- Mar 4, 2014
- 3
- 1
- 9
Hi,
Question for you with experience keeping ducks-- is it cruel to keep ducks without a pond? We've had a nice flock of chickens (mostly egg-laying varieties) for the past several years. At one point, before what we refer to in our family as The Great Chicken Massacre of Aught-six, (perpetrated by our own dog, alas...) we had two crested mallards that were a total impulse buy by me when I was picking up our chicks. They were messy messy little ducklings, of course, but they didn't live long enough as adults for me to get a good feel for keeping ducks.
Fast-forward eight years and while we quickly started over with our flock (we still have 3 birds from the original 'rebuilding' flock- one is named Phoenix
), we haven't added any ducks. But now my boys are clamoring to get a couple ducklings next spring when we get our yearly chicks.
We have no pond for them to swim in. I have been checking out breeds and I really like the Indian Runners, but everything I've read says, yes, you can keep ducks without water, but really, they prefer water.
So, what are your informed opinions? How cruel is it to keep ducks without a pond? Can you house ducks with chickens or do they need their own pen?
If you don't have a pond, how messy are they and how do you set up their food/water to minimize the spillage (I recall the ducklings we had needed quite a bit of water while eating, and would empty a waterer in a single day)?
I really appreciate all your input!
Question for you with experience keeping ducks-- is it cruel to keep ducks without a pond? We've had a nice flock of chickens (mostly egg-laying varieties) for the past several years. At one point, before what we refer to in our family as The Great Chicken Massacre of Aught-six, (perpetrated by our own dog, alas...) we had two crested mallards that were a total impulse buy by me when I was picking up our chicks. They were messy messy little ducklings, of course, but they didn't live long enough as adults for me to get a good feel for keeping ducks.
Fast-forward eight years and while we quickly started over with our flock (we still have 3 birds from the original 'rebuilding' flock- one is named Phoenix
), we haven't added any ducks. But now my boys are clamoring to get a couple ducklings next spring when we get our yearly chicks.We have no pond for them to swim in. I have been checking out breeds and I really like the Indian Runners, but everything I've read says, yes, you can keep ducks without water, but really, they prefer water.
So, what are your informed opinions? How cruel is it to keep ducks without a pond? Can you house ducks with chickens or do they need their own pen?
If you don't have a pond, how messy are they and how do you set up their food/water to minimize the spillage (I recall the ducklings we had needed quite a bit of water while eating, and would empty a waterer in a single day)?
I really appreciate all your input!
