Should I get a duck or two? How can I make this as easy as possible?

[NiftyChick]

Ducks sound cute/fun, but it sounds like there's no way they'll ever be as low maintenance as our chickens, Honey . . . er . . . Nifty-Chicken.

With our current chicken setup we could probably be gone a few days and our girls would be fine (HUGE feed dispenser made by Nifty-Chicken, and automatic waterer which I LOVE).

For longer trips we do have someone check on them and get eggs - to ensure they don't go broody or start eating the eggs! It sounds like we can't do that with ducks? Maybe we can hire a duck sitter for trips. Drop her off for a playdate/sleepover with another duck/chicken enthusiast!

Anyway, I love all the great detail from eggchel! I still have to check out the links, but like the info you gave. Thank you!!! Are the bantams very noisy? Also, when you provide a bucket for duck head dunking, do you find the chickens like to roost on it, or do they pretty much leave it alone? I can just see ours perching on it and pooping in the water.

 

[eggchel]

Yeah, chickens will roost on anything, LOL, but if they have something higher than the bucket they will choose the higher roost. Also, there is a type of auto waterer that is deep enough for the duck to rinse it's face in, but has a wire (tent shaped) cover that prevents the chickens from roosting on it and keeps the ducks from trying to swim in it.

Edited to add pic of waterer described above.
A raised platform, such as what is under this waterer, with drainage, is always a good idea to keep area dry and mud free.

(photo from www.Feathersite.com)(cropped)

Here is a site that shows some tiny call ducks. http://www.longshadowfarms.com/index.html
Look at the FAQS page to see some wire floored bantam duck houses with little built in pools. These ducks live in their coop/run all the time and dont free range, so you could have auto waterers and feeders just like for the chickens. The last pic on the FAQS page shows someone holding a nearly full grown call duck. You can see how tiny they are. The other bantams breeds are a little bigger but just as cute.

So, about putting themselves to bed at night...... do ducks do it??? Not as readily as chickens, but it depends on how you train them and who they live with, bird wise. I have a sebastopol goose who lives with a giant cochin hen, 2 jersey giants, and a frizzle bantam roo. She grew up with a mixed selection of chickens, call ducks and geese... mostly chickens, where she learned to go into the coop at night with the chickens. I let them out to free range and when I go out at night to lock up, she is already in the pen asleep with the chickens, all cuddled up together. On the other hand, I have had ducks and geese that I received as adults, who were quite happy to live outside all the time and I had to herd them into their pens at night. The first couple times were pretty funny, but once they knew where I wanted them to go, they just went ahead. Others that I have had have been trained to come when I call them, and a handful of lettuce or scratch was enough to get them into the pen. If you have your broody orp raise the ducklings, she will train them to go into the coop at night.

Right now I only have the one goose here with a few coops of chickens. All the rest and the ducks went to stay at Rae's place in the central valley.

chellie

 

[munchkin]

Hi Nifty, I am new to your site & it's great.. We have both chooks and ducks...
In answer to your questions: pekings are great layers but VERY noisy (lots of personality though)...
Khaki Campbells are much quieter, steady layers...Or Muscovies, they hiss, rather than quacking (I think technically they may be related to geese- not sure?).
No duck breed absolutely requires to be able to swim, but they love it so much you will feel mean when you don't let them..As long as they have plenty to drink they will be ok..
They also need to be housed separately to chooks...Too much risk of disease transfer..Ducks poo a LOT, and soil their sleeping quarters very quickly..They will also soil drinking water unless you put chicken wire over it so they cannot get in... Also when eating they run their bills thru water "sifting"their food, and dirty it that way... They do definitely need somewhere clean and dry to sleep, as foot problems and other disease can result if they are constantly damp.
It took us 3 attempts to finally get our duck house right for us & the ducks... It needs to be big enough for you to comfortably get right in to clean it out...Also, if you are going to allow them to breed you need enough space for the broody mum to sit & not feel threatened by the others when they come to bed...(If breeding, she WILL need access to swimming water, as they transfer moisture from their feathers to the eggs which helps them incubate)..Otherwise you need to sprinkle them with water every couple of days & risk very cross mum-duck...
I hope this helps!! As with chooks, trial & error, live & learn. They are worth it, ducks are great!

 

[loopy]

I agree! Ducks are great! Nifty-Chicken-Chick can come see our duck set up too since we are local to each other to some degree.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Hey... you aren't too far from me.... maybe we'll make a trip!

 

[loopy]

I'm on vacation for a while so depending on my activities, I should be available. Just send an email to make arrangements, etc.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

I dropped by the feed store today to look at what they've got and what they are getting.

Ducklings Expected delivery date 4/5:

5 Assorted Runners
15 Various Breeds

The clerk said they aren't sexed and they don't know what breeds. Well... that's just a total crap shoot!

 

[loopy]

Hey there,
Have you heard of Jack Long out on Point Reyes. We got our calls from him. We also were able to trade when we had too many males. I don't know how currrent his web site is but if you are looking for something now and don't care if you get babies or older, sexed birds, he might have what you need. I think he specializes in more ornamental breeds but I have no idea what he's got now.
http://www.creeksidebirds.com/homepage.htm
If you took a drive out this way you might as well go a few steps further and see our set up.

 

[eggchel]

Loopy, where is your place?

Ive been to Jack Long's Creekside Birds. I bought a really nice pair of white Sebastopols from Jack a couple years ago and two of the other sebs that I now have are from Jack, as well. His place makes a great day trip! The little town is a great place to stop for lunch or coffee. Jack has lots of aviaries with all kinds of exotic birds and he even has an ostrich! He told my dd that she could have the ostrich if she could ride it, LOL.
If you call Jack, be prepared to talk really loud as he is hard of hearing.

Rob, which feed store did you check for ducks?

I dont know whether Alamo has them yet and Close feed said they are getting some soon. I was at Close feed yesterday and was really glad that all they had were regular layer breeds. Whew! Otherwise I'd have come home with some ducks for sure. LOL

chel

 

[loopy]

Hi Chel,

My place is in Inverness. If you keep going past Jack Long's on Sir Francis Drake Blvd, you pass throught the town of Inverness after several miles. It's a town past Inverness Park where The Inverness store, post office and Vladimir's Restaurant is. We put up an Island so that folks would slow down when they drive through town but most people keep their speed up and miss it. We used to drive through like that before we lived here. There are some fine beaches further on down the road and fresh oysters from Drakes Bay.

I agree that Jack is hard of hearing but he's a sweet ole guy and the place is very interesting. Quite a variety of parrots as well as waterfowl. I am not sure if he still has all the parrots though. My avatar is Mucky, our first chocolate call drake that we got from him. I drive by there all the time but I don't stop in. If a group wants to make a day trip I would certainlly join in though. I would be surprised if he did not have all kinds of ducklings and young ducks. The town of Point Reyes Station is also home to Tomales Bay Foods and Cowgirl Creamery, Bovine Bakery, and other cool places to check out.

Nifty-Chicken if you are interested in looking at ducks, I am here tomorrow and you can give a call to Jack and find out if he has something worth looking at, then come see our set up. Our set up is pretty simple and I am planning rennovations since our duck house is almost 8 years old and the run is run-down but everything still works. Enclosed a picture of Loopy, happily waking up to the flood of 2005, New Years Day.