Duck Advice

[featheredplanets]

Hoping some duck owners could help me out with my enquiries.

I’ve decided to rehome my 2 geese, even at 4/5 weeks old my garden is covered in poo. I know they don’t do well in a run so I wouldn’t want to stress and upset them for the sake of goose eggs next spring. So I’m looking at ducks.

Do ducks do well in runs? I will have a 6x4 shed and a run of about 100sqft. I only plan on letting them free range a couple of hours a week. I would like 3 Khaki Campbell ducks and 3 CCL hens.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

As a rule of thumb, a grown up duck needs 10sqft of space in a run, so in your 100sqft run you could have 10 ducks. For real? - No! I don't know where the number of 10sqft per duck comes from, but if you are not willing to clean up behind your ducks every day your ducks need more space.
Also, ducks are somewhat like toothpaste: Once you let them out, it is almost impossible to get them back in. Meaning: If you ever let your ducks out of the run to forage in your garden they want to get out of their run every day and will be unhappy if they must stay inside.

 

[MadisonOde]

We had three khaki Campbell’s with some hens in about the same size setup. It was kind of a disaster. They got along fine, but the run and coop got super muddy really fast. On days we had to keep the water inside this winter with a heater there would be soaking piles of hay everywhere. Not fun. We sold them a couple of weeks ago. It’s a good experience in patience though, and cleaning out the coop three times a week.

 

[MadisonOde]

Although you will get a lot of eggs.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

We had three khaki Campbell’s with some hens in about the same size setup. It was kind of a disaster. They got along fine, but the run and coop got super muddy really fast. On days we had to keep the water inside this winter with a heater there would be soaking piles of hay everywhere. Not fun. We sold them a couple of weeks ago. It’s a good experience in patience though, and cleaning out the coop three times a week.

I have ~2000m² (21,000sqft) of fenced in grass for 17 ducks. And still i must fence off their favorite spots from time to time to give the grass a chance to grow back and be able to fill in those drill holes where the ducks haven't found oil…

 

[DuckyDonna]

I have ~2000m² (21,000sqft) of fenced in grass for 17 ducks. And still i must fence off their favorite spots from time to time to give the grass a chance to grow back and be able to fill in those drill holes where the ducks haven't found oil…

I do the same especially in the winter. It's amazing how bare the ground got and now it's all come back nice and lush.

 

[featheredplanets]

@WannaBeHillBilly and @MadisonOde thanks for the help. Guess they’re just animals I’ll have to wait to keep. I wouldn’t like them to be cramped and sad. Looks like I’m sticking with chickens lol

 

[chickens really]

Well, just like Geese they definitely don't do well with confinement long term and poop lots. They drill holes and can make an area bare quickly too.