Any advice for someone new to ducks

[Kzp1020]

We are getting some rouen ducks at the end of the month. We got 8 hens and 1 drake because we plan to house them with our chickens so we knew we needed more than enough hens to keep our chickens safe. We are hoping to get some ducklings this coming spring. Any advice for someone new to ducks?

 

[BoundlessLove]

I’d advise to house the ducks in their own duck hut/coop.
If you keep them together, there is a great possibility for problems.

For the brooder, heat source and cool side to get away if too hot.
A waterer the ducklings can dip their bills in all the way; and I’d put something under the waterer. Something like a camping plate.
I use shelf liner for the brooder floor.

Ducklings are much messier than chicks. They will grow in size quickly which means you will need a larger brooder.

 

[BoundlessLove]

At first you will need duck or all flock starter feed.
When they mature, “all flock feed” would be an option for both the ducks and chickens. That way you aren’t buying two separate feeds.
Edit to add: Ducks will also need a place to swim.
For example, a large kiddie pool.

 

[SnackMeat]

Later on, if you're looking to hatch eggs, breeder feed is different than basic egg laying feed.

I do keep some of my older babies in with my ducklings but I make sure they have an area they can hop up to to get away from the wetness that wetness spread around.


wry neck treatment is different for ducklings than chicks. I want to say ducklings need b vitamins from the beginning but for wry neck, it's vitamin e. I don't think it hurts as a preventative so I would look into just automatically dosing.

And splay leg for them is even more annoying than for chicks, so stay on top of slippery surfaces.

 

[Kzp1020]

I’d advise to house the ducks in their own duck hut/coop.
If you keep them together, there is a great possibility for problems.

For the brooder, heat source and cool side to get away if too hot.
A waterer the ducklings can dip their bills in all the way; and I’d put something under the waterer. Something like a camping plate.
I use shelf liner for the brooder floor.

Ducklings are much messier than chicks. They will grow in size quickly which means you will need a larger brooder.

Thats really good to know. We are debating getting another coop, we did try to read up on a mixed flock though. But if it causes loads of problems we will definitely get another coop.
We might do two brooders, we have plastic water troughs for our cows that we will use since with our chicks we used a cardboard box and that will 100% not work with ducklings.

 

[brutus9643]

I have 2 ducks ,raised from infantsy to full size. One drake and one femail. the femaill is now laying eggs, she doesn't realy care about the eggs. as she walks around on them kicks them etc. she doesn't really havw a nest, she lays them in the same place every day. Can i make her a nest and put her eggs in it ,will she sit on them and hatch them. Or should i put them in incubater.

 

[FrostRanger]

I have 2 ducks ,raised from infantsy to full size. One drake and one femail. the femaill is now laying eggs, she doesn't realy care about the eggs. as she walks around on them kicks them etc. she doesn't really havw a nest, she lays them in the same place every day. Can i make her a nest and put her eggs in it ,will she sit on them and hatch them. Or should i put them in incubater.

If she's not broody she won't care about her eggs after she laid them. If you want more ducklings, gather the number of eggs you want and then put them in the incubator. Do know that we are heading into fall and winter which is not exactly the best time to raise ducklings. It is early enough though where you should be fine depending on your climate. If you don't want to hatch right now you can use them mostly the same as chicken eggs. Also know that if you hatch usually about half of whatever you hatch will be males, your male to female ratio is already bad (you want about 6 or more duck hens per drake) so you will need a plan for any drakes that hatch

 

[Kzp1020]

If she's not broody she won't care about her eggs after she laid them. If you want more ducklings, gather the number of eggs you want and then put them in the incubator. Do know that we are heading into fall and winter which is not exactly the best time to raise ducklings. It is early enough though where you should be fine depending on your climate. If you don't want to hatch right now you can use them mostly the same as chicken eggs. Also know that if you hatch usually about half of whatever you hatch will be males, your male to female ratio is already bad (you want about 6 or more duck hens per drake) so you will need a plan for any drakes that hatch

At what age do the drakes really become a problem?

 

[FrostRanger]

At what age do the drakes really become a problem?

Depends on the drake, some never become an issue while others cause problems early on. In your case I would house them separately as chickens and ducks do have different needs and if your drake tries to mate with a chicken hen he can kill her. Even though your drake to hen ratio is good, you just don't know if your drake will be a problem and immature drakes are more likely to cause issues than a fully mature one