Duck Info For Beginners

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BigLar368 said:
Well...to the OP we just started this year with ducks and chickens. I started on a coop and secured run in Feb this year and finished it in late May. The chickens and ducks arrived in the first week of June. Like you I only wanted female birds as I had no desire to hatch anything. First and foremost this was a project for my grandbaby (8 years old) and secondly it was for eggs. We ordered 4 Welsh Harlequin ducks and 12 chickens of different varieties from an online hatchery. On the day they came I got nervous thinking that if some of them arrived dead my grandbaby would be upset so I went to Tractor Supply and bought 4 more pullets. Well when they arrived (USPS) they were in better shape than the Tractor Supply pullets...lol. A month later we picked up 4 more Easter eggers from Tractor Supply so we ended up with 20 chickens and 4 ducks.

This is what I have learned about the ducks we have:

They are not tame at all. I picked the Welsh breed because what I read they were good layers and had a good a docile nature. Keep in mind the wife hand raised them everyday from day one upon receiving them. Since day one they run from us as if we were chasing them with a chain saw. They will every once in awhile eat out of our hands but it's rare.

They are loud. When they don't get what they want they let the whole neighborhood know. We live in the city with not a whole lot of property and so far no one has complained. Giving away eggs helps though...lol. One thing I have noticed is that since they have started laying eggs they have become a little less noisy. Fingers crossed hoping it stays that way.

Absolutely the messiest animals on the face of the earth. They will drink from a muddy puddle under their clean water trough. The dig holes with their beaks where ever there is a puddle. They love the rain and stay out in stormy weather only to make mud puddle into mud patties.

They love to swim. Unlike some folks I can't stand the smell of the dirty pond in our back yard. It's a Tractor Supply stock tank that I elevated and put a drain on. It drains right into a sewer clean out I have for my shop so it's convenient. I drain it and rinse it out every day. I have a water well for my garden so it does not cost any money for the water. I also have the water well hooked up to the water trough in the coop. I have a drain valve on it and it empties into a drainage ditch in the alley. They fill that trough up with mud every day. I flush it twice a day. I also have chicken nipples that they all use as well so there is always at least clean water for them when they dirty up all the other water sources.

They eat a lot. We have always just fed them the same thing we feed the chickens. They are all now eating the Purina Layena pellets. I also feed them corn scratch in the afternoons. Rice is also cheap so I will cook up a few pounds along with some split peas mixed in and they get a quart of that in the evening as well. I can assure you the ducks and even the chickens are very healthy and have yet to exhibit any problems.

They can fly. From everything I have read they have a hard time flying. I have seen one of ours get startled and fly out of the stock pond and get as high as the fence. If they wanted to they could easily fly over the fence but that has not yet happened. They all free range the back half of the yard during the day and get locked up in the run at night so I guess they are content with staying in the yard.

Our ducks sleep on the ground in the run. Our coop is tied into the run but is elevated about 4 feet off the ground. The ducks sleep fine on the ground. We live in a pretty mild climate with it rarely dipping below freezing. It was 33 degrees the other morning and the first thing they did when I let them out was get into the stock pond so I'm pretty sure they are ok with sleeping on the ground without needing the protection of the coop. We just recently had a very hard, windy rain that put a lot of water in the covered part of the run. It made a muddy mess. I added straw to the floor for the first time and I wish I would have done it much sooner. Keeps the mud from forming. It also keeps their eggs from getting muddy as well.

Our ducks lay eggs where ever they sleep. We got our first eggs just this last Tuesday of Christmas week. They are in their 29th week so we have been expecting it. I had tied some 5 gallon buckets together and put straw in them but they will not use them. They would rather pull all the straw out of them along with the chickens. I actually found one eggs buried in a mud puddle after the hard rain a couple of nights ago. That tells me that duck probably slept in the mud puddle...lol. I had read that ducks would make a nest to lay eggs. That did not happen with ours...lol.

Our ducks are bullies. I had read that I would have to watch to make sure the chickens did not harm the ducks. Trust me....that's not happening. The ducks push those chickens around I assure you. And when one duck goes after a chicken they ALL go after the chicken. This is not much of a problem because the chickens are much faster than the ducks.

Well I think that's everything. Sorry for the long post. With all that being said our ducks are probably some of the most beautiful birds I have ever seen up close. Their coloring and plumage is absolutely beautiful and their eggs cooked over easy taste like nothing else. It was a lot of trouble but it was worth it in the end.

I will attach a few pics of our set up. Maybe it will give the OP some decent ideas. To the OP good luck and hope all goes well. Happy Holidays.
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Thank you so much! I love the feeder setup you have. Does anyone know if the ducks would attack/bully my existing chickens? I really don't want to have my precious girls get hurt by the newcomers. The water tub you have is very pretty! I live on about two acres and my neighbors also have livestock, so I don't think they will be bothered haha. Wow. They sleep in mud puddles?!?! Haha! This past springs chickens have really imprinted on me, so I have a few tricks I might try. Thanks for the heads up! I will be getting them the cheapest, healthiest feed I cam find, so the food waste will not mean as much. Thank you so much!
 
Thank you all so much! Now I am wondering what you use(d) for brooders. I am planning on keeping them in a brooder for 6ish weeks, just because I don't have electricity near the coop. I think I'll slowly wean them off of the heat lamp. Let me know!
 
I dont think the ducks will have any problems with your chickens, especially if you get them as ducklings. They generally will just each hang out with their own kind mostly.
 
ChickensForEggs2500 said:
Thank you so much! I love the feeder setup you have. Does anyone know if the ducks would attack/bully my existing chickens? I really don't want to have my precious girls get hurt by the newcomers. The water tub you have is very pretty! I live on about two acres and my neighbors also have livestock, so I don't think they will be bothered haha. Wow. They sleep in mud puddles?!?! Haha! This past springs chickens have really imprinted on me, so I have a few tricks I might try. Thanks for the heads up! I will be getting them the cheapest, healthiest feed I cam find, so the food waste will not mean as much. Thank you so much!
Click to expand...

No problem. I don't think the ducks will hurt your chickens. They bully ours but have never hurt them. I don't really think they can with a rounded beak. I think your idea of keeping them in the brooder for 6 weeks is a good idea. They grow pretty quickly so they will be the size of a chicken in no time.

Also I started them all on the crumbles before switching over to the pellets when they all became close to laying age. I did not mention that in my first post. Best of luck to ya.
 
BigLar368 said:
No problem. I don't think the ducks will hurt your chickens. They bully ours but have never hurt them. I don't really think they can with a rounded beak. I think your idea of keeping them in the brooder for 6 weeks is a good idea. They grow pretty quickly so they will be the size of a chicken in no time.

Also I started them all on the crumbles before switching over to the pellets when they all became close to laying age. I did not mention that in my first post. Best of luck to ya.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much! I forgot that they had rounded beaks haha.
 
Hello! I hope you all are having a wonderful day. So, I am building a 9-10x50' run for my chickens and ducks to share. I was planning on feeding my ducks out in the run, then I remembered that my chickens are little piggies and would eat the duck food instead of their own. How can I prevent this? Also, is it bad if the chickens eat the duck food or vice versa? I don't really want to feed all flock, because we have our chickens on a nice 18% local food that seems really good for them, plus I'm supporting a small local business. Thank you in advance!
 
BigLar368 said:
Well...to the OP we just started this year with ducks and chickens. I started on a coop and secured run in Feb this year and finished it in late May. The chickens and ducks arrived in the first week of June. Like you I only wanted female birds as I had no desire to hatch anything. First and foremost this was a project for my grandbaby (8 years old) and secondly it was for eggs. We ordered 4 Welsh Harlequin ducks and 12 chickens of different varieties from an online hatchery. On the day they came I got nervous thinking that if some of them arrived dead my grandbaby would be upset so I went to Tractor Supply and bought 4 more pullets. Well when they arrived (USPS) they were in better shape than the Tractor Supply pullets...lol. A month later we picked up 4 more Easter eggers from Tractor Supply so we ended up with 20 chickens and 4 ducks.

This is what I have learned about the ducks we have:

They are not tame at all. I picked the Welsh breed because what I read they were good layers and had a good a docile nature. Keep in mind the wife hand raised them everyday from day one upon receiving them. Since day one they run from us as if we were chasing them with a chain saw. They will every once in awhile eat out of our hands but it's rare.

They are loud. When they don't get what they want they let the whole neighborhood know. We live in the city with not a whole lot of property and so far no one has complained. Giving away eggs helps though...lol. One thing I have noticed is that since they have started laying eggs they have become a little less noisy. Fingers crossed hoping it stays that way.

Absolutely the messiest animals on the face of the earth. They will drink from a muddy puddle under their clean water trough. The dig holes with their beaks where ever there is a puddle. They love the rain and stay out in stormy weather only to make mud puddle into mud patties.

They love to swim. Unlike some folks I can't stand the smell of the dirty pond in our back yard. It's a Tractor Supply stock tank that I elevated and put a drain on. It drains right into a sewer clean out I have for my shop so it's convenient. I drain it and rinse it out every day. I have a water well for my garden so it does not cost any money for the water. I also have the water well hooked up to the water trough in the coop. I have a drain valve on it and it empties into a drainage ditch in the alley. They fill that trough up with mud every day. I flush it twice a day. I also have chicken nipples that they all use as well so there is always at least clean water for them when they dirty up all the other water sources.

They eat a lot. We have always just fed them the same thing we feed the chickens. They are all now eating the Purina Layena pellets. I also feed them corn scratch in the afternoons. Rice is also cheap so I will cook up a few pounds along with some split peas mixed in and they get a quart of that in the evening as well. I can assure you the ducks and even the chickens are very healthy and have yet to exhibit any problems.

They can fly. From everything I have read they have a hard time flying. I have seen one of ours get startled and fly out of the stock pond and get as high as the fence. If they wanted to they could easily fly over the fence but that has not yet happened. They all free range the back half of the yard during the day and get locked up in the run at night so I guess they are content with staying in the yard.

Our ducks sleep on the ground in the run. Our coop is tied into the run but is elevated about 4 feet off the ground. The ducks sleep fine on the ground. We live in a pretty mild climate with it rarely dipping below freezing. It was 33 degrees the other morning and the first thing they did when I let them out was get into the stock pond so I'm pretty sure they are ok with sleeping on the ground without needing the protection of the coop. We just recently had a very hard, windy rain that put a lot of water in the covered part of the run. It made a muddy mess. I added straw to the floor for the first time and I wish I would have done it much sooner. Keeps the mud from forming. It also keeps their eggs from getting muddy as well.

Our ducks lay eggs where ever they sleep. We got our first eggs just this last Tuesday of Christmas week. They are in their 29th week so we have been expecting it. I had tied some 5 gallon buckets together and put straw in them but they will not use them. They would rather pull all the straw out of them along with the chickens. I actually found one eggs buried in a mud puddle after the hard rain a couple of nights ago. That tells me that duck probably slept in the mud puddle...lol. I had read that ducks would make a nest to lay eggs. That did not happen with ours...lol.

Our ducks are bullies. I had read that I would have to watch to make sure the chickens did not harm the ducks. Trust me....that's not happening. The ducks push those chickens around I assure you. And when one duck goes after a chicken they ALL go after the chicken. This is not much of a problem because the chickens are much faster than the ducks.

Well I think that's everything. Sorry for the long post. With all that being said our ducks are probably some of the most beautiful birds I have ever seen up close. Their coloring and plumage is absolutely beautiful and their eggs cooked over easy taste like nothing else. It was a lot of trouble but it was worth it in the end.

I will attach a few pics of our set up. Maybe it will give the OP some decent ideas. To the OP good luck and hope all goes well. Happy Holidays.
View attachment 2463893View attachment 2463894View attachment 2463895View attachment 2463896View attachment 2463898
Click to expand...
Hi! Thanks again for the amazing info. Do you know of a good pattern for the PVC waterer? This seems like a great idea. Thanks!
 

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