That means he sees you as a potential mate and your husband as a rival. The only way he would not attack your husband in this circumstance would be if your husband was higher on the pecking order than him. So what do ducks do? I would have your husband grab Wobbles neck below his head with his thumb and index finger (like a male duck bites a female duck or a lower male) and hold him down for a little bit. If possible wait until he stops squirming and submits, then let him go. This should be communication that he would understand, showing your husband to be higher in the pecking order and therefore entitled to you. Then if Wobbles is behaving himself, he can be treated normally, but that is between your husband and Wobbles. Wobbles thinks he is lead drake. As for other "misbehaving" not a clue.

Now as far as the other ducks go. As adults, I think they will bond as closely to you as Wobbles. They will just know they are ducks, and will not have the confusion. They will be able to love and trust you and your husband and will see each other and or Wobbles as potential mates. My ducks range from completely non-imprinted on people to imprinted on us. BIG difference when they were little. Not a real big difference now. Wobbles is closer to you than our ducks are to us, but I would attribute that to exposure. Our ducks see us every day but it ranges from 10 minutes longer than chores on busy / miserable days to several hours at a sitting most of the time as a group. Every once in a while we take a duck for treatment or just for the heck of it inside as a temporary house duck (usually a couple hours 1 on 1 then they get to go in a dog crate for the night and are released to join the flock in the morning.) This is the closest they get to what you have every day with Wobbles (and your future house ducks). I think our ducks are closer to us than many that have more than 6 ducks that live out doors, but not as close as people who have 1 or 2 ducks who live out doors and not nearly as close as anybody's in this thread with house ducks.

I would be willing to bet ChaCha has a tighter bond to Kukupecpec than any imprinted duckling that is one of several living outside in a barn no matter how well they are taken care of. So in your situation where you spend so much time with your babies, I am sure they will love you with all their hearts just like Wobbles does but they won't fight with your husband over you.

 

[Amykins]

Do you think Wobbles and this other duck will fight?

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Whenever I have added new ducks to my flock there has been a period of adjustment and a new pecking order has to be established. I am not sure how that would work in this case since if Wobbles thinks he is a person, he may regard another duck like a cat or some other animal and not apply "normal" pecking order rituals. But in general, I would say the best bet is to let them see each other as much as possible but maybe not let them interact too much until the new one is feathered. But since they will have very close supervision, you can watch how they behave and react accordingly. When we introduced Noir and Mystique to the flock, they started out in a gazebo that was closed off from the rest of the flock. We knew long before the first time they were released which ducks were going to be aggressive toward them and which ones were merely curious. Since they reacted from outside the gazebo. Several days brought most of the aggressive ones down from attack the new ducks, to peck the new ducks and let them know who's boss. By the time we released them Kaine was the only concern and we supervised their first few days with the flock very closely. Now all is peachy. So I guess I am saying, it probably won't be easy when they first get to interact, but hopefully one will be the boss the other will be lower down and they both will except that and be great friends.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

@Amykins

Whoodja get?

Whoodja get?

Whoodja get?

 

[Kaessa]

@Amykins

Whoodja get?

Whoodja get?

Whoodja get?

X2!!!

I want to SEEEEEEEEE