Duck hatching day!

[HomesteaderWife]

I'm having a fit over these cute duck photos! I vote for more!

 

[milkmansdaughter]

I'm having a fit over these cute duck photos! I vote for more!

I was going to happily oblige, and realized I didn't have any new pictures!I've recently taken several videos of the ducks to send to my mom, but can't load them. I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.
Do you have any new pictures @HomesteaderWife , @Jeffeff95, @sumi, or @Beekissed ? Who else has ducks??

@sumi we were reading and found out that duck eggs are apparently much better for you than chicken eggs if you've had cancer. I'm not sure I can back that claim up as absolutely true, but it's worth looking into.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Not a photo butttt here's a video we did awhile back of Tater and Tot ringing their bell. They're only knocking on 5 months old now but they're so smart- we love them silly!

 

[sumi]

@sumi we were reading and found out that duck eggs are apparently much better for you than chicken eggs if you've had cancer. I'm not sure I can back that claim up as absolutely true, but it's worth looking into.

Thanks for the heads up! I haven't heard anything about this, but I'll keep it in mind. Not that I'm going to be getting any eggs from my lot... All four of them are male!!

 

[sumi]

Not a photo butttt here's a video we did awhile back of Tater and Tot ringing their bell. They're only knocking on 5 months old now but they're so smart- we love them silly!

 

[milkmansdaughter]

@HomesteaderWife , once the ducks were trained to a bell, what's next? Do they ring the bell every time they want food?

 

[Jeffeff95]

Not a photo butttt here's a video we did awhile back of Tater and Tot ringing their bell. They're only knocking on 5 months old now but they're so smart- we love them silly!

Thats too cool! I'm also curious what's after the bell..

 

[HomesteaderWife]

So, the bell was basically step one. It doesn't stay in there with them, but when I'm out there with them I will set it on the ground to see if they want a snack. They get jealous if they see the chickens ringing the bell and they'll come over and scoot them aside (even if they're full.) The bell gradually made it's way into a summons of sorts- when they hear the bell, they know to go back into their run.

One thing I worked on after this when they were little was to teach them to put themselves into the small animal carrier. However they're much too big for that now. I'm still brainstorming things to work on, but we've done a little work on stepping up into/onto things when asked "up" (when I go into the run, even if it's light out, I can hold my arms out and ask "up" and they'll walk into the coop by themselves without pressure).

The chickens seem to learn alot more, quicker. But the ducks are much more willing to learn, if that makes sense. Any thoughts on what to teach next?

 

[Lazy Gardener]

"Go to bed." I use those words, no matter what time of the day when I'm herding them to the coop, or even to safety in their enclosed run.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

How bout this one, especially for ducks: "Put your eggs in the nest box!"