Ducks that don't Die Horribly?

[Crazy Chicken Keeper]

Your kidding aren't you!!!

Nope. I wish I was. My latest batch however are 3 weeks old and haven't lost one yet

 

[Jenbirdee]

In 12 years of keeping Ducks, I have never had any touched by a predator! I praise the Lord!
We’ve had a few diseases, but I still have several Ducks alive and doing well that are over 10 years old now, and one of them even laid an egg a couple days ago lol
Thank you, Jesus.

 

[KathiQuacks]

I haven’t had my birdies long enough for that, yet.

But, we just passed the 2 year mark with no tragedies! And, I’m currently working on building a new, secure duck coop. AND my eldest boy is approaching 8 years of age. So.. Good chances, I hope, in the coming years, I’ll get to see him pass naturally.

 

[Papaye]

Hi.

But sometimes its a little depressing just how many posts are about ducks being torn to shreds by predators or wasting away from mystery disease.

Not that ducks are fragile creatures, but good layers - specifically - can be : indeed, these hens' body can be so exhausted by laying continually that some of the girls end up damaging their working ovary, and sometimes dying because of that...

There also have the ones that are born with unnoticeable health conditions, such as heart failure for example.
These ones are just unlucky, and can "die suddenly" - at least without any pain...

I had one that I stood on as a duckling, one killed by savage older ducks, 3 eaten by wild cats, 1 eaten by hawks - these are all ducks under 3 months old my duck hatching hasn't been good for me.

Oh I got one! The pig pulled out the plus to the heat plate and one died to death from cold. Left 3 ducklings, 2 of which drowned in the pond when they escaped as they didn't have their full waterproof feathers, and it was a rainstorm. And the last one was the one I mentioned before, at 3 months old kkilled by savage older ducks.

There!

Woooow...
...I am so happy to not be you...!

I had :
• some ducklings that had accidentally been crushed to death by the chicken hens that had hatched their eggs;
• one duckling that had died from fright during a storm;
• one duckling killed by what I had assumed to be a rat... but that I am now wondering more and more if it is not actually his chicken mom that is guilty...?

Every one of these deaths has badly affected me, but God do I feel lucky compared to you...!

Waiting for eggs from the hen but I'm also still debated on if I should just eat them both.

Khaki Campbell are the best layers ever, so you could want to keep yours for their eggs?

► My one-year-old Khaki Campbell duck hen is born in 2024, but has started laying eggs end of January...
...she has then stopped laying end of October...
...but has started AGAIN mid-November, after a 3-weeks pause!

And she is STILL laying now...!

I honestly was not expecting my KC girl to lay so many eggs, even if the hens are renowed to lay more than 300 eggs per year...

 

[Miss Lydia]

I haven't had ducks for very long, in fact I only have a m/f pair of khakis I raised this summer. I'm not surprised most posts are about them falling prey to wild animals. Health wise mine have been perfectly fine thus far.

From what I've seen they are stupid, incredibly so. My young hen thinks it is a great idea to "play" with the cat who can easily chomp on her neck if he wanted to. They are also too dumb to stay away from the turkeys so they often get pecked at as they run around in a circle trying to stay out of pecking range, yet they continue to follow them around and hang out with them. They can barely fly and running fast is simply not possible. An easy meal should any bold predator try to snatch them as they free range the yard. Luckily they have plenty of cover here and I trap the night time critters when possible.

They are certainly amusing though and love to play in the hose, less destructive to the lawn and flower beds than the chickens too. Waiting for eggs from the hen but I'm also still debated on if I should just eat them both. They are so messy and our deck to the backyard has now become the "poop deck" as they love to take their afternoon naps right by the sliding door...

They are so messy and our deck to the backyard has now become the "poop deck" as they love to take their afternoon naps right by the sliding door...

That's what the hoses were made for or at least here. lol

 

[ruthhope]

They are so messy and our deck to the backyard has now become the "poop deck" as they love to take their afternoon naps right by the sliding door...

That's what the hoses were made for or at least here. lol

For some reason it annoyed my husband to have ducks up the steps from the patio to our sliding doors. They loved to site there -- looking in at what we were doing. Husband insisted that I fence the patio -- which I did. Same husband is incapable of closing gates and doors behind him. The new patio fence has 3 gates and the ducks are quick to spot an open one. So now we have a nicely fenced patio and still have ducks up the steps peering in the sliding doors!!!

I continue to hose down at the end of every day when the ducks go to bed.