Leading a duck to water!

[Duckmom2021]

Hey everyone! So on our property we have about a acre+ of pond. My ducks are in a large pen close to the house for ease of cleaning, watering, feeding, etc. Our pond is about 200ft from the pen. I'm so anxious about just letting them out and how I would get them back in their pen. My ducks are well fed and watered and given fun treats on a daily basis. While in their pen they do lock themselves up at night to avoid predators so that works in my favor...what should I do to encourage them down and get them home? Should I even worry?

 

[Floof]

I bribe mine with treats. When they see me out with my blue bucket they stop what they're doing and come running. Ducks are creatures of habit so once they're trained to a routine it should be pretty easy.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I personally would change my routine and give the treats about an hour before bedtime to get them use to the new routine. This way, when you let them on the pond and you come an hour before bedtime with your treats, they will come running.

 

[KaleIAm]

Many of our members have struggled getting their ducks back off their ponds, and have lost ducks to predators overnight as a result.

I have not had this issue. I trained my ducks to have a solid recall before I took them to our pond. I gave them mealworms every single time they came when called.

I took my ducks to the pond at least several hours before dark so they would be done with pond time and be willing to come home. When they came out of the pond I gave them mealworms. I gave them more mealworms and then dinner as soon as they went back into their aviary so they had positive associations with getting out, following me home, and returning.

I recommend having a back up plan in case they refuse to get out. Like a dinghy or canoe. Be willing to get in the pond and herd them out. Have a friend ready to help you. Your ducks probably won't realize that it is dangerous and might want to stay up playing.

 

[Miss Lydia]

And make sure there are no snapping turles in your pond.