- Apr 22, 2014
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Here is Kaine (bad boy) terrorizing our newest runner ducklings. They have been out with the flock (most of the day) for 4 days. The first two, Kaine was locked up. Now (day 6), I will leave them unsupervised for a couple hours at a time. They know who to run from. Days 3 and 4, I let Kaine pull some feathers from their tails and chests (they need to know who to run from and he needs to get it out of his system), but if he really pinned them down I would interfere. The second half of day 4 he was on lock down because he just wouldn't give it a rest. This gave the ducklings a chance to socialize with some of the other ducks. Seems about 1/3 don't like them 1/3 are indifferent and 1/3 accept them. Unfortunately, 1 of the ones that accepts them, they don't like (Entie).
The only one who is threatening at all (any more than a peck or a nip) is Kaine. He will try to fight hard with them. Pocahontas fought with Mystique the first day, but Mystique finally backed down and now Pocahontas just gives out reminder nips/pecks if they get too close to her. Fortunately, they are much faster than Kaine. In this video, the chase is only half-hearted. About 5 minutes before, it was all-out, take no prisoners. The ONLY way Kaine can catch them is if they trip or let themselves get cornered. (They are ducks, they get cornered a lot.)
Now it is mostly for show. Kaine seldom catches them and seldom really tries. As long as they know it is his yard... Yesterday was the first day they were "allowed" to use a pool by his imperial majesty. Before that, if they tried, he would leave whatever he was doing and chase them out.
They spent the last week and a half in the gazebo getting "introduced" to the flock. We knew Kaine and Pocahontas were going to be problems from day one. During this time, Dove, Entie, Snow, and Roxette were given supervised visits in the gazebo with them since they seemed interested but not aggressive toward them. Mystique was the dominant duckling so she and Dove pecked back and forth a bit, then seemed to get along. Both ducklings terrorized Entie, so that was a short visit. Mystique tried to be aggressive toward Snow but at 8-1/2 lbs, Snow just gently walked forward forcing Mystique to back up and showed Mystique in about 10 seconds that she wouldn't even acknowledge Mystique as a threat (not one peck). It was just like a good bar bouncer with a little hot-head. Mystique gave up then they all had a grand old time for about 4 hours. Roxette was the last to get a visit before the ducklings were let out. Not much happened. They just spent the several hours together like they were part of the same flock, but not favorites (no cuddling). The gazebo is now closed because they kept running into it as a "safe haven" and getting cornered then beat up. They need to learn they are much faster so open ground is their friend when it comes to Kaine. When nothing is in their way and Kaine gets close, it is like a scene from "The Roadrunner": Beep Beep zoooooooooooooooom!
They spent the last week and a half in the gazebo getting "introduced" to the flock. We knew Kaine and Pocahontas were going to be problems from day one. During this time, Dove, Entie, Snow, and Roxette were given supervised visits in the gazebo with them since they seemed interested but not aggressive toward them. Mystique was the dominant duckling so she and Dove pecked back and forth a bit, then seemed to get along. Both ducklings terrorized Entie, so that was a short visit. Mystique tried to be aggressive toward Snow but at 8-1/2 lbs, Snow just gently walked forward forcing Mystique to back up and showed Mystique in about 10 seconds that she wouldn't even acknowledge Mystique as a threat (not one peck). It was just like a good bar bouncer with a little hot-head. Mystique gave up then they all had a grand old time for about 4 hours. Roxette was the last to get a visit before the ducklings were let out. Not much happened. They just spent the several hours together like they were part of the same flock, but not favorites (no cuddling). The gazebo is now closed because they kept running into it as a "safe haven" and getting cornered then beat up. They need to learn they are much faster so open ground is their friend when it comes to Kaine. When nothing is in their way and Kaine gets close, it is like a scene from "The Roadrunner": Beep Beep zoooooooooooooooom!
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