Suggestions on herding ducks into their pens/coops

[Crazy4Fowl]

I have 21 ducks. 6 big ducks and 15 1 month old ducks/little ducks. I let the big ducks free range every day and it’s fairly easy to get them out of the pond and herd them into their coop.
The little ducks however are harder to get in. I only let them out for a few hours to swim, and I watch them to keep them safe. But they don’t want to get out of the water or go in their pen.
At first it wasn’t too bad. I would wait until they all got out and dried themselves off and then I would try to get them in, which was still difficult and required two people. Now however when I try to get them in they jump right back into the water. I’ve had to use a canoe to get them out of the water the last few times and that is a pain. I want to let them out to swim but I can’t spend 30 minutes everyday trying to get them in.
Maybe instead of trying to chase them in, is there a way to draw them in? How do you guys get your ducks in? Do you use food to draw them in? Or some better way of herding? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[sourland]

Have you tried having feed waiting for them in the pen when they return ?

 

[HomesteaderWife]

My situation is a little bit different, but we clicker trained our ducks to associate putting themselves in their coop cabin with snacks for positive behavior = reward. They have thus far been the best ducks we have ever had about putting themselves up when you come to let them know when it's time for bed. We've moved away from treats to just simply saying "Yay!" in a happy voice when they go into the house, and they get all excited and quack loudly- and the drake bobs his head when he hears the word. If you don't say this, they'll look at you confused and chatter quietly. I did the same thing with our chickens by clicker training to the coop for ease of handling if we ever needed to put them up early during say incoming bad weather. It's been successful with them as well.

 

[3bird]

We use the "soup for ducks method." When our guys come in after free ranging, they get a soup of peas, greens and a mealworm crumble. There is a pretty elaborate call that goes along with it. We've been doing it since they were young, and now all we have to do is yell: "Hey Ducklings! Hey Ducklings! Hey Ducklings! If you're ready, it's time for Soup for Ducks!" and they come running from just about anywhere on the property.

They hear the call at about 0:08 in this video:

 

[Crazy4Fowl]

Have you tried having feed waiting for them in the pen when they return ?

They always have food in their pen so should I remove it when I let them out?

 

[FlocksOfFluff]

We use the "soup for ducks method." When our guys come in after free ranging, they get a soup of peas, greens and a mealworm crumble. There is a pretty elaborate call that goes along with it. We've been doing it since they were young, and now all we have to do is yell: "Hey Ducklings! Hey Ducklings! Hey Ducklings! If you're ready, it's time for Soup for Ducks!" and they come running from just about anywhere on the property.

They hear the call at about 0:08 in this video:

That's adorable!

 

[HomesteaderWife]

@3bird - I love that so much right now

 

[HalfWayUpAMountain]

We use the "soup for ducks method." When our guys come in after free ranging, they get a soup of peas, greens and a mealworm crumble. There is a pretty elaborate call that goes along with it. We've been doing it since they were young, and now all we have to do is yell: "Hey Ducklings! Hey Ducklings! Hey Ducklings! If you're ready, it's time for Soup for Ducks!" and they come running from just about anywhere on the property.

They hear the call at about 0:08 in this video:

I don't think I will ever tire of watching ducks speed walk

Loving your work with the training too !

 

[3bird]

I don't think I will ever tire of watching ducks speed walk

Loving your work with the training too !

If "Soup for Ducks" is involved, the fast walk sometimes even gets some "flying"!

For the OP, I neglected to mention that our guys have 24/7 free choice food, so it's not that they're starving...they just get excited!

 

[TJAnonymous]

So I'm going to pop in on this old thread and share my experience. Wondering if the OP is still having these issues or if she found a solution?

In my case, I had two Pekin ducks. They used to stay out at our pond last summer after they got big enough to go outside. I couldn't catch them after that no matter what... I was always worried a predator would get them sooner or later.

About 4 months later in the early fall, I got 5 more ducks. This time I kept the new ducks in a duck pen with a coop. After a day or two, we managed to trap the two Pekins and put them in the duck pen with the others. We kept them all in the duck pen for 6 months. We had a routine every night to put them to bed. We have a long PVC pole that we use to herd them. When we grab that pole, it starts the process. We usually make one trip around the coop with us walking behind them with the pole. When we get back to the front, they all pile in the door to the coop like clockwork. Once they are in, we open the people door and shut the automatic door. It is on a timer which opens automatically in the morning but we close it manually at night since it takes the "routine" to get them to go inside.

Anyway, fast forward to today. It is a little over 6 months that they have been in the pen. In the past few weeks, I have been leaving the pen door open on Saturday afternoon. It took them a few times but they eventually started exploring outside of the pen. If they get scared, they run back to the "safety" of the pen. After a week or so of them exploring near their pen, my daughter finally directed them to the pond. This was the moment of truth.... I was worried about how we would get them out. Also wondering if the two Pekins would remember when they "lived" on the pond last summer. When evening came, they would NOT get off the pond. If you tried to approach, they ran back in the water. I finally gave up and walked away from them. I was in our barn talking to my husband when, lo and behold, the entire flock walked right on by and headed back to their pen. Once in the pen, it was business as usual as far as the "routine" for bedtime.

So.... My observation is that ducks are creatures of habit. Whatever habit gets ingrained in them is what they respond to... I like the clicker idea. DH and my daughter want to incubate some duck eggs. If we do, I want to do 2 critical things - 1) socialize them to people so they are tame and can be handled, and 2) maybe use the clicker method to train them for bedtime. Both of these will make our processes much easier in the future!