Beginner ducks?

[ShrekDawg]

Yes it is sweet and you don't really have to have a huge pond or anything fancy, a kiddie pool will work just fine.

 

[ShrekDawg]

how do you get pics to show up on your page? I copied and pasted the links from the uploads but it just shows up as links, not pictures. Please look at it and see what you think and then try to explain please. thank you. I did the image link not the thumb link, should I try thumb? Thanks.

 

[atarunomiko]

Quote:
aw that is too sweet. I hope those guys find a forever, loving home together.

I am kind lurking in the duck section because I have wanted ducks since I've started wanting chickens, but I don't have a pond... I have an in-ground pool. Does anybody here let thier ducks swim in thier pool? I know they'll probably poop in it.... but once in awhile shouldn't be too bad, plus I would be willing to put a small pond in for them on my property.

You don't want to let ducks into your people swimming pool, simply because the chlorine and other chemicals in the water is bad for them, especially since they don't know any better and will drink the water. Plus their poop would really tax the filter and may even clog it to the point where you'll need to replace it prematurely or have repairs done on your pool. Besides, do you or your family really want to swim in duck poo-ey water? Cuz, ew. (IMHO.)

You don't need an honest-to-goodness pond. My ducks are perfectly happy in a kiddie pool (or in the bathtub when it's too cold out). If you have smaller ducks, smaller containers will work. Just make sure it's size-appropriate, especially when they're young and they haven't fully feathered out yet, and don't leave them unattended. Also, keep an eye on them after they get out of the water, as they can catch cold and die because they don't yet have the protections that adults have.

But you don't even need to give them that much, if, say, you live in an apartment complex. The bare minimum of water you need for their health is enough for them to submerge their heads underwater (essential for cleaning their nares - nostrils). Of course for their maximum happiness having somewhere for them to swim around is better.

If you choose to use a kiddie pool, I wouldn't leave it full of water all the time, because the water will breed bacteria. My ducks usually are done swimming after about an hour or so, so I don't think it's necessary for them to have access to swimming water 24-7, as long as they have constant access to drinking water (they are messy drinkers/eaters, so I prefer using nipple drinkers - you can use the kind of waterers they sell for pet birds and hamsters at the pet store - it limits potential bacterial breeding grounds). Let them swim until they seem like they've had their fill - mine will get out of the water on their own when they're done - and then dump the water out and let it dry out completely before using it again.

I love waterfowl and they are tons of fun, but they are a lot of work and perhaps not for everyone. I find they are a lot more work cleaning after than my chickens and other ground fowl, and you have to make sure their wet, messy habits don't disturb your non-waterfowl, who are somewhat less hardy. But the reward is that they are really friendly and playful. My ducks and geese all bonded to me a lot faster than my chickens and are generally more willing to interact with me without the lure of treats than my ground fowl are. (Not that I don't adore my chickens.)

KDOGG331, put the links to your pictures in between these brackets:

So it would look something like (without all the spaces):

[ i m g ] h t t p : / / w w w . t h e u r l t o y o u r p h o t o h e r e . c o m / b l a h b l a h b l a h [ / i m g ]

That should work, and if not, you may need to resize your photo. I like tinypic.com for that. It lets you do all that for free and you don't even need to register for an account to use it.

EDITED because it turned my example into a broken link, which isn't very helpful for demonstration purposes.