will my ducks run away if I let them outside???

[DUCKGIRL89]

I have had my ducklings for 5 weeks and I let them out of their fence and they always are running away. will they ever stay were i want them to stay. I have made a little area for them to be in with chicken wire but they are laying down all the grass. do ducks even eat grass.will they find enough food or stuff to eat. I still feed them in the morning and at night but I would like them to forge and stuff. I'm very lost i could use some help please. I will be VERY thankful for any help I get.

 

[dumb_cluck]

What kind of ducks are they? What breed?

 

[DurhamDuck]

You didn't mention what type of duck you have? Some ducks are excellent foragers, others aren't.

 

[priss]

My call ducks eat grass and bugs and flies and worms and slugs. They chase butterflies and dragonflies too but I've never seen them catch any lol! They have a big bowl of duck chow on the go all day too and I add oystershell to it which sometimes they wolf down and sometimes they ignore.
Let us know what kind you have, I am still pretty new to ducks too, the guys here always give great advice

xxxxx

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Well i have 1 ancona 1 khaki Campbell 3 Muscovys and 1 black one that i don't know what she is. i know that anconas tend to forge more then others. but they are ALWAYS!!! running away and we have a LGD (Livestock Guardian Dog) and she is always wanting to play rough with them and they don't see her until she is right on top of them so I'm afraid that she is going to hurt or kill them so they don't get to forge a lot.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Well i have 1 ancona 1 khaki Campbell 3 Muscovys and 1 black one that i don't know what she is. i know that anconas tend to forge more then others. but they are ALWAYS!!! running away and we have a LGD (Livestock Guardian Dog) and she is always wanting to play rough with them and they don't see her until she is right on top of them so I'm afraid that she is going to hurt or kill them so they don't get to forge a lot.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

oops sorry didn't mean to do that LOL.

 

[tom e]

Bumping this thread rather than start another on the same topic.
I have 3 runner ducks that I picked up free on CL. They don't lay, and so haven't been terribly useful to us, other than the fact that they are super cute and we love watching them waddle and forage.
There is a ditch around the property (we're out in farmland no neighbors in view) and I've started to think that it might be really useful to us to give them access to the ditch and surrounding area to let them forage for the grassy weeds (mostly foxtail) that grows there and eventually makes trouble for out little dogs. My hope is that they will keep the grasses in check and hopefully cut their feeding bill some. The neighboring farms are lemon orchards, so I don't think they'll cause any crop damage.

But: will they leave us? I know they view their little yard as home, so I feel like they will return to the duck house if they feel unsafe. But I just was worried they may wander too far.

What are peoples experience with this? Do they tend to stay close to home?

 

[Going Quackers]

How old are they? Muscovy forage.. i know that for fact and do so as really young ones when given an opportunity. However, i never let my young ducks loose.. ie; penned till they were older... to dangerous... plus they tend get into areas you simply don't want to go in yourself lol however chasing them down in the pen for quite awhile was a massive pain.. some were more calm than others, just takes time.. really..

Mine are all loose now though, they herd very well, but this was our eventual goal. My ducks don't usually wander to far, to sound crazy mine know where they should be a sharp word and an arm pointed gets them out of my horse paddock(they are a NO for in there) as is the neighbours field... they don't usually go to far.. staying within my eyesight ... but again herd very well so it takes little effort to get them back on coarse...

They are all full flight... btw but being Muscovy, the porkers of the drakes don't get much up off the ground anyways..

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Just so you know I made this post over a year ago, and I didnt have muscovies. they were really rouens. And I no longer have problems with them, they herd to bed pretty easy.