how much daily work are three ducks?

Yes you can for a while. If your numbers grow think about separating them in the near future. But they will be fine for the moment.
There is one thing I suggest you do...that is to make sure your chickens have their own water as the ducks do make a mess of it.
Chickens need clean drinking water.
Ducks need water not only to drink but to also put their face in and clear their sinuses.
Ducks also need constant water to wash their food down.
They don't have a crop like chickens do so the need for them to have water with their food is important.

Duckie48 said:

Yes you can for a while. If your numbers grow think about separating them in the near future. But they will be fine for the moment.
There is one thing I suggest you do...that is to make sure your chickens have their own water as the ducks do make a mess of it.
Chickens need clean drinking water.
Ducks need water not only to drink but to also put their face in and clear their sinuses.
Ducks also need constant water to wash their food down.
They don't have a crop like chickens do so the need for them to have water with their food is important.

Click to expand...

This, pretty much. Ducks foul their water as soon as you give them clean. And then rejoice in the fouled water even if you have a separate clean pan. Chickens much prefer clean drinks. They will suck dew off plants or eat snow before drinking from a duck pan.

In case it's not clear - yes ducks need to have deep enough water to dunk their heads but they also like to climb in to that dunking dish, preen and crap like crazy (fouling the water). If you don't clean that out every day or two you could have a nitrogen-rich, almost waterless raised bed garden in a week. If you age it, great for veggies! Terrible for your ducks.

I love my ducks but I'm so glad I just let them run around the ponds and swamp most of the year. Nursery season when I try to protect the young ducklings is a ton of stinky, annoying work.

Why do they poo in their water?!

Duckie48 said:

Yes you can for a while. If your numbers grow think about separating them in the near future. But they will be fine for the moment.
There is one thing I suggest you do...that is to make sure your chickens have their own water as the ducks do make a mess of it.
Chickens need clean drinking water.
Ducks need water not only to drink but to also put their face in and clear their sinuses.
Ducks also need constant water to wash their food down.
They don't have a crop like chickens do so the need for them to have water with their food is important.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your feedback! I will hold off on ducks for now, but I know I'll crack and get some one of these days!

EeyoreD said:

This, pretty much.  Ducks foul their water as soon as you give them clean.  And then rejoice in the fouled water even if you have a separate clean pan.  Chickens much prefer clean drinks.  They will suck dew off plants or eat snow before drinking from a duck pan.

In case it's not clear - yes ducks need to have deep enough water to dunk their heads but they also like to climb in to that dunking dish, preen and crap like crazy (fouling the water).  If you don't clean that out every day or two you could have a nitrogen-rich, almost waterless raised bed garden in a week.  If you age it, great for veggies!  Terrible for your ducks.

I love my ducks but I'm so glad I just let them run around the ponds and swamp most of the year.  Nursery season when I try to protect the young ducklings is a ton of stinky, annoying work.

Why do they poo in their water?!

Click to expand...

thank you for your feedback!

I have 8 ducks. I have a combo house/pen. At night, they sleep in the house and at 7am, the door opens letting them into a small 5x6 enclosure where they stay until I let them and our dog out into our fenced yard. Btw, my yard is bright green.

The morning feeding, filling up (3) 5-gallon tanks takes about 5 minutes.

Twice a week I empty their kiddie pool using a sump pump and hose which takes another 10 minutes.

Once a week, I empty their house and I'm currently cutting tall grass and weeds and using that for bedding. This is 30 minutes.

I got this tip from a rabbit grower which I'm also doing. I mow my yard and spread the clippings onto a tarp during the day to dry out. By the next day, they are still green but dry. I only mow one side of my yard at a time doing this method. I then store them in large trashcans that I drilled holes into for ventilation. My first time doing this, I ended up throwing an entire trashcan out of rotting grass so I'm more careful now. I'm not really saving much money but I would otherwise be mulching the grass or bagging and putting it out with the garbage. When I mow, i use a leave blower to blow any leaves into the middle of the yard for the mower to collect. I'd do this anyhow though. I estimate I will have enough bedding for a month or two by the end of the summer. Bales of hay are only $6 though. This drying and storing step takes another 5 minutes per week.

Coop maintenance is another 5 minutes per week.

I'm listing the "work" like things required. This is pretty simple and easy to do. I don't consider it hard or time consuming.

In summary, they take about an hour per week.

I have 3, they stay in a renovated shed. I have a large low box, that I keep straw in for nesting and sleeping. I hose it out every day, and clean out the box every few days, takes me 15-20 min a day... Brooding stage is very very messy but over quickly. I use a kiddie pool as a pond. If you put it on a pallet and cut a small hole in the bottom to use as a drain, it makes life much much easier.