Do you free range your ducks? Why or Why not?

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

This is great! I guess I haven't been giving the ducks enough credit in the intelligence department. Up until now I thought they made my chickens look like Einsteins. Very encouraging!

 

[Swamp]

I'm new at this too. Currently I free range my eight muscovys, three male and five female. Right behind my cabin is a four acre wooded marsh/shallow pond with lots of tree stumps and fallen logs to rest on. Their house is right on the water's edge, and it seems the only ducks that I can bring in at night are the two members of the bachelor club. The others, especially the females, like to perch together on a log that extends over the pond . There seems to be too much for them to eat in the wild because they don't eat much of the cracked corn that is provided inside their house.

My thoughts are that when winter comes, they will come in to stay. At that point I'll be able to harvest any offspring. Meanwhile I will continue to feed them small amounts of cracked corn so they will identify the house as a source of food.

This is a pretty wild area up here in the Michigan UP. There are foxes, coyotes, wolves, bears, hawks, owls, pine martins, etc. all over the place. These ducks really want to be independent, and hopefullly their instincts will allow them to survive.

 

[hikerchick]

My ducks are in the goat pen and the last time the goats broke out, the ducks did too. I have 4 muscovies, and I had had them for less than a week. Apparently they appreciate the digs I have provided because they came back in the evening with no rounding up at all. Now I let them out every day. They eat slugs!

 

[Swamp]

Quote:
Maybe that's my problem. When I first let them out a female immediately started walking down the dirt road and didn't appear to have any second thoughts about finding a new home. She even had a male following her. She got about a hundred yards or so down the road before a neighbor herded them back my way.

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

I had intended to free range my ducks - but my dogs think they are squeaky toys

My dogs ignore (or rather adore) the chickens - not sure why ducks are just so different for them. My dog Toby will lay in the middle of a bunch of chickens while they eat his treats - he wouldn't dream of touching one in anger or agression - he killed one of my ducks, however (the drakes were fighting, got all stirred up and loud - I think he got excited by the noise and movement).

So, they have their own brand new waterfowl pen. I have yet to landscape it, but my sister (a master gardener) is bringing me a bunch of stuff when she comes to visit first week of May. She has tall grasses and the like to plant in there.

meri

 

[headred]

I'm lucky because mine free range in a fenced backyard. I still only let them out of the pen when I am around. I fear neighbor cats! They LOVE to roam around. Herding is pretty easy and we have gotten on a rhythm that they seem to understand. Two of us walk behind them and all you have to do is very gently walk a direction and they walk opposite. They also seem to know where they sleep and what is comfortable to them and go right into the pen, sometimes on their own! See website for ducks

 

[sparkles2307]

I keep mine in the goat pen too, but I kicked the goats out when my hen started laying cause they were bugging her. My ducks didnt want to go out at first either, so I just opened the gate and went about my yard work completely ignoring them. They got curious about what we were doing and soon enough ventured out. Now they make it about 200 yards from thier pen each day and keep to that range. My Saxony drake has developed a hatred for my 2nd in command pygmy doe, he comes running from the pasture several times a day just to peck her and nibble her neck (she doesnt even care) and then goes all the way back out to his lady...its ridiculous... Ducks are very smart tho, thats for sure!

 

[shelleyd2008]

My ducks haven't been penned up since they were babies. I lost 2 duck hens last year in September, most likely to my dog (she is now penned up). My dad has a different dog that will not allow any predators any where near the house, so the ducks are safe from most things.

They have 24/7 access to a pond, so they can get away if need be. For the most part they hang out pretty close to it.

Other than the two last fall, I haven't lost any since. I now have 15 ducks on the pond, and the only thing that bothers them is the occassional rambunctious puppy that likes to make them run....or the horse, she likes to make them run sometimes too

 

[cherub78]

I wish we could free range our ducks, but unfortunately we have fox, coyotes, and neighbors who don't control their dogs and keep them out of our yard.

Ours have a large fenced yard enclosed by both chicken wire and welded wire, and aviary netting on top- oh yeah, we also have hawks and owls hovering overhead.

I know I would beat myself up forever if I let anything happen to them I could have prevented.

Sharon

 

[RavenStorm]

My yard is in the suburbs so currently there isn't much point in free-ranging my two ducks. I actually have to pen them up more to protect my veggie garden than them because once they learned to jump my raised garden beds became a buffet.

We are about to purchase a bigger piece of land and when we do I'm not sure I will free range. One of my ducks is really smart and crafty, but the other one is "slow" and would easily be taken off by a cat. If you are worried about predators and having to herd them at night, why not fix up something like a chicken tractor for them, or get some movable electric fencing? That's what I am looking into so my girls can forage better once I have the bigger property.