Free range concern

[Sixesandsevens]

“ I can make them a bit of a mud pit “
lol I bet they can make their own lol and

lol yeah obviously. it's been pretty dry around here so far this season, so i get to control where that mudpit is gonna be by providing the water.

 

[Sixesandsevens]

I loved my ducks but carrying water and cleaning up after them was a chore. If you have the right set up they can be a lot of fun.They tend to chatter all night and keep chickens awake

thank goodness i don't have to carry water for them!

 

[McChooky]

thank goodness i don't have to carry water for them!

Ducks won't work in the same coop unless its set up right.Theres lots of videos on youtube that'll help you keep your chickens happy and dry even with ducks

 

[McChooky]

I keep 2 young 'rescue' geese for a couple months but I found them a home .Glad I did because my chickens would probably be dead.Its best you raise them together than after they're grown

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Ducks are absolutely USELESS when it comes to defending themselves. They can't bite, scratch, or fly up into the trees like chickens can.

Right now I have 12 ducklings that are two months old and they've been free-ranging on my pond since three weeks of age. The pond has gators, snappers, beavers and all kinds of life imaginable. Occasionally at night I hear them get spooked and swim away rapidly

The default response of a duck to predation is swimming away. I would imagine the opposite to be true if attacked from the water, perhaps they would go to the land

I don't think there will be many threats to a duck on water. Ducks even have a natural defense for birds of prey given that only half of their brain sleeps at a time, so they're always awake and ready

 

[ruthhope]

I'm another Florida duck keeper, but my "acreage" is only 1/5th acre including the front garden and house. My backyard has a 6ft privacy fence and has lots of hiding places under shrubs and trees. We have cayotes in the vicinity and foxes and racoons. I let my ducks out in the backyard from about 9.30 and to dusk at this time of year -- a letting them out an hour earlier in the winter. So far they have been OK with no losses to predators.

For the last three months we have been staying in Northern Virginia and the ducks now have half an acre of privacy fenced back yard. The yard has lots of trees. shrubs and hiding places round the edge but the center is open grass. I have their wading pool under a shade tree by the rear porch. But we have had a fox and raccoons in the immediate neighbors' gardens, and a raccoon with 4 near adult offspring on the rear fence. So, I have my two dogs going outside frequently. I could not do that in prior years as the dogs [a beagle and a beagle mix] could not be trusted with the ducks. They are hunting dogs! This year I spent a lot of time out in the garden with the dogs and ducks. The dogs have at last understood their role protecting the ducks and leave them alone but bark incessantly when there is wildlife nearby. The ducks -- that used to taunt the dogs when I had them out on a tie out last year -- have in turn accepted their guardian dogs and only one of them [an aggressive pekin drake] chases the dogs away. Since the dogs have been free to run around the back garden this year, the resident cotton tails have departed to other gardens, and I haven't seen a fox or a raccoon.

My recommendation is that you fence off a good-sized area with shade trees/shrubs near your house and put your wading pool in there. And just let your ducks out in the fenced area. If you have a dog that can be trusted with your ducks, encourage your dog to be outside with them. The only drawback I have noted is that my two dogs have developed a fondness for duck pellets and so I have had to restrict feeding the ducks to twice a day, and then take the feed bowls with any uneaten feed inside to stop the pups gorging on the contents

 

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

Right now I have 12 ducklings that are two months old and they've been free-ranging on my pond since three weeks of age. The pond has gators, snappers, beavers and all kinds of life imaginable. Occasionally at night I hear them get spooked and swim away rapidly

The default response of a duck to predation is swimming away. I would imagine the opposite to be true if attacked from the water, perhaps they would go to the land

I don't think there will be many threats to a duck on water. Ducks even have a natural defense for birds of prey given that only half of their brain sleeps at a time, so they're always awake and ready

I agree in theory. But I was raised on a canal--my mom still lives there--and I've seen gators eat birds in the water. Wild ducks (we have whistlers here) will have better predator evasion skills than domestic ducks. The whistlers perch in the trees along the bank and can fly away if they detect predators. If I still lived on a canal, I wouldn't be comfortable with throwing a couple domestic Pekins in the water...they would literally be "sitting ducks" lol. If I had hundreds and was raising for meat and eggs, maybe I could afford to lose a couple here and there to predators. The rest would probably be fine. But if I had just a tiny flock and needed/wanted to keep the birds as safe as possible, I'd keep them out of the gator-infested waters lol.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

If I had just a tiny flock and needed/wanted to keep the birds as safe as possible, I'd keep them out of the gator-infested waters lol.

That's a good point to bring up. It slipped my mind the small number of white ducks this thread is specifically about. Their evasion skills will be low compared to anything wild

 

[Frankie-n-little]

I recently got 4 female pekin ducks and I am in LOVE. This weekend I plan to integrate them into our big coop with our chickens and then hopefully start letting them free range!

My concern is that I live in Florida and an acre or so away is a small pond that will sometimes attract a lone gator. We often relocate them shortly after they show up. But I’m worried the ducks will be instantly attracted to the pond and end up gator food.

Our chickens never travel that far when free ranging so it’s never been an issue.

I guess my plan is to just try to make the area near the coop so appealing that maybe they won’t wander over there. There is plenty of foraging close by and I can make them a bit of a mud pit to go along with their various pools.

I am wondering if anyone here has any experience with this. I’m not really sure how far ducks will wander, will their pools and mudpit satisfy them enough, will the pond just be to scary and they will avoid it? We once fostered a lone Drake and he wouldn’t go anywhere near the pond. But I imagine that’s because he was a sad lone drake.

I really want them to free range and it would be so much easier if we could just open and close them on our chickens routine.

Thanks for any input!

Thank you for the close up photo

 

[Sixesandsevens]

UPDATE: Shortly after I made this post I decided id take a week off work and let the ducks out with the chickens to free range and the ducks pretty much stick around the coop and the house. I am pretty much not even worried about them going any where near the pond anymore! It's been almost three months and while I know there's always a chance they could discover the pond, I think they are just more than happy to stick around where they know it's safe, they've got multiple pools, and a steady supply of snacks!