Anybody know about ducks?

[brooster]

There are muscovy ducks for sale at TSC, and i was wondering if they had personalities like chickens and if they are easy or hard to work with.

 

[cgjsmith]

try the other poultry page. I bet you would get more answers there, Crystal

 

[4H kids and mom]

I am rather new to raising ducks (and geese!) but I can tell you what I have learned so far.

#1. They are MESSY! You will need to clean their pen/coop daily to keep down on the flies. If they range all day, that helps. They are messy eaters too, taking their food in their bills and then putting it in their water to make a soup and then eating it up sloppily! Have to say though, they are too cute when they do this, so despite the messes, they are still adorable.

#2. They get along very well with chickens if they are raised with them from young. I got all my ducks and geese as babies, so I can't tell you how adults would do with chickens.

#3. They are hilarious! They have such fun personailities and are playful and curious. Eventually they will pick a "leader" of their flock and follow this one everywhere it goes. They are fairly easy to handle and even a duck that hasn't been handled will usually calm down when you pick it up. I've trained mine to come to me when I call "Here duck ducks". They come running to see what treat I have for them, and they'll eat right out of my hands.

I have gotten week old baby ducks, and then a few weeks later got some slightly older goslings. They all accepted each other right away and get along wonderfully. The ducks are little hams, and do the funniest things. Its so cool to watch them dive into their pool and swim like lightening fast under the water. Then they'll pop up like a fishing bobber and do it all over again! They like to play with my shoelaces and chase our dog too! The "lead" duck even grabbed onto my dogs tail and held on!

Other than the messy part of keeping them, I highly recommend a few if you have the room. They are fun to watch, pretty easy to train, very easy to work with, and not much trouble at all. Just make sure they ALWAYS have water. Several different sources around the yard they range during the day makes this easy to do.

 

[Critter Crazy]

Quote:
Yeah!! What she said!!

 

[mamahen]

We have several buff orpington ducks and a cayuga. We started out with one drake and two ducks, all the rest are offspring. They are too funny! You don't have to have a pond to raise ducks, you can use a kiddie pool and refill every day. You can even save the pool for special times when you want to watch them play. They just have to have a water source that they can get their heads all the way in - meaning they can dunk their eyes in it.
We keep their food fairly close but not right next to their food so they don't stand and go from food to water and back again and get their food all wet. But they have to have water when they eat or they will choke very easily! Get some ducks! They are hilarious and will get along fine with chickies unless you have a roo and a drake that don't get along!

 

[the Old Rebel]

From my experience with muscovy ducks and chickens, the ducks definitely have different personalities, as do the chickens, and duck personalities are different from chicken personalities. If you get them young and handle them often, you shouldn't have any problem holding them when they are grown. I have one that literally gives me hugs. She puts her head over my shoulder and presses her neck into my neck.

Muscovy ducks are hardy. They rarely get sick. They are, however, quite vulnerable to predators. We let ours free range in the day, but put them in a pen at night. If you put them up three nights in a row, or keep them in a pen while they are growing up and then let them out to free range, they will usually return to that pen around dusk.

Ducks "herd" quite easily when you have a stick in your hand.

You don't have to have a pool or a pond for muscovies. All they need is water bowls deep enough to bury their bills in. They HAVE to be able to clean out their nostrils. They will stand at the bowl and pretend to throw water all over themselves and "bathe" in it. However, as my friend told me, it is nice to give them a place to swim for their enrichment. A kiddie pool works great, but you have to provide steps for them to go up to be able to get into it. My dh dug an elongated hole about 3 feet deep, lined it with concrete, and made ours a little pond. They LOVE it!

Of all our farmyard animals, muscovy ducks are my favorite. Their babies are the cutest. They are usually good mothers. Just like chickens, they will lay several eggs and then start setting them. Several duck hens can share the same nest. This year, mine have even shared baby duty. Strangest thing I've ever seen. Hearty Hardy Harley's babies moved in with Miss Polly. Miss Polly's babies moved in with Eleana who was setting eggs of her own. She abandoned her eggs to take care of the babies. Now she and Miss Polly share baby duty. Hearty Hardy Harley goes free. (Eleana's eggs are in the incubator. I HOPE she takes the babies when they hatch next week.... but we'll have to see. They WON"T take them if they see you put them down near them. You have to let them join the other babies without the mom seeing you do it.

As you can tell, I love ducks. Feel free to e-mail me if I can help in any other way.

Hope you have a great day!