Colorado

[PirateGirl]

I did NOT buy ducklings today. I only bought feed at Murdoch's today!

 

[Mtn Margie]

Nice try! Tomorrow is another day...

 

[PirateGirl]

Nice try! Tomorrow is another day...

And tomorrow I will be at Big R! We'll see what they have

 

[Mtn Margie]

Cuter ducklings...

 

[uzisuzuki]

Is taking care of ducks that much different/harder than chickens?

 

[Mtn Margie]

I say yes, but only because of the water hauling and frozen hoses that would be an issue up here. If they had their own set-up (easy to clean "pond") I am sure they would be like any other critter where the amount of enjoyment offsets the work.
I have not had ducks, only geese and they just need a bucket of clean water in order to clean their heads and wash their food down with. Ducks do best with a swimming area because of the oil gland thing, (or so I was told.)

 

[PirateGirl]

Is taking care of ducks that much different/harder than chickens?

As you have seen I recently got ducks. I have had 5 chickens for approximately 1 year, and I have had 4 (adult) ducks for approximately 1 month (maybe longer now). I have separate housing/runs for each. The housing requirements are easier to build for ducks. I have a feeling that once the ground is not frozen that the ducks will stink more. They don't scratch around the way that chickens do, so the poop doesn't seem to break down/compost in quite the same way. In terms of time/energy spent daily, the care is virtually the same. I fill food and water in the morning. I refill food/water in the afternoon if needed. I check for eggs at each of these times. I lock them both up at night and let them both out in the morning. If you have a hose that will reach your job will be easier much of the year in terms of filling a pool. Depending on how messy you think is acceptable for the duck pool will determine how often you need to fill/empty it (and size of pool and number of ducks). Chickens and ducks eat and scratch in mud and poop. That's how they are. I'm not saying they should be in filthy living conditions, but I feel that changing the duck pool water daily may be overkill (maybe that's just me). I do give fresh drinking water daily, and sometimes more than once a day. The only difference in daily care is the swimming pool. I fill it once every few days. Sometimes I just top it off, sometimes I empty it completely (probably once a week when I have more time and the weather is nice). If it freezes I break off the ice on top with a shovel and scoop it out (maybe 2 minutes daily work in winter). If it freezes solid, sometimes they don't get to swim a few days and I figure it's too cold to anyway. I'd say the pool maintenance can add up to 15 minutes of care in a day if it's anything beyond chipping up the surface ice. You may have to carry buckets of water from the house to fill the pool a little at a time. The pool likely cannot be moved once full due to weight, so buckets or a hose are your only options.

So long story short, daily care is virtually the same in terms of time, energy, and what they need. I'd put the pool as weekly care along with scooping poop out of their house and topping off with some dry bedding.

 

[PirateGirl]

oh, and ducks need drinking water in a bowl or bucket to dunk their whole head, so it does get messy, there's no way around it with a nipple waterer or something, they will need to be brought fresh water daily whereas you could probably set something up that lasts longer for clean chicken water

 

[lomine]

If you brood in the house, ducklings are way messier and smellier than chicks (one of the many reasons I now brood in the coop). There's a few things you can do to minimize it but you will have to clean the brooder daily, if not more. But honestly, there are few things cuter than watching ducklings swim in your sink or tub.

As far as adult care, I think they are about the same but it's all in your management style and set-up. I have my ducks and chickens together. When I moved I changed things to make it easier on me. I prefer the coop on ground level (so do the ducks). I like being able to walk in the coop. I find that deep litter is really easy with ducks. If you have ducks only in the coop with DL you have to turn it yourself because they just pack it down. I tried pea gravel and it was terrible. It was good in summer when I could spray the poop off but the whole things became a poopy/ rocky ice block in winter. With DL I just add straw or shavings and the chicks and ducks will disperse it for me. This spring I plan to shovel it out and put it in a garden. I think the choice of ground cover is where some duck owners run into problems.

For water in summer, I have multiple types of buckets and tubs all over the place and everyone drinks from them. In the coop I have buckets with vertical nipples and everyone drinks from those too. The ducks have a kiddie pool that gets changed every couple of days. I got a sump pump and long hose to empty it. Easy on the back and it lets me water the trees with the poopy water (they thrive on it). The pool doesn't get used in cold weather. This year I hope to dig a pond and use the principles of aquaponics to clean the water.

For water in winter, I have the heated buckets and dog bowl. I remove the nipple waterers because they freeze. Sometimes I have to put a board on the top to keep the ducks from try to bath in it. I have a small tub, kind of like a cement mixing tub, that I fill with water for swimming on nice days. It freezes overnight. If it's warm I dump and refill. If it's cold I leave it till a warm day.

So to sum up, no ducks really aren't harder to care for. The big difference in needs is the deep water for washing out their nares and eyes. But I think you really have to plan things out in advance.

 

[PirateGirl]

@lomine I was wondering about a pump... I purposely have my birds near the garden and would like to pump the water from the duck pool to water my garden in summer. I was also thinking about sending the chickens into the duck run to turn the ground/litter from time to time.

My new technique this winter... the pool is a 15-20 gallon black stock tank. Once it's thoroughly frozen I flip it upside down. The next nice day the sun heats it up and the ice block falls out. Then I can refill with fresh water.