General duck advice for a newbie?

[smileygreen64]

I need a crash course in ducks 101. I have chickens and have learned so much from this site. I am calling for some duck people wisdom now. I have a few questions, but if you think I left something out that I should know please feel free to school me.

1. Do duck breeds get along? I was thinking about calls and standard breeds. Will the smaller breeds be ok with the larger ones?

2. Do ducks need nesting boxes? I have read yes and no. What is your opinion?

3. I know duck eggs take longer but can they be incubated with chicken eggs? I have a seperate hatcher, so eggs are moved for lockdown.

4. Are drakes aggressive towards eachother like roosters?

5. Do they need to fly? I was planning on netting the top of the pen. It will be about 7 foot high.

6. What about food? I read you can just add wheat to their feed. I feed Tucker Milling Super Lay 22 to my chickens. It is a 22% protien layer pellet.

7. Do they need a roost or do they sleep on the ground?

8. How large a pool do they need?

Sorry for all the questions. I have been reading and have read contradicting things. I thought it might be best to try amd gain some knowledge from experienced duck people. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

 

[LeiaLayers5]

I need a crash course in ducks 101. I have chickens and have learned so much from this site. I am calling for some duck people wisdom now. I have a few questions, but if you think I left something out that I should know please feel free to school me.

1. Do duck breeds get along? I was thinking about calls and standard breeds. Will the smaller breeds be ok with the larger ones? We have had a diverse group with ours and from our experience if they grow up together they are fine, its a bit harder if added to a already established group but just takes time for them to get used to one another then.

2. Do ducks need nesting boxes? I have read yes and no. What is your opinion? Our duck females seem to think its a game to change where she lays her eggs all the time to make us look for them, so in our experience, they might not get used.

3. I know duck eggs take longer but can they be incubated with chicken eggs? I have a seperate hatcher, so eggs are moved for lockdown. No experience with this.

4. Are drakes aggressive towards eachother like roosters? Again, we grew up our original group together from Ducklings and since it was straight run, we ended up with 4 males and one female. They got along just fine, the only thing that was annoying was that they overwhelm the female when they reach sexual maturity, but they did not fight among each other, just for access to her at times. But ducks are pretty laid back and not vicious like chickens and roosters can be.

5. Do they need to fly? I was planning on netting the top of the pen. It will be about 7 foot high. There are only a few breeds that can fly and we have only had a mallard that can. We do have their run netted in for their protection, but when they free range, he flies on occasion, but mainly stays grounded to keep with his group. He flew most when he was first realizing he could, but not that he is older, he rarely does just mainly follows the females around. Our boy will always come back for treats. He learned routine of having to go in at night for treats. They are smart and you should not have to worry about clipping wings.

6. What about food? I read you can just add wheat to their feed. I feed Tucker Milling Super Lay 22 to my chickens. It is a 22% protien layer pellet. We just gave our ducks the same feed as the chickens. We have not had any issues with that.

7. Do they need a roost or do they sleep on the ground? We have a duck house with straw for shelter for them, but they mainly stay out in their run and tuck their legs beneath them and sleep on ground with head tucked backwards resting on back.

8. How large a pool do they need? You can create a pond for them if you so desire, but depending on how many you have, kiddie pools are usually sufficient for smaller groups, you can always buy a few depending on how many will be using them. Should be at least deep enough for them to sufficiently splash and swim a bit to get clean and keep them happy.

Sorry for all the questions. I have been reading and have read contradicting things. I thought it might be best to try amd gain some knowledge from experienced duck people. Thanks for any advice you can give me. Every duck can differ a bit from what I have experienced and heard. General rules apply, but sometimes you have to take what you find online and adapt it to work for you based on your ducks. Trial and error. No one minds answering questions on here, we love helping each other, it is what makes this site so great. You can share what you love and get support from others. Good Luck!

 

[TLWR]

Responses in purple

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[TheTwoRoos]

I need a crash course in ducks 101. I have chickens and have learned so much from this site. I am calling for some duck people wisdom now. I have a few questions, but if you think I left something out that I should know please feel free to school me.

1. Do duck breeds get along? I was thinking about calls and standard breeds. Will the smaller breeds be ok with the larger ones?

2. Do ducks need nesting boxes? I have read yes and no. What is your opinion?

3. I know duck eggs take longer but can they be incubated with chicken eggs? I have a seperate hatcher, so eggs are moved for lockdown.

4. Are drakes aggressive towards eachother like roosters?

5. Do they need to fly? I was planning on netting the top of the pen. It will be about 7 foot high.

6. What about food? I read you can just add wheat to their feed. I feed Tucker Milling Super Lay 22 to my chickens. It is a 22% protien layer pellet.

7. Do they need a roost or do they sleep on the ground?

8. How large a pool do they need?

Sorry for all the questions. I have been reading and have read contradicting things. I thought it might be best to try amd gain some knowledge from experienced duck people. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

Some ducks get along,some dont. You will want your drakes to be small and females big so there is no drowning.

You can add one but they do not need it.

Drakes can be very aggressive to ecahother,infact sometimes their worse.

They don't need to,and most cant.

they sleep on the ground,some ducks like muscovies roost,but don't need one.

Depending on how many you have,depend s on your pool size.

 

[smileygreen64]

Thanks for the advice. I think I will start with some kiddy pools for them to splash in.

@TLWR, I actually just read your thread about your pool on here yesterday. I will probably use your design to make myself something similar eventually. Is there anything you would have done differently to yours if you could start over or are you happy with it?

 

[TLWR]

Is there anything you would have done differently to yours if you could start over or are you happy with it?

Yes!
The filter is based on a skippy filter, which you read everywhere never needs cleaning. Well, these are ducks, you have to clean the filter at some point.
My filter box has no drain, so it is me and a bucket since the pump just can't deal with all the sludge on the bottom unless we use tons of water to keep it pumpable. I just ignore the ick factor and scoop with a bucket.
So, if I had to do it over, I'd put a drain in that filter box so I could just turn the valve to open and drain it, rinse out the ick, close the valve and fill it back up with pond water.