Will mail order day old ducklings imprint?

[Tevyes Dad]

Thanks for the info. But can a duck be really imprinted on you and live in a coop with another duck

As I understand it there are three factors to imprinting with ducklings and none of them have a degree, they are just there or not. (Any duck behavior specialists please feel free to correct me - this is what I could piece together from a bit of research).

1. You are its mom or your aren't (desirable implanting for most anyone).
2. Other ducklings or possibly other creatures are its siblings or not. (not quite so important but still relevant to their behavior).
3. They are a(n) _______. (If they are going to be "normal", hopefully the answer is Duck, if they are a lone diaper wearing house duck, Person is OK, but the answer could be dog or cat or anything else that raises them in the absence of other ducks - this will most likely be a problem.)

Once the duckling turns into a duck, none of these things except #3 will really matter. If the duck didn't imprint on you as a duckling it can love you as a duck. If a duck did imprint on you as a duckling, it may not even like you as a duck. Just like in our human relationships. You may feel a love for a person unrelated to you where they are just like family in your mind even if they aren't. You may or may not like your mother as an adult.

There is a lot of focus on if a duck imprints or not. This will effect the first couple months of its life with you (and no matter what during this time it will be SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute!) I would think more important is the relationship you develop over the first year when it is a young duck. This could shape a friendship that could last many years.

In my flock, our first two ducks certainly didn't imprint as the were a couple months old when we got them. One of them is super friendly with me, the other one, not so much. 8 of our ducks grew up together and were together from day one. They definitely imprinted on us and as soon as they got their feathers, they didn't care anymore. 1 of our ducks joined the 8 one week later. It took a couple days for the flock to accept her, but she grew up with them. She definitely imprinted on us. The last 2 joined us a couple months later and also imprinted on us and because there were only two, they watched late night TV with us and spent much more time with us than the second group. All of the ducks when they got their feathers didn't care any more. But shortly after that, we started developing relationships with them. Now they are a unified flock and they spend most of their time together, but every one in a while, they split out into their respective "sibling" groups. The first two, the next 8, Rhiannon by herself, and the last two. They know who the siblings are and every once in a while they group up that way. Most of the time they are all together. Some get along. Some like to fight. Some love to be with us as much as possible, some would rather just be around for treats. The duck relationship is the real relationship that develops after the the wonder of duckling-hood has passed.