Do you all think it is possible to tame a duck to be friends with humans in seven weeks? We have a chance to get a 7 month old Black Swedish Drake, that was hatched by it's owners, for my son. However, the drake has not been handle much, and does not like human contact. Bad Idea?
Hi, I had to answer this because I rescued 2 full grown Muscovy drakes and they are very tame, most ducks especially the drakes really don't like to be held, but my guys will catch bread in mid air and hang around us when we're outside. so i'd say to some extreme they can be tamed. Lots of peas and a little w/w bread can go along way in makeing friends with a duck.. and forgot to add patience! doesn't like human contact? well if you like a challenge and your son is not a small child then it might be worth a try.
Not trying to put you off (beacuse its probably worth a go) ... As I already had 3 very tame ducks, from young ducklings, I decided the to get another duck. this one from a run down old farm, not handled before, and noticed who caught her at the farm didnt pick her up nicely.... I done everything in my power to get her friendly, From bribes to ingoring her lettting her watch my other ducks follow me, Then sitting near her night time pen etc.. manged to get a few real nice long cuddles with her, where she sat peacefully on my lap.. I though I was getting somewhere with her, BUT she made a point of not wanting to be near humans OR my other ducks loud scretching quacking continued through daylight, So a non tame duck didnt work for me.. I ended up finding her a lovely new home a man that had a duck island on his lake took her, she now has large area to roam, without humans etc .... Ducks are really much individuals, personally, if you want a loving pet, get a young duckling, if you want a duck purely for roaming around and not really wanting close contact older ducks are good..... Good luck if you take this duck on
I honestly dont think your chances are good. Only reason I say that is because I started with 3 pekins at 2-3 weeks old and from day 1 the despised me and ran for deal life when I approached them and were just very pannicked when I would hold them. For months I tried everything I could think of, they would eat from my hands but would freak if I tried anything else. Then we got 2 more pekins at about 5-6 days old and they were better, although I missed out on alot of there first week because my husband was admitted to the hospital but they just started laying and my silkies just started hatching them and when handled from day 1 it is a HUGE difference. The newborns are all so sweet!!! I cannot wait to see how they turn out.
Okay so Waddles & Puddles hated me! It was really odd, because I held them nonstop from when they were babies. I asked Duck_feeder on his training Moxy thread if he thought it was possible to get them to like me, and he said yes. Recently I have been giving them more space, walking slowly, and feeding them peas from my hands. Now they can't wait to see me come in! They quack until I sit, and give them peas. Just because some other people haven't had luck, doesn't mean you can't. You should just show him you aren't going to hurt him, feed him some treats, and sit with him for a few hours everyday. Eventually you will grow on him! Good luck!
don't rush things... be patient and enjoy the progress. I have four ducks I adopted arround christmas that never had alot of close human contact (they are over 1 yr. old) and have been sitting with them and throwing frozen peas closer and closer to me and then they started eating out of my hand, so i would put peas in one hand and make them lay their neck across my other hand to get to the peas so they got used to two hands and actually contact of their neck with my hand and with daily repetition, its only been three months and I now can actually pet them sometimes. I am pretty happy how far we've come. I really enjoy the challenge but it does take patience. Seems to make it all the more worth while that it takes time and effort. I don't doubt you can do it.
