How do I give away all these unwanted ducks?!

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HoustonChicks

HoustonChicks

In the Brooder
9 Years
Jun 1, 2010
44
5
34
We love animals. I have lots of chickens. But we have been invaded by unwanted ducks. New neighbors moved in several years ago with ducks. They flew over the fence to my property next door and started having ducklings. There's nothing cuter than a bunch of ducklings! But now there's about 40 huge ducks and they have flown over into MY yard and are raising the next generation. The water is muddy, my car is poopy, they fly onto the rooftop, the feed bill is very high. I try to find the nests when the eggs are fresh, but they hide them and the next thing, here come more adorable babies that are huge in a year. The worst part is that my lawns are totally gone, yep, bare ground where there used to be grass. Parks won't accept them; we've tried. My feedstore always has plenty of its own from the hatchery. The final obstacle is that my husband has emphatically decreed that no ducks may be given away if it is to be killed and eaten. So, can anyone give me advice on a source that will take these off my hands? I live in Houston. Craigslist, maybe? These males are huge and are not easy to handle when caught. I'm not sure of the breed; they are white or black and white, some red on the bill like a Muscovy, but the main thing is that they don't quack, they sort of hiss except a female will chirp for her ducklings. If someone wants free ducks, how do we catch them? Best at night? I've tried to get my husband to agree to only keep the females, but he has his "favorite" males, and this Spring's eggs will already be fertile. Any advice is welcome.
 
I'm a little confused as to who these ducks belong to. If these are the neighbor's ducks, it is his responsibility to keep them out of your yard. Even if you get rid of all the ones in your yard and he still has some you may have more come over. If you haven't done so already, I suggest you talk to your neighbor about it.

It does sound like they are Muscovy considering how prolifically they are brooding and raising ducklings. If you don't want more ducklings you have to get rid of all the males or keep them completely separated. The more you pick up their eggs the better they will get at hiding them, unless you confine they to a pen where you can easily pick up the eggs.

You can definitely post the ducks on Craigslist. I'm not sure how much interest you will get if you say they are not for food. Even if you find someone who says they won't be eaten you can't control that after they have left your yard. Forty ducks is a lot to get rid of so your husband may need to reconsider his stance on this. One of those ducks could provide a good meal for a needy family.

Good luck.
 
I think you've taken the correct first step - posting here! Besides CL, I'd suggest posting in the Social forum of "Where I am, where are you" (or something to that affect, I may be off on the correct title.) The forum is broken down by state and there is also an area where you can post trades and such (I haven't been there but remember reading a post or two about it). My wife and I added ten Muscovies to our small flock just a couple months ago through a very similar situation. They've integrated quite well and we couldn't be happier!! I still owe photos of some of our new cuties and haven't forgotten, but with all the rotten weather we've had the past few weeks I just haven't found a good photo day. Anyhow, a couple of ideas I hope will help.

Troy & Tina
 
HoustonChicks said:
We love animals. I have lots of chickens. But we have been invaded by unwanted ducks. New neighbors moved in several years ago with ducks. They flew over the fence to my property next door and started having ducklings. There's nothing cuter than a bunch of ducklings! But now there's about 40 huge ducks and they have flown over into MY yard and are raising the next generation. The water is muddy, my car is poopy, they fly onto the rooftop, the feed bill is very high. I try to find the nests when the eggs are fresh, but they hide them and the next thing, here come more adorable babies that are huge in a year. The worst part is that my lawns are totally gone, yep, bare ground where there used to be grass. Parks won't accept them; we've tried. My feedstore always has plenty of its own from the hatchery. The final obstacle is that my husband has emphatically decreed that no ducks may be given away if it is to be killed and eaten. So, can anyone give me advice on a source that will take these off my hands? I live in Houston. Craigslist, maybe? These males are huge and are not easy to handle when caught. I'm not sure of the breed; they are white or black and white, some red on the bill like a Muscovy, but the main thing is that they don't quack, they sort of hiss except a female will chirp for her ducklings. If someone wants free ducks, how do we catch them? Best at night? I've tried to get my husband to agree to only keep the females, but he has his "favorite" males, and this Spring's eggs will already be fertile. Any advice is welcome.
Click to expand...

they're muscovy ducks, u need to tell their rightful owners to clip their wings, and become more responsible with their pets
 
Last edited:
I'm sure the "original" duck owners would say that only the originals belonged to them. They would not claim the ones that are grown from the several generations that have come from just those few. You're right, if my birds got into their yard, I'd have a wing-cutting party. These ducks are so strong, I thought I was going to break my wrist when I grabbed hold of one while it was mating and it flipped around.
 
When my muscovies used to fly across the street or go over to our next door neighbors i asked them if it was okay ( they both had ponds) and they said it was fine and that they loved to see them (i never had babies over there though every female is placed inside a protected pen when nesting) I just made sure every night/ evening i would go get them and it was okay

Now the other neighbor with a swimming pool was okay with my ducks but then he started like going behind my back ( and I'm pretty sure he got 3 of my babies, i was only 16 at the time though so i can't just go over and pound on the door and yell at him) and he started saying how my ducks were a nuisance and crap like that so then i clipped there wings and put wire around our fenced in property on their side to make sure they wouldn't go over there ( our land is gated ) and it was fine except the little remarks and oh that made me mad! but i understand why they were mad but i mean they didnt need to go and report me to the city which we were grandfather ruled since the city moved in on us ( the city doesn't allow barn yard animals in its limits) but we were safe and they can't do anything to us. so it was pretty pointless for them but still. so now my ducks are put inside our fenced backyard and have little freedom. The backyard is like an acre maybe 1 and 1/2 but still they used to have 8 acres so it makes me sad.
 

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