City Ducks!

[Mom 2em All]

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What if they were having a happy life INSIDE? If they are given time outside supervised, what are they missing by being housed indoors?

 

[Goat_Walker]

Please do NOT start in on Indoor ducks being cruel and unhappy - because they are anything BUT! I had indoor ducks for a while as well and I can tell you right now they were perfectly happy bossing the dog around and eating out of her food bowl when they saw fit, or jumping up on the couch for some rubbin.


Keeping ducks indoors in NOT cruel if you are an advid duck lover , Nettie and Joe's ducks are SPOILED ROTTEN!

 

[Crazy4cochins]

my friend has ducks and chickens and lives in the city, she got a special permit for the chickens but not the ducks, now I am going to be getting the ducks becasue the pekin is a female and is very loud and she's scared she will get in trouble for having ducks and she also has way more chickens than she is suppose to have. The dumb city just doesn't realize you can't have just a few hens and be happy

So as long as you get a quiet breed would be a better choice and i would only get 2 that way you can keep up on all the chores that go along with them. Heck my chickens are really loud out here so a quiet duck may be nice!!!! good luck

 

[Wifezilla]

i have constantly peeping crybaby petstore ducklings- so maybe I will rethink the whole indoor thing. Poor crying babies.
Hopefully they will settle in soon

2 things will cure this right away...

A turkey feather duster and a mirror. Put the duster in a corner of their brooder and tape the top to keep it in place. Also tape a mirror to the side. The duster acts as a sort of BABYSITTER and the mirror gives the ducks some "friends" to talk to. I have used this set up with solo hatches and it worked great.

JJ admiring the pretty duck in the mirror

JJ talking to the babysitter

Sometimes their own stuffed toy works too...

 

[riftnreef]

For being in the city I have a decent sized back yard, and it holds the chickens well, but I don't think it would contain ducks...would the need to be pened all the time, or can they be trusted to range some without flying away?

 

[Goat_Walker]

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Depends on what breed you get. Runners, pekins, rouens, and such you dont really have to worry about flying anywhere. But if you get a breed that does fly it shouldnt fly away if it knows where home is and is bonded to you. But if ou were to say by an adult untamed scovie or mallard im sure it would fly away if the wings werent clipped.

 

[duckyfromoz]

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I currently live in a built up area and have 24 extremely happy ducks. Althought this is not the usual number I keep here- It is somehow manageable in a fairly regular sized back yard. The whole yard is grass except for a back corner just resown with seed. They have three swimming pools get penned in a warm shed at night. These are flighless domesticated ducks- who would be no happier on a farm.

I have nursed and rehabilitated many sick and injured ducks here in my back yard to. Some of these were rescued from farms.
Ducks kept inside or in a built up area do not face the same number of predators - and having such a tame close companion means checking for health and general well being can be monitored daily with a city duck.

Ducks do make wonderful pets. They have such wonderful personalilties- and make a wonderful addition for thse who want something different from a dog or cat in their backyards.

 

[Wifezilla]

can they be trusted to range some without flying away?

My ducks fly like bricks

It does depend on the breed. Welsh Harlequins, runners, rouens, khakis, buffs, pekins, etc... can't fly worth a darn.​

 

[Goat_Walker]

Wifezilla - I dont quiet agree with the buff part. My first hen was a buff and she used to fly over our four foot fence so she could forage when i wasnt home. I mean she couldnt fly farther than 100 yards when flying across the yard, lol, but she could fly over a fence XD

 

[Wifezilla]

Really? Lana was too heavy to fly.

Her daughter couldn't fly either and she was half buff half khaki

I have heard of a few people with khakis that could fly a bit. I guess size makes all the difference. Light smaller ducks might be able to fly.