Support Group for Abused Duck Keepers

[BelovedBirds]

I am not so proud to announce that this thread is making me want ducks sooner

You may not be proud but I sure am!
I've been telling you for a little while that you need ducks, and now I have a whole group to persuade you!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have always had drakes that is how I started my love affair with ducks, But I tell ya they can sure be a handful. They are so full of hormones and this time of year oh boy, but I don't think I could have a flock of ducks without a drake. But that is just me. I see how my girls once hormone start to flow love their drake when not in hormone mode though they avoid him like the plague. [Muscovy] lol
My Runner drake was raised by his Muscovy mama so he has always respected me. {Or at least tolerates me] And his girls fawn over him like he is some kind of prince. It's never a dull moment when you have birds. My Runners and Buffs are always with their drake they love him to bits.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am not so proud to announce that this thread is making me want ducks sooner

Now you have to decide the breed or breeds you'll be adding to your collection.
But rest assured there are many here who will help, I'll start
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/duck-breed-focus-project.1024526/

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I am not so proud to announce that this thread is making me want ducks sooner

Always a great challenge to make sure you can be the best maid and servant
My ducks can be clear across the yard and hear me open a door and that’s an instant demand for treats
Letting the dogs in and out now is a chore lol

 

[fluffycrow]

Now you have to decide the breed or breeds you'll be adding to your collection.
But rest assured there are many here who will help, I'll start
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/duck-breed-focus-project.1024526/

Thank you so much! I'm pretty sure I'm getting muscovy, they seem like the best bet for me. Love their feathers and their fleshy bits (I know how they're called but not how they're spelt, so I'm not embarrassing myself) they go broody often, they're the most sush-able duck, and they can fly

 

[BelovedBirds]

I have always had drakes that is how I started my love affair with ducks, But I tell ya they can sure be a handful. They are so full of hormones and this time of year oh boy, but I don't think I could have a flock of ducks without a drake. But that is just me. I see how my girls once hormone start to flow love their drake when not in hormone mode though they avoid him like the plague. [Muscovy] lol
My Runner drake was raised by his Muscovy mama so he has always respected me. {Or at least tolerates me] And his girls fawn over him like he is some kind of prince. It's never a dull moment when you have birds. My Runners and Buffs are always with their drake they love him to bits.

I'd quite like a call drake someday, imagine how cute it would be, with my girlie's
I figure he wouldn't be able to bully them too bad due to the size difference, and he's be lighter on their backs
Aside from that little possibility though, I think I'd generally keep my drakes separate, when I get some. A bachelor flock of rescue drakes!

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I want to add though
There is nothing more heart warming then your ducks seeing or hearing you and come running and wag their tails with excitement
These guys have brought me so much love and joy that I could never live without ducks

 

[ruthhope]

@Miss Lydia, I have a psychotic drake who came at 8 weeks old from a rehabber who couldnt keep him or release him. He didnt want to be touched but would eat peas from my hand. He was sweet with my others when he first came and he rarely gets into skirmishes with the other drakes. But at 6 months old, when his hormones surged, he attacked me: flying at me full frontal, feet first. He did that twice and also made several biting attacks on my feet from behind. I tried holding him on the ground, pressing him down, but I hated doing that. So instead, I picked him up, stood him on my patio table, and held him firmly against my body until he stopped struggling.

Then a miracle happened. From my kitchen window, I saw him stood on my side gate. I dashed out as I was afraid he might cross the road and attack the toddler over there. I ran towards him but stopped as there is a step and standing on the gate, the drake was tall as I am. I slowly advanced and when I got up to him he rested his head on my shoulder and so I gave him a big long hug. He then got down on his side of the gate. All was well for two days and then he was back up on the gate. Not afraid that time, I went to him. He put his head on my shoulder and I hugged him.

He has not been on the gate since but he does periodically have biting attacks on my feet. I pick him up and put him in a dog crate in my back yard -- for just a few minutes of time out. It doesn't take long and he comes out contrite until the next time. If I have time, instead of the dog crate, I hug him and talk to him but the kindness approach takes longer than time out. If I put him down too soon,he goes for my feet again.

I'm sure its dominance behavior: I dont know why he doesnt learn that he cant win as his big duck mamma is nolonger afraid of him. Plus he's a stinker and wont bath. So she hoses him down in the summer. He doesnt like water in the same way as he doesnt like to be touched. But he does have a side kick: a special needs little pekin that thinks he is a muscovy. The two are inseperable during the day

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

but i hated doing that. So instead, i picked him up, stood him on my patio table, and held him firmly against my body until he stopped struggling.

Yeah, I hug his angry outbursts. He comes running at me when I come into the garden trying to defend his lady, so I scoop him up and whisper in his neck and peck him with kisses on his neck. (Which is how I cuddled him as a baby) he calms down and curls into me like a duckling under his mother's wing.

Momma 's boy I kiss the angry Bird right out of him.

(He is a beautiful Kahki Campbell)

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

But rest assured there are many here who will help, I'll start

Oh! "HELP" is it? A junkie giving someone a free sample more like!