What do you like LEAST about raising ducks?

Please don't say: 'The fact that I can't have more!' lol

Seriously though

I bet it's not disease problems, as ducks are much less prone to disease than other types of poultry, in fact.

Maybe it's their messiness..............?

The drag of cleaning out their water pool................?

They are violently mean to one another...............?

So, what do you hate most about raising ducks?

Yep, definitely the messiness and water issue. I can't seem to keep fresh water for them no matter how hard I try. Their 3 gallon waterer is lucky to last a day and their pond is dirty almost as soon as I refil it. I also have to clean out their duckhouse much more often than the chicken coop.

They are much easier to care for though. Their run stays much cleaner than the chickens run does. Mine don't yell for treats all the time like the chickens and have never been sick. They are content to swim, play in their water and sleep

I'm drawing a blank here . . . .

Well, if forced to come up with something, I'll say:
1. Breaking the ice out of the pond in the middle of the winter for them.
2. Having to do my duck chores at least once a day, often twice a day, if they have been kept confined all day. I'm lucky to share the chores with my husband, so it isn't so bad, and really I only get annoyed by the chore when I'm feeling lazy.
3. Spring mating time, only because I keep too many drakes for ducks. I know better, but I'm a sucker for the drakes that I incubated and hatched. Most of the year they all do just fine together and the hatchmates are best buddies. Spring is when the drakes get fiesty, so I have to keep the boys under control (keep most of them separate from females).
4. Never enough time. I wish I had more time to spend with them, especially when they are ducklings.

As a side note, after reading SunAngel's post, the nice thing about ducks is you really don't have to worry too much about dirty water. They will always muck up their water, but they are unlikely to get ill from water that has only been sitting around for a day or so. Actually, I think it would be highly unlikely for them to get ill from dirty water. It becomes more of an issue of what YOU can stand to see them drinking/swimming in. LOL I use the pond water to fertilize my plants. It is a really great organic fertilizer.

Thanks for replies. This helps us with our decision, whether or not to start a flock...........

That is so true about the water. I have watched my ducks walk by clean water to play in muddy puddles lol.

I started out with 2 ducks and that was going to be it, as we weren't even sure we wanted ducks. We have 8 now and I love them all!

Ever hear the expression, "Lord love a duck?"

Not too long ago we had someone come out to work on our well and the guy used to keep ducks. He liked seeing ours and he actually said to me, "yeah, I love ducks!" Couldn't agree more.

The other consideration about how messy ducks can be is that it ultimately comes down to how much space you have per duck. The more room they have the longer it takes for them to fowl it up.

I'd love to hear what you decide and I'm certainly not trying to enable you!

They were messy. I would not suggest keeping them unless you can free range them. Mine were in a large pen, it was always messy. I also wouldn't suggest keeping them without a pond no matter what, it is un-natural. They are so much fun to watch in the water but need a real pond or stream at least.

Their filthy habits & my Muscovies which have to be housed away from chickens because they will kill them, eventually.

the poop. lots of poop. other than that, it's all ducky!

Quote:
Not always true. My scovies were raised with chickens. They have no problems with my millie running with them. But my biggest issue was their messiness until i saw the link about making a waterer out of a 1 Gallon milk jug.