- Apr 20, 2010
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Hello all! I'm pretty new to both ducks and this forum. I picked up four ducklings at TSC almost two weeks ago after many years of wanting poultry. I intended to start with chickens, but the ducklings stole my heart. I'm still not positive what breed they are, but from the research I've done online they are either black runners or possibly cayugas. (I'm leaning towards runners simply because they tend to stand pretty upright).
Anyway, I have an area on my property about 50'x60' that will be fenced in with 5' welded wire to allow them supervised ranging time. These ducks are pets and it would break my heart if anything happened to them, so I am implementing a plan that includes a sturdy wood duck house for them to be locked into at night and during bad weather. This will be attached to an inclosed and roofed "run" about 12' x 6' for unsupervised and bad weather play time. Additionally, I have built a mobile duck pen that is 8'x12'x3' high (also covered) to move around their fenced in area which allows them to "range" protected when I am not around, and will hopefully allow the grass to recover.
We also installed one of those black plastic ponds (around 200 gal) with a filter, fountain, and pump to keep it from getting stagnant. We plan on using the pump to empty/refill the pond when necessary.
But that's not really the point of this post.
We had the area where they will be fenced in graded because it was very uneven and there was a lot of bamboo that was taking over the yard. Since I have a clean palette of good soil exposed, I was wondering what kind of grass seed I should put down. I want the ducks to get as much of their diet as possible from natural grazing/ranging (they will still get pelleted feed, of course). I've heard they like white clover, but does anyone have any other specific suggestions? Our local Southern States has a pretty wide selection of bulk grass seed, so I intend to mix and match a few different types. I am in no ways a grass expert so this is a bit of an experiment.
Thanks for any comments or suggestions! I'm completely open to anything, including constructive criticism. I want these ducks to be safe, happy, and able to express their duckiness to the full extent.
And as a side question, has anyone ever kept goats with their ducks (pigmies or otherwise)? I would love to have a couple of goats back there, but the ducks get priority.
Anyway, I have an area on my property about 50'x60' that will be fenced in with 5' welded wire to allow them supervised ranging time. These ducks are pets and it would break my heart if anything happened to them, so I am implementing a plan that includes a sturdy wood duck house for them to be locked into at night and during bad weather. This will be attached to an inclosed and roofed "run" about 12' x 6' for unsupervised and bad weather play time. Additionally, I have built a mobile duck pen that is 8'x12'x3' high (also covered) to move around their fenced in area which allows them to "range" protected when I am not around, and will hopefully allow the grass to recover.
We also installed one of those black plastic ponds (around 200 gal) with a filter, fountain, and pump to keep it from getting stagnant. We plan on using the pump to empty/refill the pond when necessary.
But that's not really the point of this post.
We had the area where they will be fenced in graded because it was very uneven and there was a lot of bamboo that was taking over the yard. Since I have a clean palette of good soil exposed, I was wondering what kind of grass seed I should put down. I want the ducks to get as much of their diet as possible from natural grazing/ranging (they will still get pelleted feed, of course). I've heard they like white clover, but does anyone have any other specific suggestions? Our local Southern States has a pretty wide selection of bulk grass seed, so I intend to mix and match a few different types. I am in no ways a grass expert so this is a bit of an experiment.
Thanks for any comments or suggestions! I'm completely open to anything, including constructive criticism. I want these ducks to be safe, happy, and able to express their duckiness to the full extent.
And as a side question, has anyone ever kept goats with their ducks (pigmies or otherwise)? I would love to have a couple of goats back there, but the ducks get priority.
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