TikiMyn
Biking along the boulevard
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Hi everyone,
What do you for enrichment for your ducks?
I have two Indian runners, Pippin and Myn. They were not meant to stay here but they did. We also were going to move to an old farm house with kots of space, but that did not happen. I feel very guilty because I think they need a lot more space, grass and water.
They have a pen with a roof of 6x1,5 meters, and it is mostly earth and stone. I spit the earth so they can catch insects and Worms.
They gave a pond of 1x0,6 meter but it currently is not in there.
In the summer I used foraging boxes, grass, flowers and hay for enrichment but in the winter that is less practical as it spoils Quickly.
I havr given them bells, balls, beads on rope and knotted topjes but they are not too keen in those.
I spread their food in the ground and in grains in their water. I used to put greens in there too but they do not really go for them anymore, could that be because it is becoming winter?
I have Some ideas for foraging devices from pvc and rvs chains and bolts that might work, but first I have to make them with my father and that Will not go very quick probably.
I take pippin on short walks, every time a bit further if she is comfortable and she seems to like it. I am still training Myn to tolerate the harness.
They used to practically have the whole garden but now they only have their pen, so I try to trick train them Ad often as I can, but I have Some issues myself so can not Always get the motivation which makes me feel even worse for them. Recently I have been doing it pretty regularly, I mostly did recall with them, turn around with Myn and jump with pippin.
This was quite a long rant, here is a picture of my white devils to make up for it! The front is Myn, and Pippin is the one in the back(they love to go in the house to eat the cat food and when my mother is not around, they even jump on the couch to cuddle)
What do you for enrichment for your ducks?
I have two Indian runners, Pippin and Myn. They were not meant to stay here but they did. We also were going to move to an old farm house with kots of space, but that did not happen. I feel very guilty because I think they need a lot more space, grass and water.
They have a pen with a roof of 6x1,5 meters, and it is mostly earth and stone. I spit the earth so they can catch insects and Worms.
They gave a pond of 1x0,6 meter but it currently is not in there.
In the summer I used foraging boxes, grass, flowers and hay for enrichment but in the winter that is less practical as it spoils Quickly.
I havr given them bells, balls, beads on rope and knotted topjes but they are not too keen in those.
I spread their food in the ground and in grains in their water. I used to put greens in there too but they do not really go for them anymore, could that be because it is becoming winter?
I have Some ideas for foraging devices from pvc and rvs chains and bolts that might work, but first I have to make them with my father and that Will not go very quick probably.
I take pippin on short walks, every time a bit further if she is comfortable and she seems to like it. I am still training Myn to tolerate the harness.
They used to practically have the whole garden but now they only have their pen, so I try to trick train them Ad often as I can, but I have Some issues myself so can not Always get the motivation which makes me feel even worse for them. Recently I have been doing it pretty regularly, I mostly did recall with them, turn around with Myn and jump with pippin.
This was quite a long rant, here is a picture of my white devils to make up for it! The front is Myn, and Pippin is the one in the back(they love to go in the house to eat the cat food and when my mother is not around, they even jump on the couch to cuddle)
They have a lot more baby toys and adopted bird toys now, I change their environment every week with new branches and logs(seriously they love to climb on wooden logs!), and they have a few different puddles of water. Every day I turn Some earth with a shovel so they can dig up all the Worms, and once in a while I move all things in the garden aside so they can Hunt for sluis. We go on walks almost every day(not now though due to a disease, we must make sure they stay in their run
) When we can take them out again, my mother is going to drive me and the ducks to a nature area close by so they can experience real nature
I am also working on making a small tree stand for them that Will hold different foraging toys for them. It is a little different because they are ducks, but it involves cups they have to tip and I also plan to add Some water Bottle forage things this weekend. Everything gets dirty so quickly in the winter, I can’t wait for spring!
I figured at least the ducks were efficient and had fun doing what they were meant to do. 
My ducks are Indian runners, they do love water, they don’t linger there long though. Pippin loves to dive occasionally, but this winter they didn’t even want to bath in a cold week
They were al muddy
They have never attracted other ducks though, there are a ‘lot’(not as much as in other cities but certainly a good amount) of ducks around here but I generally don’t see them in around my Street. I love how those ducks keep coming back! At the bird rescue their is a pair of Canadian geese that comes back there every year to nest. There are a lot of water birds that had their wings permenatly clipped and were taken by the animal police that live their on a big pool, and those geese Will chase them all away! They are captured and released in a nature reserve about 40 km away I think? Maybe even more but they come back Each time. One time they succeeded and had babies on a stork nest
