Free Range Ducks?

[x1lclem]

Last week I bought 12 hens and 6 ducks. This is my first attempt at poultry.

This duck stuff has me... worried. I won't be building a pen of any kind.

My property is also on the edge of a steep (almost cliff-like) hill. I'm worried they'll go down there and I'll be stuck having to rock-climb down to get them.

1. My plan is to move them to the coop and keep them there for at least a couple of days, if not a week, before letting them out. Will that mitigate the "won't go back inside" issue?
2. Will the ducks help or hurt my lawn?
3. What duck treats work best?

 

[Amiga]

Welcome to the Duck Forum!

From what I have seen on the forum, predators come seemingly out of nowhere to eat ducks. Unless you have something to protect them, like a livestock guard animal, I don't think you will have ducks for very long. You may be in a very different kind of place, but people lose their ducks to hawks, cats, dogs, coyotes, foxes, eagles, raccoons, owls . . .

 

[x1lclem]

I was really hoping not to have to build a pen....

Have you lost ducks?

 

[Going Quackers]

ducks are not like chickens in the way they come home to roost... that said if you keep a concentrated area for feed, water etc they should return by dusk.. mine do.. i keep a 1/3 of an acre fenced around my duck barn and coops... all feed, bathing water is there too... they return by dusk and then i herd them into the buildings for night.

Sadly, the reality is preds come at any time of day.. which means free ranging is always a risk... you have to evaluate your risk factor some areas are worse than others... mine all free range daily. I don;t find they hurt the lawns.. i have a good size flock out there, a concentrated area however they will mud up.

For treats.. mine like romaine.. peas are popular...

here a list..

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/242460/the-ultimate-list-of-duck-treats-and-supplements

 

[x1lclem]

Thanks Going Quackers! That's good info. Risk is never fun, but I'm out of funds so I may just have to see what happens.

more questions: The chickens and ducks can use the same coop, correct?

 

[pamelamarxsen]

What kinds of things can you use for duck treats?

Thanks! I just got 4 ducklings and 2 geese and I want to start working with them right away.

Pam

 

[tofumama]

Just found this thread again! I will say after some struggle, we FINALLY have a successful gang of free-range ducks. Sadly it took 3 go-rounds to get to this point. Our first ducks were taken by something during the night, not sure what. We then got (unbeknownst to us) 3 geese to keep our original duck company. (the guy told me they were female ducks...they were ALL male geese) 2 of them were brutally attacked by a fisher cat THROUGH the gate on their house. I had to have them put down as their wounds were too severe. Our final batch of ducks are awesome. We did lose 2 to a coyote during the DAY, but now our goose has things under control and he keeps his girls safe. They live in a converted child playhouse that has been reinforced and secured so nothing can get in at night and they are now trained to go in at dusk, and they even lay their eggs in there They do free range and I am sure to let my dog our often during the day with them to keep any predators away during the daylight hours. The goose and the dog are friends, lol! They play ball/fetch together. I think he has sorted out that a coyote is NOT the same thing as a German Shepherd! (we figure the ducks were out and did not think to be alarmed by the coyote as they have been around shepherds with no issue and they look similar...) My ducks could care less about treats, lol, and they do not mess up the yard at all. We have a kid pool for them to swim in until its too cold, then we just bring them a big bucket of water in the morning to wash their heads. We love our ducks!

 

[tofumama]

I don't have mine in the same coop as ducks tend to stink more and be more messy whereas chickens don't stink and are somewhat neater. I find that the duck house requires FAR more upkeep in order to keep the poop-stink down whereas the chicken coop needs either a new layer of shavings or a clean out and fresh shavings and there is no smell. I thought I read somewhere you CAN keep them together if the space is big enough...I chose not to.

 

[x1lclem]

Thanks Tofu.

My birds have been out in the coop since early May, and so far, I still have all of them. The biggest hazard they face may actually be the fact that we live on a busy road, not that the predator hazard isn't also a worry. Over the weekend the ducks did try to cross the road, (they almost got all the way to the middle) but luckily a car spooked them. I have 18 birds, (6 ducks, and 12 chickens), so we can lose some and still get eggs.

The ducks and chickens share the coop. I keep the water outside the coop and that helps keep the mess under control. If i have to leave town overnight, I put some water inside and boy they make a mess right quick. But a couple days to dry out and a few added shavings brings it back under control.

My biggest annoyance is that the ducks love to wander. They leave the coop immediately, go to the kiddie pool to grab a drink, and disappear. I have a bunch of neighbors, and no fence surrounding my property, so I worry they'll do some damage to someone's lawn or garden and I'll get in trouble.

One neighbor already complained to the town, but I think I straightened it out with him. I knocked on doors looking for anyone who had an issue, and the first door I tried admitted to calling it in. Turns out, he was angry about a phone call I made a year ago about a stray cat that was languishing on my lawn. It's face had been mauled by some animal, and it was definitely dying. I didn't want to touch it, so I tried to call animal control. I had no idea who's cat it was, turns out it was his. Instead of animal control the town sent a cop. Which I thought was weird. Cop knocked on doors looking for an owner, but the cat had disappeared by then. Apparently the guy thought I had called in an animal cruelty accusation against him. Nope. I explained I just wanted the cat removed as it was in bad shape, and I was worried about rabies, etc. Turns out, the cat died in my garage. Scared the crap out of me when I found it.

But yeah, he'd been mad at me for a year and I had no idea. I'm going to make an effort to be more friendly with him, try and build a bridge.

He told me he actually liked the birds, and I promised him some eggs. And we started getting eggs last week, so the turn-around on the promise should be pretty quick.


I should also go further up the road to look for neighbors who're wondering where these ducks and chickens are coming from. And promise them eggs too.

 

[farm316]

Our used to be Rounes lived in the backyard with our other 12 chickens free-range and they would follow the chickens in the coop. We had decided before that they could live int the same coop and every night they would waddle in the chickens coop and we would lock them up.../. You might want to consider how old they were ours were about 3mnths old and our female out of the blue had disappeared, we thought that an animal had gotten her. We soon found out that their wings were strong enough to fly away!!! We were a poled when we saw our last duck fly right out of the yard! they might have flown out in the day or early in the day...