Central, Florida here so far my horror stories are; 2-3 Years ago we got 2 ducklings and raised them until they were about 7-8 months. They were killed by what we believe a fox digging under our fence and taking their heads off. They were Pekin and free range 24/7. This time around I started with 3 ducklings this year to try again, bought them from Rural King which said they were 6 weeks old. Still learning they all started to walk funny, after doing research they seemed to be niacin deficient. Also bought from a breeder 1 Blue Swedish duckling 2 weeks old. Treating the three from Niacin deficient, 1 didn't make it at all, 1 has a deformed leg and 1 has a slight limp. Not sure if maybe was a bad batch of genetics? The blue Swedish no problem. Believing the 3 left were all females once they got feathered, i went and bought 2 male ducks (drakes). 1 White and Fawn Runner and 1 Blue Swedish. Now my problem is two of the three are males, so 4 drakes to 1 female (the one with the bad leg). Trying to either trade or sell some of the drakes to use and buy females. The other problem is the flies. I have tried multiple ways to get rid of them fully, and using this site to help solve the problem. They are a little messy which is why I am moving them to the less used part of the backyard.Also recently i rescued an abandoned Muscovy duckling.
The good parts; So far they are fun to watch, the Muscovy has imprinted on us and will follow us around and let us hold her (hope its a her). They also put themselves in at night, they free range during the day and at sundown when i get home from work, they are either in their house or at the front of it waiting for me.
I hope you don't experience the horrors I have had so far, it has definitely been a learning experience.
