Show off your house ducks!

[Tevyes Dad]

Definitely spoiled cute @juniverse

 

[QuackSpeak]

@juniverse I love your duckies!

Oh, and I have some more duck questions.. *Sigh*

Prepare to be bombarded!!

Okay, so should I get mixed ducklings? I was going to get three WHs, but then I started thinking... If I was to get mixed ducklings, I'd get A WH, Buff Orpington, and something else, maybe Khaki Campbell.. Any suggestion?

 

[mummaaduck]

Hi guys!

I'm wondering if there are many people on here that are like me and have house ducks as pets? I'd love to hear any information you have on your house ducks or what you've learnt. I have a Pekin duck around 7 months old now named Puddles & a younger Muscovy named Teep around 3 'months old. Im also after any info if you've had a duck that's imprinted on a cat? Or experiences similar? Teep my Muscovy came to us when we also had a litter of kittens and she basically imprinted onto them and decided she was pretty much a kitten and since then hasn't been at all interested in leaving their side. I don't mind it and she seems quite happy and still a sweet little duck but I'm just wondering if that's a healthy relationship for her or if I should try to get her to bond more with my other duck puddles? They love each other but when it comes down to it if Teep gets seperated from the kittens she frets so much and will choose them over puddles everytime. My kittens won't be leaving or sold off or anything like that and she will always have them but I just worry sometimes that she isn't maybe getting a fully enriching duck life if she can't be away from the kittens even to forage in the back yard for a bit? Thanks in advance guys and hope to hear some of your stories

 

[QuackSpeak]

Haha! I love both of ur ducks, and I haven't even met them! My ducks were imprinted on each other, not a litter of kittens, but I think maybe I can help. I mean, as long as Teep is happy, has a nutritional diet, water (to dunk her head in, u don't need a pond or anything like that), and all of her ducky needs are covered, I think she's fine. Do the kittens think of her as one of them, too?

But what about Puddles? Normally, when people have two ducks, they are imprinted on each other. This is not always the case, but I was just wondering... Does Puddles hang out with Teep and the kittens? How often? Who is Puddles imprinted on? You guys? Are you home a lot?

Bc I was thinking that maybe Puddles might be lonely if she isn't with Teep and the kittens, since she doesn't have any friends to hang out with. Idk if that's the case, but that's the main thing that comes to mind with me. Also, how do Teep and the kittens interact? I find this very interesting. Is Teep a kitten to them, or something else that can still be viewed as friendly?

 

[mummaaduck]

@quackspeak Firstly thankyou! I adore them too! My animals mean so much to me. As for Puddles, she actually imprinted on my son (age 4) as we got her a while before Teep came to us, while she loves her little duck friend she's honestly not worried about a thing unless my son moves out of sight or she can't be with him then she will fret and quack her heart out but I have 17 rescues in total and they all get along beautifully not just the cats and ducks but also my dogs & bunnies (always supervised of course) love them so I don't think she is lonely or anything like that. I don't think anyone in my house could get lonely

but Teep is totally different, she isn't much for the human interactions like she will be fine for a pat and she always comes up to us on her own terms for some loving wagging her little tail but she honestly just sticks with her "furry flock" opposed to anyone else. The kittens and her have been together since the kittens were 3 days old so Up until recently I think they've always just seen her as another sibling. Obviously though as they've been growing together they have noticed she is clearly different to them and what blows me away is they have adapted to their new duck sibling and all make sure if they play with her they don't play rough or have their claws out and she loves to groom them and they love it too! They lie down and let her groom away as she pleases and they all snuggle up together with each other at night and the mother cat is just amazing too, she treats Teep as her own and calls for her which Teep responds to and goes running to her. She's definitely got everything she needs as a duck food wise and requirement wise. She's not big on water she might get in her pool once a day for a wash but that's where it starts and ends. She never makes an unhappy noise unless she can't be with her family. Honestly the only time we ever hear her upset is if the kittens are sleeping somewhere she can't see them and eventually after a bit of her insistent loud teeps (too young to quack yet I'm guessing or maybe she just isn't a quacker at all) the mother cat will come for her and lay down with her to settle her and she will nestle herself right into her "mum" and fall sound asleep.

It's honestly the most beautiful love I've ever seen. Makes my heart warm, it's just a little worrying or maybe I just feel guilty or bad for her because our puddle duck literally goes EVERYWHERE with us, you name it & she's been, as we can't leave her at home as without my son she gets really, really upset. So she gets to come to the beach, hiking, she comes on holidays with us, car rides etc but we have tried to take Teep with us to let her experience all those things too and honestly it just stressed her right out being away from her "family" she just sobbed her little heart out and was quite distressed and as soon as we got her home & she saw them again she was wagging her tail making the chuckling happy duck noises again and just seemed soo relieved to be home with them so we haven't been game to upset her again and take her back out as I don't want to make her fret if there's no need. If there's no problem with her not getting to go and do those things then I guess I can stop my guilt trip I go on everytime I leave the house with only one duck and be happy knowing she's not missing out on any major duck lessons she should be learning out and about on adventures etc. We've started putting the kittens and her together in the backyard and she's quite happy to go for a little wander around pecking and foraging etc but ONLY if they are there with her. She can't be settled by anyone but the cats. Period. Where as puddles can be settled by me and my partner if my son isn't and can't be around or something like that, so maybe that's another thing? Perhaps she would benefit from some more time spent with us so we could hopefully eventually be able to settle her instead
Of just the cats? Thankyou for all your help too!

- I'll include a photo so you can see what they're like!

 

[QuackSpeak]

That is so cute! I think more pictures are in order!

Here's what I think. As long as Teep is happy and all of her ducky needs are taken care of (Which I'm pretty sure they are), then I think that this is fine. Even though Puddles and Teep are both technically ducks, they will have two very different lives, I think. But, to put it this way: If you take your dogs to the beach (Let's forget about ducks for a second

), would you feel guilty because you didn't bring your rabbits, or cats, or hamsters, or whatever? Not really - I mean, you might wonder how they're doing, but it's not like a full-on guilt attack because your rabbit is at home.

Teep is happy with her little family, and that's great. She is now a cat

. I would handle her often enough so that she learns that you, too, are family, even if she will always prefer the cats (I have a sneaking suspicion that you are already doing this). For example: If you had two ducks who imprinted on each other, you would make sure that they knew you were a Good Thing, and a Comforting Thing...But not necessarily their mom or siblings. As long as both Puddles and Teep are both happy where they are, I think that this is fine! Also really, really cute - I wonder what will happen when your four year old gets old enough to realize that he's the only one with a duck following him around

. Both imprints sound very cute and definitely acceptable

 

[mummaaduck]

Thankyou! That's a big relief just having that second opinion on it all! My partner is great but we are both first timers with our ducks so we want to make sure we are getting it right for them. So again, thankyou!

Definitely have been & will continue keeping up with the interactions with her so she knows we are good too & Yes I'll definitely keep you updated with photos as they grow

As for my son at this stage he's absolutely in love with His puddle duck and so good to her, very proud of the kind young man I'm raising. He has all the time in the world for his fur/feather babies just like his mumma.

Sadly puddle duck had a pretty rough start to life- a friend of mine got her and and her 6 brothers and sisters from a farm and basically long story short our poor puddle duck lost her entire family in an accident ( wild dog related &I not enough protected housing outside due to her not doing her research and she was the only one to survive that tragedy and my friend didn't sign up for a single duck that needed the attention and time she did especially after her traumatic start (she works etc) so we decided to put our hand up and take her on as I'm a stay at home mum and run my own business from home so I have plenty of time on my hands for her & its Best thing we ever did, ducks are just the best

this photo is from the other day at the beach. Puddles loves going with her best friend!

 

[QuackSpeak]

So cute!

 

[kukupecpec]

Wellness visit to our new Waterfowl Specialist today!

ChaCha has to get nekkid =O

Doc says she's in great shape, just waiting to hear back about all the lab results.

Now we're home resting, she's pooped from all the attention lol

 

[QuackSpeak]

Aww! ChaCha's so cute! And it's so cool that you have a waterfowl specialist near you... There should be more of those. A lot more

I have a question. I was on here a while back, before I had an account on BYC even, and stumbled on an interesting article (I think it was an article...). It was about a domestic crested pekin who was found in a park. She was taken door to door by the people who found her, and eventually, they found someone with a duck pen in their backyard, and gave the crested pekin to that person.
Is that ChaCha? She and your username looks familiar, but I may be wrong...