Will My Ducks Come Back?????

[Tracie70]

Hello,

Thanks in advance for any help.... I just recently bought four Muscovy ducks... They are soooo cute. I have to submit a picture once I get one. Well anyways, the question is I have them in my chicken coop with my chickens write now, it seems to be working fine. I am planning on giving them there own coop. But for now they seem fine. If I let them free range with my chickens ( I usually let my chicks free range around 5 at night to dusk when they come back to the coop then I lock them back in for the night,) Now my new ducks have been cooped in with the chicks for 3 days if I let them free range with my chicks will they come back by night? Will they come back even at all?? I am very new to ducks and I am not sure of there behavior. Thanks for all who reads this, I appreciate it...

 

[tomingreeneco]

Our ducks had to be trained to come back into their coop. They did not come back on their own. Give them their favorite food "only" if they are in their coop. Eventually they will learn that if they want snacks they have to go into their coop. When inside "lock" them up for the night.

 

[Cetawin]

You may have to herd them along for a few days until they get the idea. But once they get the hang of it, they usually will head back that way as bedtime nears. Ducks are super easy to herd home. Mine are a bit over a year old and they free range all day, in the evening, they make their way back to the garage and go right into their crates for sleeping.

Once I get their new duckie house built, it will only take a couple of days to get them used to it. Good luck with yours and enjoy them!

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

Keep your muscovy ducks penned day and night for at least a week. Once they learn your place is their new home and that is where the feed bucket is, they will stay when let out.

Muscovies can and do fly. The ducks fly very well, the drakes fly when young but not so well when grown because they are too heavy. If let out too soon, they might fly away and not come back. But once they bond to a place they will come back to it. Or not even leave at all. If you don't want them to fly, you might need to clip their wings.

Once you start letting them out, establish a routine to get them back into their night pen. They follow the feed bucket very well. A little grain/feed in the pen will usually get them in fast. Or herd them in, whichever works for you to get the routine established. They will also learn to come when called. Every bird on my place comes when I call "duck, duck, duck" in a high pitched call. Even the geese. Even the cats will come to see what is going on....

 

[sourland]

Try feeding them late in the day in the coop so that they associate that time and pjlace with eating. Ducks generally like to sleep outside if they can get away with it. If you are by a river or large lake, all bets are off. Muscovies frequently revert to a feral state.

 

[blkjak]

We bought a muscovy trio (drake and two hens) about a month ago. Let them go today. Away they went into the slough. Tried to sho them back tonight. Epic fail. They went to the nesting island. They should be ok for the night as there are Canada geese nesting there. Any ideas on how to get them back to the coop other than canoeing after them with fishing nets?

 

[Ladyofhursrfarm]

You may have to herd them along for a few days until they get the idea. But once they get the hang of it, they usually will head back that way as bedtime nears. Ducks are super easy to herd home. Mine are a bit over a year old and they free range all day, in the evening, they make their way back to the garage and go right into their crates for sleeping.

Once I get their new duckie house built, it will only take a couple of days to get them used to it. Good luck with yours and enjoy them!

Can the ducks be trusted to wade in the lake once they acclimated to go back into their coop. We just bought some Muscovy Friday and we are struggling to get them back into the enclosure. My boyfriend accidentally let them out and they’ve been by the lake ever since

 

[Miss Lydia]

Walking behind them herding them slowly might work you can use long poles to guide them. Many on here have faced the same situation letting their ducks out onto open water and not being able to get them to come home.

 

[Canadian Wind]

!

I use the pole trick. In fact, they will refuse to go back to the coops if I don't have them. And even then, it's like trying to get a five year old to bed. Stopping to look at everything, grabbing a 'quick' last drink, munching on a blade of grass... I start attempting to herd them before it gets dark. By the time they're in bed, it's usually pitch black out. >.>