VERY VERY BAD BAD DUCKS!

[veronicasmom]

Grrr. We were out doing barn chores yesterday am and the ducks were roaming as usual. It was raining. My husband had to go into the house and noticed that a pickup truck going by had slowed down. He decided to go see why and the reason was that my DUMB ducks were on the other side of the road. The speed limit on the road is 45, but I but I have never seen anyone go that slow. We stopped a huge dump truck and car and herded them home. I thought maybe it was an isolated incident since they have not left the property for many years (did it one time before, probably at least 5 years ago, raining heavily that day too).
So, they got locked up for rest of day.
I was here alone doing chores today and was watching them. It is hard to keep them penned when I am cleaning their area. They are fast. I checked them once, then a few minutes later could not see them. So I checked down by the road and they were not only across the road, but had wandered into the next town! (Not really that far, our property line is the town line, but it is still way way too far for them to be, not to mention across the road). It was pouring again today. It seems that they forget their minds when it rains. Not sure if they just saw the puddle at the end of the driveway and then just went across, or what, but it scared the crap out of me.
So, now I don't know what to do. I obviously cannot watch them non stop and never had to before. I am wondering if the rain really did have anything to do with their wandering. I hate for them not to ever be roaming again, but this was so scary. I would be devastated if one or more got hit. Just not sure how to handle this. They do have a large fenced area, but they LOVE puttering through the manure pile, wandering through grass, etc. It's like the rain makes them forget where their boundaries are...................

 

[sourland]

Rain makes the world a never ending puddle for them to explore. In their minds the next puddle might just have the choicest worms. Keep them penned up on rainy days - the puddle is always bluer on the other side of the road.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Agreed

 

[veronicasmom]

That is what I thought. I just will have trouble trusting them again for a long long time. If they were expendable, and I did not care, it would not have been so scary. But I love them in spite of the fact that they are dirty, smelly, aggravating and annoying!!!!!!

 

[Amiga]

veronicasmom, I have to watch my flock on rainy days, too. Somehow they seem to know that worms wash up on the pavement, and the worm hunting is excellent right by the side of the road.

Our road is little more than a shared driveway but some of my neighbors and their visitors drive at a pretty good clip. And who's to say they would not walk to the next town? Little nutlets.

Glad yours are okay. I tell myself I would rather they be antsy and bored than in peril. I like to let them forage a bit, but they have plenty of room here. Try to tell them that.

 

[veronicasmom]

Ok, so I feel a bit better. They are so unhappy when they have to stay in the large pen. We have a huge area out back that they could roam in, but do they? No, of course not, they head out front to the street

And what makes it doubly upsetting is that the Muscovies do not wander at all. They are always within sight. So now they are being punished for the sins of the other 5. It is really nice out today, maybe while hubby is here they can go out for a little bit. Maybe, not sure yet..................Thanks.

 

[Frank Phinster]

That is a typical behaviour, ducks like to explore their environment and as soon as ducks have found a new foraging groud, they will try to get there again and again. Regardless of what they prefer, I would not let them out of their pen for a while at all.

 

[Going Quackers]

Completely typical and mine will do that too.. not the road crossing but explore.. ducks follow what they desire and take the easiest path to get there. Glad they were not hurt.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

You can re train them tho. I did here anyway. As Amiga stated, the concrete is beyond popular here, I finally figured out why: bcz worms get stranded on the concrete, so that's easy pickins for ducks. Anyway, duck poop + concrete = not good, so I retrained my flock after they were penned all winter to never go on the concrete. Although now they are just wandering the other way. Short story long, just keep an eye on them when they are out, or install a fence.

 

[veronicasmom]

Retrain ducks??????????? They don't call them birdbrains for nothing!! I can not even fathom how one trains a duck to go where you want them to go. LOL

I did let them out for a very short time while we were working outside this am. But then when we had things to do and could not watch them, they went back in the pen. NOT happy campers. The seemed to have no interest in the street or going in that direction. But I did not give them the chance. So, I think that it how it will be. They can be out for now with supervision, and then inside the pen when we cannot watch them. And if it is raining heavily, they don't get out at all. We got a bit lax because they were so good about staying on the property and not wandering. So, a wakeup call for us that they can't be trusted.
FWIW, we don't get worms on the driveway here. We have very very sandy soil and the worms don't live in it. I can only guess it was the puddle at the end of the drive that attracted them and they just kept going.
I am getting too old for this drama.................................