erm . . . . could do with some tips please lol . . . . .
had our first day at the weekend where we let the boy and girls go exploring the outside world . . . . all went well and they seem to be getting used to us just being around, they had a good look around the garden and seemed to be enjoying thereselves . . . . .
then, i tried to tempt them to go into the raised pond i've built by leaving some mealworms up the ramps leading into the pond, which they duly ate from the ground . . . . :x
so i then added lettuce which seems to be the bribe to end all bribes and . . . . . . . one of the girls got to the top and proceeded to scoff lettuce then bugga off, followed by the other girl who did exactly the same . . . lol
so . . . i then ushered them into the run, picked a girl up, sat, talked, and popped her in the pond where she swam about for a good, oh, 30 seconds before bursting out and runnin off, repeated the procedure with the drake who lasted about 10 seconds, tried the other girl who managed a good 90 seconds eating lettuce while bathing before she exited out while the other girl was running down the garden to see whats going on followed by the drake . . . . . :?
should it be this hard to get a duck to go to water lol??? they'll bathe in the sink for hours on end so it cant be that the waters too cold for them cos its deeper, by like 5 inches? is it just getting them used to knowing that they can go in and giving it a bit of time to get used to their surroundings?
and also, what about handling? is it ok to try to pick them up a couple/few times a week as we've been trying to do ? or is that too much too soon? dont want to overdo anything but also want them to be comforatable in our presence .. ...... . . .