Do we want ducks?

[newfoundland]

I have 15 ducks, 3 of which are drakes. They are all 'cherry valley', similar to Aylesbury, a commercial duck bred for the table. I keep them as pets and for the eggs, which are enormous and delicious. They are in three large pens, one drake with 5 ducks, 2 bachelor drakes together, and 7 ducks. They all get on well in their groups, no fighting and have great personalities. My drakes have never been aggressive, either to each other or us. They are the happiest creatures. One word of warning. They do need very regular cleaning out. They are messy and soon churn up a pen. We put straw down in their pen to keep them cleaner, and when we clean out their houses, we renew the straw. We clean out their houses every 4 days or so, but we do not have to do this where only 2 share a house, once a week is fine.u

 

[mamaluvschick]

Awsome from all of the posts I think we will get some ducks. I am excited. I do have another question or two... I have chickens who are free range, can ducks and chickens live together? other then having a male duck? Question two. do the ducks stay or do they fly away? I hope I am not taking up to much of anyones time

 

[gryeyes]

My flock consists of 50 some chickens, 9 ducks and two geese, all housed in one big coop at night, and ranging freely during the day. A happy bunch!

They generally stay where they have food. My Cayugas do not fly. The call duck does fly, and when I had a pair, they would do a daily flight up into the air and in a circle right over the property and back down to the ground. They also flew here and there to save time walking... Being such short little ducks.

I keep a 40 gallon rubber trough full for the waterfowl to drink, since they do need deep water to clear their nares (nostrils). Plus their kiddie pools....

They make messes out of waterers, so have some for them and some for the chickens. Be prepared to clean mud out of them often.

And you aren't taking up "too much" of anybody's time at all!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Yes you do!

 

[xIndigoSkyx]

Yes you do! I find them incredibly enjoyable! Very smart too!

 

[Mike Winters]

they can live together just fine during the day if there is a water source ducks will me there and stay within 200 feet of water or swampy areas. while chickens will stay near the dry shrub areas. only the bantam ducks called calls can fly effectively the larger standard breeds are to fat to get any where farther then a chicken could fly. ducks wings are stronger then a chickens wing muscles though.