post any and all waterfowl pictures here!!! ponds, pools, aviarys, coops, runs, etc. - Page 73

Alright, wood chips are a  no on bedding, what about shavings?

Can I expect my Magies to lay eggs all year like chickens?  If I want to get right to breeding-- incubating eggs myself I imagine, is there any good reason not to/to wait?

Recommend a good site or book for me to learn the specifics of duck needs.  I am reading the website and some in this forum (and I did have ducks on a farm for three years but they were easy.)

I read they don't need ponds and ours never had any but they did enjoy rain puddles and I know i need water deep enough for them to clean their nares and submerge their heads.  If I have a pond at the edge of the property how do I keep them out of it?  Will they smell it?  Water beacon?  I'd rather they weren't in it because of health risks- its a natural/beaver pond.

I have to house with chickens but they have their own space.  Thoughts?

If you don't want them in the pond I think the best way to keep them out of it is to fence it in. That would be inconvenient, but your ducks will eventually find it, once they do they won't want to leave it. However, if you were to buy just a small kiddie pool and fill that up with clean water each day (or a few times a day depending on how many duck you have, because my two had it filthy by the afternoon.) I think that would encourage them not to stray too far. When my ancona got used to his small pool, and I tried giving him something bigger he was scared of it, and refused to use it. So perhaps that would work for your ducks too.

 

I think as long as your ducks have their own space with the chickens they should fine-just make sure to monitor it. My Swedish likes spending quite a bit of time with my mom's bantam cochins. As for waiting to incubate your eggs, I would wait to do that just because you want to make sure you're getting a good amount of fertile eggs, and making sure your Drake isn't shooting blanks a lot. It would be irritating to try incubating only to find out that over half are not even fertile. 

 

Hopefully someone else will come along and answer your other questions. Good luck! 

Welcome to the duck forum,ashandvine!

Im pretty sure my baby ducks hate me. They are about 3 weeks old now and I'm thinkin they need to move to their outside home. I have a pool they swim in but I'm wondering what age can they have full access to their pool without being supervised. And why do they hate me!

 Oh my, your ducks don't "hate" you. You need to realize ducks are ducks NOT humans and do not think like humans do. Their animals, they live from instinct not emotions. As for when they can go to the pond unsocialized, I'm not sure. I dont exactly follow  the "rules" that many have for their ducks. You will get much more answers and suggestions if you make a new post on the forum versus posting in the Pics thread. Good luck.

At 3 weeks I would be a little concerned about them being unsupervised and swimming. is it super hot where you are so they can dry quickly and not chill?  My 3 week old duckling swims in the pool I have 2 big rocks set up so she can climb out when she's ready, but she has been outside with her mama since 3 days old. she is acclimated to the weather. And they don't hate you, they are just acting like ducks, you are big they are little, it takes alot of time and patience to train them to accept you and that you mean them no harm. Keep working at it with being quiet around them and peas lots of peas. i just like to go outside with a magazine and just sit with them before you know they are all spread out close to me.  

@ ScovyMama, just wanted to say how much I LOVED looking at your pics of Daisy. I saw you said somewhere on this thread you wanted to get her registered as a therapy duck. Did they let you? That is just so cool. I want a house duck so bad! :)

therapy ducks? Now that seems like a lot of fun. hmmmmmm... 

Yes it was 90 today. I was home most of the day. Also I am going to have their run seperated so they don't have access to the pool when I'm not there.

When do you think they will be grown enough to have full access to the run and pool?

I will do just that. I just moved them to their duck condo tonight. I'm like a worried mom but they were panting in the garage when I took them in there to sleep tonight so I let them sleep in their safe insulated dog you with tons of straw. I really hope they won't get too scared out there.

 Heya DuckyGurl! Thank you for the compliment! She is a very fun addition to my home, lot's of work but it's worth it. She's extremely spoiled though. Even more so than the dogs & the rest in the house, but I love having a house ducky. I'm sure you'd love it too!

She loves people so I have wanted her to be a therapy animal,but the last meeting I went to I sat the whole meeting & then when I asked about her getting registered,I was told that "they would have to check into it & get back to me. Why don't you register one of your dogs?"

I haven't had any responses to any emails since so I think I'll have to check on a different company or something.