Thanks for giving me a dose of perspective. I've been complaining constantly because my ducks go to their night pen when they are confused or can't see me.
If i go around a corner in the yard & they cant see me? Answer- go back to bed in the night pen!
Forage pen in a place they haven't been in a while? Answer- go back to bed in the night pen!
Wrong hen leading the pack to day pen/forage pen? Answer- go back to bed in the night pen!
Any combination of 1,2 or 3 and I shut the coop door to keep them from going inside? Answer- quack-yell-complain at me until I open the night pen door or get them restarted in the right direction.
This has only been happening for the past few weeks. They're frazzled by their new hormones & re-establishing the dominance order in the flock.
Before the hormones turned on they followed perfectly even if I went out of view for a few seconds. Now I'm wasting minutes each time I move them between pens or forage areas/pens.
Herding
They've always herded easily even though I rarely need to do it. All I have to do is stick my arm out to the side to block them from going off to the side or stick it straight out in front of me to drive them in a straight line. I walk calmly behind them to drive them. I only have to herd them if they're taunting my dogs through the patio door or when decide they want to forage someplace other than where i've set up their foraging pen.
Following
My girls aren't picky & they'll accept any treat but I swear they would bark like a dog if i offered them steamed mashed potato or mealworms & asked them to bark. They love tomatoes too but they turn that into an amusing clumsy game of roller derby to keep their flock mates away from the tomato slices.
When I graduated them from the bathtub to the garage, I wanted them to walk to their forage pen and their night pen.
I trained mine to come to me by squatting down and calling "duck duck duck duck". I started calling "duck duck duck duck" to them while they were still in the box from the hatchery.
When they come over to me, I give each duck a taste of potato, or worms, or whatever the treat du jour is. Then I stood up & walked a few feet away, squatted & started calling "duck duck duck duck." I continued this religiously until every followed well. Then i started offer treats every other stop but always offered treats on the first stop. When t hey were all doing this perfectly then I stopped offering treats on the first stop.
I still always have them ready and i dole them out whenever someone is particularly cute or well behaved.
