101 ways to get a duck to water

[Millymollymandy]

I have some new additions to the family! I bought them from a market on Saturday along with a couple of new hens. The poor duckies are very threadbare - I think it is a mixture of a moult coupled with a bad hatchet job at their wing feathers .

Anyway said ducks are very happy in their new shed even though their companions the hens have now gone next door in with the big bully girls. So happy they don't want to go outside at all, let alone discover that lovely big pond waiting for them!

So any bright ideas how I can get these cute quackies outside? They have got as far as about 2 minutes spent 2 foot from the door yesterday but then went straight back inside! You can see the pond through the trees from their shed door too!

[Shirley]

Quack Quack - I wish my ducks would go INTO their house... they much prefer to be outside....and infact over the last two days have managed to break out of the garden fencing too. They were on the road earlier on and I had to chase them back in, put them back into the fenced off compound, but lo and behold, within minutes they had escaped again.

Got to find out the weak spot and keep them in.

Dunno the answer M3 - but I'm sure with time they'll be out there and splish sploshing. How old are they??

[Thomzo]

I know when I first got my hens they were really nervous of the great outdoors. They would put their heads out of the pop hole then run back in and huddle in the corner of the shed.

A month later and they are desparate to get out of their pen and zoom around the garden as soon as I let them out.

It sounds as if the ducks might have had some rough handling in the past so perhaps they are just a bit nervous and just need a bit of time?

Zoe

[the.fee.fairy]

They're cute!!

[Thomzo]

They are absolutely gorgeous aren't they! Kinda makes me feel that I want some but my pond wouldn't stand up to ducks.

Perhaps I'll dig a bigger pond. Get rid of some of that grass!

[Millymollymandy]

I think I've discovered the secret - wheat! They seem to like that much more than duck food. Got them out for about 10 minutes earlier so I'll keep putting the bowl of grub outside and put up with mucking out every morning for a bit longer....... thank god we found some more straw locally the other day! What mucky pups!

They are so adorable and so much fun (don't tell the chooks but they are much more fun than them!). I just love their little wibbly noise they make when they get all excited, and they tread on their own feet and trip up.... OK shut me up now!

Shirlz - I dunno how old they are - I asked how old were various size chickens but forgot about the ducks.

[Bonniegirl]

They're just settling in MMM, they'll venture out when they are ready.

[Millymollymandy]

They are coming out of the shed now to snuffle around in the grass in the area just outside.

They have completely eaten a poppy plant that grows by the gate to the chicken run (I liked that poppy!), pulled out by the roots the camomile that is growing next to it (I liked that camomile!) and I fear for my flower beds!

I put their food and water outside during the day and now that they are using a bigger washing up bowl I had the pleasure of watching one of them sitting in it - really wished we had had the camera at that moment in time!

Snowy the new white hen who was in with them for the first couple of days is very happy to see her old friends through the chicken wire now.

Hopefully they'll get to the pond soon - but as their new mum, I don't want to miss the occasion!

[Millymollymandy]

A week since we took that photo and they are looking a lot smoother and less raggedy than that - and they looked worse than in that photo when they arrived! It must be a moult.

Yesterday I enticed them 3/4 of the way to the pond, past some trees and suddenly they saw it! A big scary thing Snorted the wheat in record time and legged it back to the safety of their shed! Oh well.

[Wombat]

[Millymollymandy]

Success! Not swimming or bathing yet but I enticed them all the way to the pond and they then spent the next 4 hours drinking and dabbling from the edge of the pond and eating weeds. If they stepped in a bit deep they got out quickly though!

After I'd encouraged them back to the shed area in the early evening, what did we see half an hour later? A procession of ducks single file waddling back down to the pond!

And where did they go first thing this morning? Yes you guessed it.

Have about 40 photos (we didn't get a lot done yesterday) - I'll post a few later.

[Millymollymandy]

A few photos....

Encouraging them towards the pond!



Finally they made it!



And chilling out after all the excitement



Hmmm not very big piccies! I will make them a bit bigger in future now I have found a new gallery space to put up photos.

[Camile]

Congratulations on your ducks 3M ! they are lovely !

are they all drakes or all ducks ?!

white ducks are so lovely .. and when do you bring some goosy friends !? they will show them how to swim !

[Millymollymandy]

Hi Camile

I asked for 1 drake and 3 ducks, but who knows! All I can say is that I have two with yellow beaks and two with pinky beige beaks!! So they don't have names yet!

I don't want geese - good heavens, there's enough poo everywhere from just the ducks!

[Camile]

indeed geese are messy ! but they are so nice !

and thing about the soldiers you can dip in their eggs ! une demi-baguette !