Ducky DO'S & DON'TS

[Lazy Farmer]

Tell him dux are importanter than his boat.

I tried so hard to find boat pics. Only one. We raised our kiddos with that 10 foot portable boat.. We have a million pics of the kids/boat stuff.. but I don't know my way around this file system too well. Daddy's girl use to man the motor across lakes, rivers and ponds. While daddy tried to live in the now. Now All he has is old scanned photographs and a dusty jon boat ready for the grand children future memories. One half wants me to wake him up so I can share the boat pics, but the wise half will wait & check out craigslist tomorrow.

 

[BantyChooks]

I tried so hard to find boat pics. Only one. We raised our kiddos with that 10 foot portable boat.. We have a million pics of the kids/boat stuff.. but I don't know my way around this file system too well. Daddy's girl use to man the motor across lakes, rivers and ponds. While daddy tried to live in the now. Now All he has is old scanned photographs and a dusty jon boat ready for the grand children future memories. One half wants me to wake him up so I can share the boat pics, but the wise half will wait & check out craigslist tomorrow.View attachment 1193668 View attachment 1193669 View attachment 1193670 View attachment 1193671 View attachment 1193672 View attachment 1193674 View attachment 1193675 View attachment 1193676

Aww... that's so sweet.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

The bad....they are LOUD. And like kids. They hear us come home they are quacking for snacks. They love veg and mealworms. They are messy, love to root in the mud by the pool, that they created. The good....I can sit all day watching them.

It started off like my day w/duh piggies! lol

 

[CntryBoy777]

OK... read through the thread... does no one have an answer as to whether a broody hen would hatch duck eggs?!?



I'd love to know your thoughts on this..... we have gravity working for us in this aspect as well... and I would LOVE to have ducks... but I'd need to have a situation where they're easily maintained.

Something that ya have to consider is how much time do ya wish to spend or have to spend....imo, ducks are very easy to maintain, much easier than chickens to be honest about it. Ya can hear most discuss their ducks and also their tending to them, but ya must remember it is your choice as to how much water ya incorporate into their "World".....and as to how many that ya are dealing with....many only have a few ducks, and 2-5 can be very easily managed, make much less mess and require much less water. We have 12 at the moment and are looking to add 6 more come Spring, so those factors can only be decided by you. I have learned that structure is not important to ducks and their requirements for structure space is very small compared to chickens. My next pen will be 3'x16' and about 3' in height with a hinged roof....it will have hardware cloth on the front and about 6" on the back and the rest will be plywood, have the ground as the floor and 2 doors on each end of the frontside. I use hay as their bedding and deep litter method...so, when it comes time to clean, I will raise the roof, rake the hay to the doors and onto the scoop and to the compost pile, or to a wet area out in their yard. We have slick clay soil, so I use the bedding in the yard for foot traction during damp periods and after it decomposes some I rake it up and take it to the garden. As far as water goes they only have to have enough to wash their bill and eyes with while they bill the dirt, but it doesn't make sense to me for anyone to have waterfowl and not allow them to have water. If ya don't want to deal with water, then don't get waterfowl...but, some think they can make a duck an inside pet like a cat or dog....just because they wish, want, or desire to and they actually think it will all be hunkie-dory.....but, there are things in nature that just can"t be changed. Anyway, sorry bout the rant, but it just makes me scratch my head. I say all of that to get to the point that a few buckets of water and a cement mixing tub can suffice for a number of ducks and not be a ton of water. Also, how often ya change, empty out, and rinse, or wash those containers are your choice too. Our buckets are emptied, rinsed, and refilled every nite....their kiddie pool is every 3-4days....and their water tub inside their pen is done 2 times a day....morning and nite. They are washed every month during the summer and every other month during the cooler months. This will make some cringe I'm sure, but they aren't people and they bill in the dirt with bacteria and germs and the likes....chickens peck any and everything and just love scratching in cow pies....so, the maintainence is really up to you....I can't stand for there to be algae and slick slime on the plastic buckets and that is where I draw the line. The fewer the ducks the less ya have to do, but their maintainence is very easy and we don't do the pool when temps are below 30°F....for our comfort not theirs.....but they get their buckets and tubs done everyday, during icy times it is twice a day with buckets of hot water to melt the ice and their bedding hay is used ontop for traction on the frozen ground. A good pair of waterproof boots like Mucks are a must have if dealing with water....just sayin. To answer your other question, yes a broody hen can and will hatch duck eggs, we have had that happen too.....but, the next time we utilize that situation we will take the ducklings away from the hen after they hatch and brood them ourselves....why?....cause if they are raised by chickens they are imprinted to chickens and would rather be with the chickens than run with the other ducks. We are dealing with that now and it is a drake, so I'm concerned about him wanting to top a hen in the future....he had a chicken momma for 3wks before we took him....he was the only hatchling. Sorry for the long answer, but I do try to be thorough.....

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Something that ya have to consider is how much time do ya wish to spend or have to spend....imo, ducks are very easy to maintain, much easier than chickens to be honest about it. Ya can hear most discuss their ducks and also their tending to them, but ya must remember it is your choice as to how much water ya incorporate into their "World".....and as to how many that ya are dealing with....many only have a few ducks, and 2-5 can be very easily managed, make much less mess and require much less water. We have 12 at the moment and are looking to add 6 more come Spring, so those factors can only be decided by you. I have learned that structure is not important to ducks and their requirements for structure space is very small compared to chickens. My next pen will be 3'x16' and about 3' in height with a hinged roof....it will have hardware cloth on the front and about 6" on the back and the rest will be plywood, have the ground as the floor and 2 doors on each end of the frontside. I use hay as their bedding and deep litter method...so, when it comes time to clean, I will raise the roof, rake the hay to the doors and onto the scoop and to the compost pile, or to a wet area out in their yard. We have slick clay soil, so I use the bedding in the yard for foot traction during damp periods and after it decomposes some I rake it up and take it to the garden. As far as water goes they only have to have enough to wash their bill and eyes with while they bill the dirt, but it doesn't make sense to me for anyone to have waterfowl and not allow them to have water. If ya don't want to deal with water, then don't get waterfowl...but, some think they can make a duck an inside pet like a cat or dog....just because they wish, want, or desire to and they actually think it will all be hunkie-dory.....but, there are things in nature that just can"t be changed. Anyway, sorry bout the rant, but it just makes me scratch my head. I say all of that to get to the point that a few buckets of water and a cement mixing tub can suffice for a number of ducks and not be a ton of water. Also, how often ya change, empty out, and rinse, or wash those containers are your choice too. Our buckets are emptied, rinsed, and refilled every nite....their kiddie pool is every 3-4days....and their water tub inside their pen is done 2 times a day....morning and nite. They are washed every month during the summer and every other month during the cooler months. This will make some cringe I'm sure, but they aren't people and they bill in the dirt with bacteria and germs and the likes....chickens peck any and everything and just love scratching in cow pies....so, the maintainence is really up to you....I can't stand for there to be algae and slick slime on the plastic buckets and that is where I draw the line. The fewer the ducks the less ya have to do, but their maintainence is very easy and we don't do the pool when temps are below 30°F....for our comfort not theirs.....but they get their buckets and tubs done everyday, during icy times it is twice a day with buckets of hot water to melt the ice and their bedding hay is used ontop for traction on the frozen ground. A good pair of waterproof boots like Mucks are a must have if dealing with water....just sayin. To answer your other question, yes a broody hen can and will hatch duck eggs, we have had that happen too.....but, the next time we utilize that situation we will take the ducklings away from the hen after they hatch and brood them ourselves....why?....cause if they are raised by chickens they are imprinted to chickens and would rather be with the chickens than run with the other ducks. We are dealing with that now and it is a drake, so I'm concerned about him wanting to top a hen in the future....he had a chicken momma for 3wks before we took him....he was the only hatchling. Sorry for the long answer, but I do try to be thorough.....

Thank you..

 

[Smuvers Farm]

Saw this post too:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ducky-snacks.1209237/

 

[Smuvers Farm]

Wow... Cayugas are gorgeous!!!

 

[RinzHens]

My system is similar to CntryBoy's. I change out water twice a day in the buckets. I change the pool about every other day or three. Within hours it looks like you did nothing, but hey they made the mess! They love it right after its clean and play up a storm, so my girls sometimes clean it out for me just to watch them....bonus....I raised my ducklings and chickens together without issue but I had two ducklings and they stayed together so they are aware they are different than chickens. My older Pekin also showed them the ropes when they were young so the three of them are very close but they hang with the hens. Nobody fusses and everyone shares snacks without much fuss. But eight of the nine were raised together so that may be part of it. Everyone eats the same feed, the same snacks, the same scratch, the same everything so pretty easy. As babies on purina flock raiser and now on Wendlands eggmaker 20% crumble. Mine wont eat pellets. I chose this food because I went thru about four brands trying to get weight on the hens and this is the only one that seems to work for my birds. I don't think that its the endall of food, but I do think you have to find whats best for yours. Its a local Texas company so I tried it. Weight on the birds and eggs on all birds daily look good. No imbalances that I can see but everyone gets a lot of vegetables every day. If eggs start looking off or birds don't seem tip top ill try something else. My goal is more free range than they are now and that may change the needs. I do disagree in that I think my hens are easier than my ducks to tend to but neither are any big deal. I do watch my ducks feet closely though. Heavy ducks like Pekins are more prone to bumble foot so I look for it. Better to catch early. I'm new to owning pet ducks but we saw them in the practice I worked at and the majority of bumblefoot ducks were Pekins. Some of the rescue Pekins we did laser surgery on before rehoming for it, but I only had one mallard with it and not severe but it had an injured wing so I think it bore more weight on that leg. I figure ill just keep learning as I go and throw out questions here when I have no clue...like my recent mating females....like...what?? Yeah...it was normal....

 

[BantyChooks]

.like my recent mating females....like...what?? Yeah...it was normal....

My Chocolate Ancona does that. She's a frisky one.

 

[WVduckchick]

This small pool has worked well also. My 4 huge Swedish used it for a couple years before we dug the boat for the Calls. Now that i don't have Swedes at home, the calls use the plastic pool too. I don't totally wash it out but every couple weeks! But they don't care.
It has a drain plug on the bottom. We dug a small trench, laid a pvc pipe to direct the water away when draining.