Post by nina on Oct 8, 2023 22:07:06 GMT -5
Has anyone had any experience with Runner Ducks? We are remodeling a home that has an acre size pond. My DH wanted ducks and bought 4 runners on impulse at a flea market. I had the idea we could float a raft out for their safety and they could run around the chain link fenced yard and swim at will. 3/4 of the pond's bank is wooded and the last 1/4 is grassy and fenced. To my dismay the ducks barely got their feet wet looked lost and followed the my DH and I back. We worked inside for hours and the ducks just hovered around the house the whole time. In the end I've been penning them in a very secure but small dog kennel about 5 x 5. They love being penned and have to be forced out and herded to the pond. One might swim for a few seconds but they just stay in 2 inches of water sifting around in the mud with their bills and then they start heading home as soon as we walk away. I have had 3 surprises with these ducks. One the 2 females are good layers, but don't use a nest box, eggs are just randomly dropped here and there. Two, they eat way less than my chickens. Third they like confinement. They were very stinky when I got them but now they are not smelling despite cramped quarters. I tried incubating some of their eggs but so far they are not fertile. Is not wanting to swim a Runner Duck thing? Or are they old ducks that have known nothing but a crowded pen? Food conversion to eggs is pretty amazing I have to say. I was thinking about getting more ducks, different breed that might be more aquatic and teach these guys, but worry I will just have more seriously dependent ducks to take care of. The whole idea was to have ornamental ducks swimming about, instead I have 4 dumb ducks that want to sit in an ugly old dog kennel.