The ONE single question I get most often about raising ducks (even more often than “what should I feed them?”), is this: “How can I raise my ducklings to be friendly, and enjoy being with me?” In this post, you’ll find my best tips for how to raise friendly ducks – tips I’ve found myself typing out in text messages and emails to duckling customers for the last few years, every time someone asks!
Folks who get ducklings from me know that my ducks are extra friendly, and always want to be part of whatever I’m doing…whether it’s feeding the sheep, or tending the garden. I think everyone hopes their backyard ducks will grow up to be friendly and companionable. These are the best ways I know to ensure that happens!
6 tips for raising friendly ducks
Start talking to them as early as you can, as often as you can.
If you’re hatching your own duck eggs, start talking to them even before they hatch! They’ll already know your voice. In his book, Storey’s Guide to Raising Ducks, Dave Holderread recounts an experiment where he would talk to a batch of incubating eggs in the days leading up to their hatch. Once the ducklings hatched, they put the babies in the middle of a room, with Dave and several other people circled around. Everyone called the ducklings and they immediately went running to Dave – they already knew his voice.
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If you can’t talk to you ducklings as they incubate, start talking to them as soon as you receive them – hopefully in the first day or two after they hatch. They will get used to your voice, and it will start to mean comfort, security, and familiarity to them. I find this really makes a difference, even once my ducks have reached adulthood. I can call them from a window of my house, and they’ll come running! They’ve all known my voice their entire lives, and it’s completely familiar to them.
Handle them a LOT, starting as soon as possible.
The more you gently handle your ducklings, right from day one, the more I find that they stay cuddly, friendly, and sweet as they grow older. Having small children means that all of our ducklings get LOTS of love right from their first day after hatch. My sweet little Izzy makes a point of singing a song to every single duckling, every day. She spends so much time with them, she can tell each one apart, even if they look identical to everyone else.
Inevitably, a couple of “the babies” become absolute favorites. These ducklings get names, extra cuddles, and extra stories, and songs sung to them. They run around the house, and poop. And it’s ok. Duckling-raising time is a short season of the year, and toddler-hood is a short season of life. Duckling poop is easy to clean. I can always tell which ducklings were the very favorites, even one they’re all adults living out in the duck house. Ketchup and Goosey still are happy to see Izzy, and are among the first to climb in my lap if I’m working in the garden.
Use special treats.
Every time you spend a few minutes by the duckling brooder, bring them a little something special. I like to keep a big bag of freeze-dried mealworms handy, right by the brooder, and I encourage everyone who stops by to give the babies a few. I want to raise ducks that trust and like people, not only me. If I’m coming from the kitchen, I’ll bring the babies a handful of peas, or a fistful of finely chopped lettuce or kale.
Very quickly, the little ones realized that any time they hear people coming to be with them, TREATS are coming! This goes a long way to raising ducks that come running when they hear you, instead of scattering and running away.
Hand-feed them at set times.
I find that many folks report that even ducklings that seemed fairly friendly at first, tend to start getting more skittish about the time they’re turning a month old. I think this is pretty common. I think that, along with the other tips here, the fact that I slowly work my ducklings toward a twice per day feeding schedule around this time helps to keep this from happening in my flock.
As tiny ducklings, I always keep food and water available around the clock. Once the ducklings are a couple of weeks old, I start taking their food out of the brooder at night. I remove their food last thing before I go to bed, and then very first thing when I wake up in the morning, I feed them – right out of my hand. I take the time to sit there with my hands full of food, and let them get their first exciting meal of the day from my hands. It takes a little while, and it’s worth getting up early for.
By the time the little ones are 4 weeks old, I’ve started removing their food dish for a for a couple of hours in the middle of the day. I feel at this point they’re not quite ready for the twice daily feeding schedule I use with my adult flock, but I like them to start getting used to their food dish being gone for a while. By the time it’s been gone for a couple of hours, they’re SO EXCITED for their afternoon feeding. I usually do this with my kids, right after naptime. We spend time with food in our hands, and the ducklings sit in our laps and eat from our hands. Just having their food gone for that short time is enough to make mealtime exciting!
By about 8 weeks, I’ve slowly worked them back to getting fed twice daily, just like my adults. Even though they’re getting bigger, I make a point of still feeding them from my hands, at least for the first few minutes of each feeding time. Often, I’ll put the food bowl down on the ground, and sit cross-legged around it, so they climb over my lap to get to it. Being a real part of their feeding time goes a long, long way to maintaining friendliness through the “teenage” stage when many folks find that their cuddly ducklings suddenly want nothing to do with them!
Get down on the floor, or ground, with them!
Ducklings are like toddlers. It’s easier for them to get comfortable with you if you’re down at eye level. As you’re spending time with them, finding a way to get right down with them seems to make a big difference in how much they want to interact. Perhaps it’s a bit of a self-preservation instinct, but I find that even the boldest and tamest of ducklings can be quite easily spooked from above. Getting on their level (or bringing them up to yours!) goes a long way to making them more comfortable. If you’re watching tv in the evening, go grab a duckling and let one sit on each shoulder. Really, the more hours of quality time you log with each one will make a difference in helping them grow up to be cuddly ducks!
Don’t chase them, or allow them to be chased.
I find that being chased is a fast way of breaking trust with ducks. It brings a level of stress into the duck coop that can linger for days. Unless absolutely necessary for their safety, I never chase a duck, or let them be chased. I really find it introduces a wary-ness into the flock that can take time to undo, and I try to avoid it if at all possible.
I hope these tips help, as you work toward raising an extra friendly flock of backyard ducks. Do you have any tips that you’ve found helpful in raising friendly ducks that love spending time with you? I’d love to hear them!!
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Ashlee says
Thank you for taking the time to do this, it was very helpful. I have two female Rouen ducklings. They are 2 weeks old now. They are very sweet and I’m hoping if I do the hand feeding like you suggested that they will stay sweet and friendly as they grow older. Happy New Year.
Simona says
Thank you so much for education in people!!!!! I have Male ROUEN duck that the first thing he does when he sees me is to start pecking at my feet. I realize that he knows that is my vulnerable area and does it for a variety of reasons. He is excited to see me,, he wants me to pick him up, he is hungry, his mate is hungry etc. I have tried squating on him for five minutes, screaming! Kicking him (sad not the solution) , tapping his feet, stepping on one of his feet barefoot, etc. The one that works the best is to pick up a stick or broom.. I love my pets. They are very spoiled/loved. I pick them up and massage them and kiss all the time. Any ideas to get him to stop?
ajiga habib says
So interesting to tame Them become friendly i belive can also be tamed for games too much
Anna says
They certainly are fascinating and endearing, aren’t they? They make me laugh almost daily, just watching their antics. SO much fun.
sheila Gammon says
I have a question. This year is the only time I raised ducks. They used to come out of their pen every day and go right to their pool and swim the whole day. The past 4 days when I let them out if they come out of the coop they stay right by the door never getting near the pool or the big bowl of water to immerse their heads. We did have a fox in the area but nothing can get in their coop but they could of frightened them, What do you suggest. I miss their playfulness. How can I help them.
Anna says
Aw, the poor sweeties! I would not at all be surprised if they are just still getting over the big scare. A predator scare can definitely alter flock behavior for days or even weeks. It’s great that they have some good natural instinct about being wary, but don’t you just wish you could explain to them they they’re safe? It’s so hard to watch them not being their usual playful selves!
Some things I might try if this were my flock…
– putting a deep water bowl RIGHT outside the door of coop, just to get them back into playing in the water again.
– putting the hose on a light mist setting and giving them a spray – just hold it out where they are, so they can get away if they don’t enjoy it. Much like toddlers, my ducks LOVE playing in a sprinkler or light spray. They flap their wings, and just have a blast.
– try some extra special treats, like green peas or dried mealworms. If you can sit down right near them, and share a special snack, it might help comfort them that all is well.
– you could even try putting some feeder fish in their pool, or if they’re not getting close enough to see that there’s something in there, you could put a few at a time in a deep bowl near the entrance to their coop. Fishing is such a natural and joyful activity for ducks – that might help get them back to themselves as well.
I really hope your poor sweeties are back to themselves very soon! This is SUCH a fun time of year, I know it’s got to be very hard on you to see them missing out on their daily fun. Best wishes to you, and them!!
Starr says
Having 3 ducklings unfortunately this summer 2 disappeared. Am sure the poor babies were attacked. The one who survived grew big enough to start flying.
The other morning when I went out to feed and give her fresh water she was gone. She had been molting so I told myself the feathers in her house were from that. It’s now Thanksgiving. Do you think possibly she flew away? Hope so. Hoping she was not another victim. And will she come home? She always would stay as much possible close to my front door . I put here house and little pool next to porch.
I’m so very worried. Wish I could have found some playmates that were her age but just couldn’t.
So hope she comes home if only to visit.
Anna says
Oh Starr, my heart is so sad right along with you! What breed was your little sweetie? If she could fly, I want to believe it’s possible she may have just joined a migrating flock. My experience is solely with non-flight breeds, so I’m unfortunately not much help to you in that regard. The other thing I absolutely hate to mention, but I’m going to – I’ve had ducks stolen, and know several others who have had poultry stolen. It doesn’t hurt to share her photo in your local Facebook farming or poultry keepers group if you have one, in case anyone may be aware of a new duck that’s suddenly shown up in the neighborhood. I’ve also heard of someone who had a duck disappear and it turned out he’d gone visiting another flock quite some distance away…the owner of the other flock had no idea where he’d come from! So mentioning it in your community might be worth a shot! At any rate, I do believe that until we know differently, there is always hope, so I’m saying a little prayer, and truly hoping you see your feathered baby again!
jennifer says
thank you for the tips. they’re wonderful. i’m getting dwarf goat so…might have to come back here for some advice.
Dee says
Ihave 4 white pekin ducks..and idont knoe if its cuz there hormones r changing or wat..but one of the ducks starts to get very protective wen u pick one of the others up and starts to run at you and bite ur pant leg like alil attack dog..but if u pick him up he jus startd fiten u with his wings..its realy strange..cuz ipicked them all up twice aday everyday n they cuddle my shoulder n they r friendly..so any suggestions to fix this sudden behavior…
Anna says
Hi Dee! How right you are, that this is a VERY hormonal time of year!! Is your protective duck a drake, and are the others female? My best take on it is that there’s just such an intensity of breeding-season hormones right now, eveyone’s not quite themselves. How is your protective duck if you sit and spend time with him, without holding him or the others? Does his behavior really just revolve around the holding? I might take a break from picking them up for a while, but bring some special treats when you go visit in the duck yard. If you have a place you can sit down and let them actually just climb into your lap for treats, I find that’s a great way of re-establishing a good connection. The couple of times that my flock has been chased by a strange dog, or a visiting child, it really took a little while for things to get back to normal. Sitting with them with treats, but without holding, has helped me “ride out” the rough patch with them, and get back to normal – and I’m thinking a similar tack might help as they figure out how to make it through the intensity of breeding season (is this their first spring?) Anyway – hope that helps a bit!! Love to hear how things turn out for you, so please feel free to keep us posted!! ~ Anna
Amanda Carew says
We have chickens but the thought has crossed my mind to raise ducks because here where I am from you can sell duck eggs without grading them but you can’t do that with chicken eggs. These are some great tips to keeping ducks friendly, especially since I have kids so it is so important to have friendly animals around our place.
Katie bell says
What types of ducks do you raise? I have found our Muscovy ducks to be so much more friendly than our white layer ducks, though I held the white layers often when young. Great advice, loved reading your tips!
Anna says
Hi Katie! We raise Welsh Harlequins, and really adore them! I’ve heard that Muscovies really do have wonderful personalities…everyone I know who keeps them just loves them! So glad you enjoyed the post, and thanks for the kind comment!!