Swimming lessons.

Date sort Score sort
Mine were born Sunday and I can't wait to give them a swim soon....can't believe how big they get in a week! Yikes
ep.gif
 
Here's mine at just about a week. I must warn you though. DO NOT LET the ducks hear you run the bath water. This is a step mostly forgotton. Each time you run your own bath, they think it is playtime
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lol


Mine go nutz as soon as they hear the bathtub.
67636_duckies.jpg
 
This is my first time raising ducks. Unfortunately I only used shallow pans and now a kiddie pool for them to play/swim in. Now they are 4 months old and they wont go in our pond. They just stand on the bank and look inquistively at the water. The pond is quite large, between 1/4 and 1/2 acre in size so I was afraid to let them have access to it until I was sure they would come out when I called them.

I've even tried to coax them in from a kyak but they just stand on the bank and quack at me. A few times they've been started in to the pond but they swam/flew out as quick as they could. Actually quite comical to watch. Any suggestions on getting them to go into the "deep end"?

My husbands thinks I need to get a few more babies and try to introduce them to the pond earlier. Once I integrated the older and younger birds he thinks the older birds will follow the younger ones into the water.

Also since I'm new at this, I need reassurance that they will do ok over the winter. They are khaki campbells and I bought a med size dog house with a door from northern tool to use as a house. There is a louverd vent on the side of the house and a 12" x 12" opening on the door. I plan to cover the opening over the door with a piece of rigid insulation (similar to styrofoam). I live in Western NC at approx 3500' so can get quite cold here. With thick shavings in their house will they do ok? I'm not concerned with egg production just don't want to go out one morning to let them out of their house and find them frozen. I am considering bringing them into an unheated garage at night if we have extended, really cold spells (+10 degrees or below).

Sorry for the long post.
 
SASNC said:
This is my first time raising ducks. Unfortunately I only used shallow pans and now a kiddie pool for them to play/swim in. Now they are 4 months old and they wont go in our pond. They just stand on the bank and look inquistively at the water. The pond is quite large, between 1/4 and 1/2 acre in size so I was afraid to let them have access to it until I was sure they would come out when I called them.

I've even tried to coax them in from a kyak but they just stand on the bank and quack at me. A few times they've been started in to the pond but they swam/flew out as quick as they could. Actually quite comical to watch. Any suggestions on getting them to go into the "deep end"?

My husbands thinks I need to get a few more babies and try to introduce them to the pond earlier. Once I integrated the older and younger birds he thinks the older birds will follow the younger ones into the water.

Also since I'm new at this, I need reassurance that they will do ok over the winter. They are khaki campbells and I bought a med size dog house with a door from northern tool to use as a house. There is a louverd vent on the side of the house and a 12" x 12" opening on the door. I plan to cover the opening over the door with a piece of rigid insulation (similar to styrofoam). I live in Western NC at approx 3500' so can get quite cold here. With thick shavings in their house will they do ok? I'm not concerned with egg production just don't want to go out one morning to let them out of their house and find them frozen. I am considering bringing them into an unheated garage at night if we have extended, really cold spells (+10 degrees or below).

Sorry for the long post.
Click to expand...
Hi and Welcome to BYC, I also live in Western NC and I have had ducks going on 9 yrs now, they don't have a pond but they do winter over really well. make sure you put up insulation they can't nibble off and eat. you really don't need it though. but you do need more ventilation in the dog house windows if you can cut them in . with hardware cloth covering them to make it pred proof. place the windows up higher so they get good ventilation but don't get the cold wind blowing on them. I don't close the windows in my coops or houses at all just leave the upper part open. as far as the pond, do you know if you have snapping turtles? they are big preds to young ducklings, and even maime adults. this maybe what they are afraid of plus can you imagine how humongous your pond looks to them?also other types of fish will eat and bite toes and feet off of ducks and ducklings. Nice pine shaving will work good for bedding but most likely you won't have to worry about eggs till next spring. Styrofoam will become duck food if used. I wouldn't worry about using any insulation, they wear down.
 
Last edited:
SASNC said:
This is my first time raising ducks. Unfortunately I only used shallow pans and now a kiddie pool for them to play/swim in. Now they are 4 months old and they wont go in our pond. They just stand on the bank and look inquistively at the water. The pond is quite large, between 1/4 and 1/2 acre in size so I was afraid to let them have access to it until I was sure they would come out when I called them.

I've even tried to coax them in from a kyak but they just stand on the bank and quack at me. A few times they've been started in to the pond but they swam/flew out as quick as they could. Actually quite comical to watch. Any suggestions on getting them to go into the "deep end"?

My husbands thinks I need to get a few more babies and try to introduce them to the pond earlier. Once I integrated the older and younger birds he thinks the older birds will follow the younger ones into the water.

Also since I'm new at this, I need reassurance that they will do ok over the winter. They are khaki campbells and I bought a med size dog house with a door from northern tool to use as a house. There is a louverd vent on the side of the house and a 12" x 12" opening on the door. I plan to cover the opening over the door with a piece of rigid insulation (similar to styrofoam). I live in Western NC at approx 3500' so can get quite cold here. With thick shavings in their house will they do ok? I'm not concerned with egg production just don't want to go out one morning to let them out of their house and find them frozen. I am considering bringing them into an unheated garage at night if we have extended, really cold spells (+10 degrees or below).

Sorry for the long post.
Click to expand...
I had the same issue with mine not wanting to go into the lake.
We moved their temporary pen down to the water's edge with part of it going out into the water.
This was their only source of water for about 3 weeks. It didn't take long at all for them to be happily splashing around in the lake!
After 3 weeks we removed the fencing and now they swim all over the lake and love every minute of it.

Here's a picture of the temporary set up we had to get them used to being on the lake.

 
Last edited:
Blondiega1 said:
I had the same issue with mine not wanting to go into the lake.
We moved their temporary pen down to the water's edge with part of it going out into the water.
This was their only source of water for about 3 weeks. It didn't take long at all for them to be happily splashing around in the lake!
After 3 weeks we removed the fencing and now they swim all over the lake and love every minute of it.

Here's a picture of the temporary set up we had to get them used to being on the lake.

Click to expand...
Wow! What a great idea!
 

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