Rouen Duck thread

[jenniferlamar70]

Agreed. I really hope BYC will stay focused on the birds. The issues here are nothing compared to other sites, and honestly, I love it.

I really do too. I left most of my social networks like Facebook but kept this one. It's nice and wholesome. That's hard to find these days.

 

[Mysterious]

I may get ducks and I was wondering. 1 will they come back at night. 2 how large of a pond for 2. 3 How large of a house for them. 4 will they be smart and avoid predators, and will they be nice to my guineas. What type of feed to raise them. And should I teach them how to swim in a bathtub. Sincerely, Total newbie.

 

[Welshies]

I may get ducks and I was wondering. 1 will they come back at night. 2 how large of a pond for 2. 3 How large of a house for them. 4 will they be smart and avoid predators, and will they be nice to my guineas. What type of feed to raise them. And should I teach them how to swim in a bathtub. Sincerely, Total newbie.

Will they come back? Are you free ranging them?
They can be herded and must be herded back into a secure coop every night or you WILL lose them all to predators. Any size of pond will do, don't go too big.
For the coop, they should have 4sqft per duck inside, and it must be at least 3 ft high. Lots of ventilation and very secure. Make sure you have extra room because you will probably end up with more ducks.
Predator-wise, certain breeds are better than others. I suggest trying Rouens. They are dual purpose, 8 pound ducks similiar to Mallards, but they lay more eggs and don't fly. They can flap a few feet, but that's it. Mine, even as babies, were always alert and stopped eating whenever something flew by or my dog burst out of the bush.
From what I've heard, usually guineas are mean to ducks, not vise versa.
Ducks instinctively know how to swim. As babies they can swim very well. But do not let them swim unsupervised until they are fully feathered or they can die- they need to be dried off when they are babies because their down does not have oil to repel water. Letting them swim early on will allow them to be more comfortable in water.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Mine always returned to the coop at night without encouragment (after a week or two of being taught)

 

[Welshies]

Mine always returned to the coop at night without encouragment (after a week or two of being taught)

I like to herd them in and then I know they are all there. Plus, I don't have a set schedule. They go in fairly easily though. I suppose I could have taught them, but I don't have the patience. :eyeroll:

 

[Mysterious]

Where is the best place to get them cheap?

 

[Welshies]

Where is the best place to get them cheap? 

What are you interested in? Day old ducklings or slightly older ones?
If you are interested in day old ducklings, and located in the US, you can get well priced, sexed ducklings from Holderread Farms, Metzer Hatchery, Meyer Hatchery. If you get them sexed, the drake to hen ratio should be 1:4
If you want older ones, browse Kijiji, eBay, or Craigslist (or even BYC) for ads. You can find ducklings anywhere from newly hatched to 6 weeks locally.
On average, all ducks cost the same. $10 per duckling is the average locally, and hatcheries sell them for an average of $8-$15 plus the extra shipping.
I was going to order ducklings but I am in Canada so there were no quality hatcheries. :/ But I got some cute ducks anyways!

 

[Mysterious]

Im interested in newly hatched, but not right now. Need to build pond, but it is soooo hot here. Question: Do rouens winter well?

 

[Welshies]

Im interested in newly hatched, but not right now. Need to build pond, but it is soooo hot here. Question: Do rouens winter well?

All ducks winter well. They are hardier than chickens, although you need to watch Muscovies because they have more bare skin. Rouens winter very well, mine have never had a problem with cold! They have lots if feathers! Since ducks don't roost, they can cover their feet (the only bare skin they really have- whereas chickens have combs and wattles too, and roost) as well as the fact that ducks LOVE to cuddle with each other!
My Rouens have been very good even as ducklings. Ducks have some of the best feathers on the market along with geese.
You can consider getting day-old ducklings and keeping them in your house or garage, or the coop, so that when the pond gets built they will be close to getting their feathers.

 

[Mysterious]

the pond will be done likely by august cinsidering how hot it is here
Plus Im getting more guinea chicks then.