Hi All,
I received this email about a duck/drake that is very dependent on his owner and wondered what advice you had for Olivia as she wants to help get Wilbur to feel comfortable outside without her and to enjoy a swim on the pond without staying close to her.
"I bought 6 hatching eggs but unfortunately only one of those was fertile, he successfully hatched and is now 5 weeks old, his name is Wilbur! It is very cold here in Lancashire and cannot therefore keep him outside, he lives in the conservatory in a large pen but is let out to roam wherever he likes in the house when we are in. We have a lake at the end of our garden and the plan was, when he was old enough, just to let him roam about the garden and to the lake during the day when we are at work and just to lock him in the duck house when it gets dark for the night. I have been down to the lake with him many, many times, but he is not yet brave enough to venture on his own. He would much rather just stay with me when he can see me. Last Saturday we locked him outside in the garden whilst we watched him from an upstairs window (so that he couldnt see us) to see how he would react. For the first five minutes he quacked a lot and kept coming to the back doors to be let in, but eventually he relaxed and just sat on our decking but would not venture any further than the end of the decking (still a long walk away from the lake). When I have been to the lake with him, he will only sit in the water by the edge and not swim further in and I think this is because he would rather stay by my side. Do you have any advice as to how I can start to leave him outside during the day and eventually make him start using the lake and being relaxed about it and not just worry about wanting to stay with us all the time? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks Olivia"
Thanks for any advice given.
Kind regards
Sara @ farmingfriends
