Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[katycrunch]

Hi, I'm Kate and am new to this, so hope I'm not messing up your forum.

 

We've got 3 ducks, Hughie Louie and Dewie - they've been with us for a couple of months now and were just 3 weeks old when they arrived. They love their pond and wandering round the garden during the day, but they don't like going in their hutch at night. (They act like sulky children). As soon as night begins to fall they go onto the pond and I was wondering if it's necessary to shut them in at night so long as they can access their hutch directly from the pond and no predators can reach them. Do foxes swim?

 

Hope you can advise. Thanks.

[Mayo]

Hi Katy, and Welcome to the site.

 

Of COURSE you're not messing it up - we all had to start somewhere; and I don't know of a better place. We're all astonishingly nice people and wonderfully welcoming to any lovers of our feathered friends; and lots of the contributors know lots about them.

 

So . . . naughty ducklings . . . well that, of course, is what makes them so irresistible: the answer to your problem isn't easy to solve, although, in my experience, ducks usually learn quite quickly which side their bread is buttered and mostly will do anything for their favourite treat.

 

So . . . if you can find out what foody thing excites them most, use that to get them used to the place you want them to be. (Their sense of time is quite good so you should be able to get them used to accepting different day and nightime places). Grapes are often good: mine would sell his soul for a small handful of them, and it made him very easy to train. Reward when they do what You want is really the only answer, I'm afraid.

(Incidentally, if you want to train them in other ways; mine Hated a very short, very sharp, loudish, hissing noise and quickly learned how to avoid hearing that by avoiding incurring my displeasure).

 

And . . . YES foxes can and DO swim - astonishing distances sometimes; as do mink, stoats and weasels. Not sure which of those you have in the Massif. So beware, and never underestimate the attraction of oven-ready duckling on the hoof.

 

Good luck. Keep us updated; and pics are Always welcome.

 

Give my love to Brive; the scene of many happy encounters when I was in my teens and 'twinning' with my school.

 

M.

[katycrunch]

Hi M

 

Thanks for your reply. I think we'll just build a predator-proof (hopefully) run around their hutch so that they can have a bit more room at night and then I can put their little paddling pool in there too.

 

They're quite happy popping into their hutch now and then during the day to have a nibble - maybe we shouldn't leave grain down for them and only feed them at bedtime? - and they do go into it at night, it's just that they're reluctant as they know they're going to be shut in.

 

There are foxes and beech martens around here and we've got forest right behind the garden, so we need to be careful.

 

Thanks a lot anyway and I'll try to figure out how to add photos!

 

Cheers, Kate