how much daily work are three ducks?

I'm new to the world of ducks. We've been given a duckling that friends hatched and plan on adding two more to the mix. We are in the process of building a house and enlarging a pen for them. I've been enjoying reading many of the posts on this forum and thank you all for the info you've shared!

I'm trying to figure out how much daily work the ducks will be? I want to be realistic in what I need to do to provide them with a clean, comfortable home. I've read plenty about how messy they can be and think I can handle it. How long would it take to clean them up each day?

Thanks for any advice you could offer!

I have 8 ducks and 4 geese...messy! Lol but to clean up after them and feed, water, etc. only takes me about 10-15 mins a day. I spray out the poop as best as I can from their 'jail', dump out and spray their pool and refill it, then I refill their food dishes, and later in the day they get to free range for a while. And when the sun starts setting they go back to 'jail' and sleep in their shed, all I have to do is close the gate behind them...their trained! (So much easier than trying to herd them into the pen lol!)

I have 5 ducks in a 10 by 10 dog kennel.
Each morning we open the coop door and let them into the pen.
At night I dump and refill their wading pool. Fill water buckets for the coop and give them some feed and treats in the coop to encourage them to go in.
I keep straw down in the pen and add some dry near the pool each day. Once a month I strip the pen down to the dirt and start over with the straw

Daily it is only 15 minutes and the monthly cleaning takes less than an hour.

I have 23 ducks total. 6 adults and 17 5.5 week old ducklings. They share a two stall barn converted for them with a divider to keep the ducklings safe from the adults until they are older then the only change will be removing the divider. The stall is probably 10 x 20. The ducklings get food and water at night and the adults get only water. I get up and let them out to range each morning, give them clean water in their run, clean and refill their pools and water bowls scattered around the range. This takes all of 15 minutes probably. Monthly for the adults and weekly for the babies I change out their bedding (I use straw) and daily I make sure their straw is not too wet, if it is I replace it then. I have to add a little extra time now since my adults have started laying eggs and they tend to bury them in the straw so I have a daily egg hunt which takes a few minutes.

While ducks are messy because they love to rut in dirt/mud and then dip their muddy selves in the pool/water bucket, and they have to have water with their food (you will find a good portion of their food at the bottom of the water bucket when you change it) they are a lot less work when they are out of the brooder than while they are being brooded. When mine were still in the brooder I had to clean up and change everything almost every two hours just to keep them in a safe environment.

Warning...if you let things go you will become very aware of it very fast. Few things smell as bad as a poorly maintained duck pen. I have often said that it would be cleaner to raise pigs. But, given that, ducks, though messy, make up for it all by the cuteness and their affection.

Thank you for all of your responses! They were exactly what I needed to hear. I've read so much about caring for ducks that I was beginning to feel overwhelmed even before I really got started. Now I'm excited to get going!
Thanks again!!

Can I house ducks with chickens?

You can if you don't have too many. I have only recently separated mine as the numbers were growing and it got too crowded.

I had 32 ducks and drakes with 20 chooks. It was ok at night when the chooks were on their perches but in the morning it was too crowded.
I now have 24 chooks and 2 guinea fowl keets in one 3m x 3m coup and the ducks in a 5m x 3m coup all to themselves. No more stress.

I find I waste way more time just sitting watching them than I do actually caring for them,lol. Spend 20 minutes feeding and scooping and watering, then I sit and watch them and realize its been over an hour!

mymoneypit said:

I find I waste way more time just sitting watching them than I do actually caring for them,lol. Spend 20 minutes feeding and scooping and watering, then I sit and watch them and realize its been over an hour!

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I do that too with my chickens! They're fun to watch!

mymoneypit said:

I find I waste way more time just sitting watching them than I do actually caring for them,lol. Spend 20 minutes feeding and scooping and watering, then I sit and watch them and realize its been over an hour!

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Duckie48 said:

You can if you don't have too many. I have only recently separated mine as the numbers were growing and it got too crowded.

I had 32 ducks and drakes with 20 chooks. It was ok at night when the chooks were on their perches but in the morning it was too crowded.
I now have 24 chooks and 2 guinea fowl keets in one 3m x 3m coup and the ducks in a 5m x 3m coup all to themselves. No more stress.

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Oh wow! I have 9, soon to be 14, chickens! So I would be fine I think to mix the teo