Getting my first ducks. Questions!

[TLWR]

I get my order on Wednesday, both times. They ship Monday, arrive in the area Tuesday night and my PO calls me bright and early (or not so bright depending on time of year) to come and get them.

 

[rubberduckies]

Freakmonger, that's the exact reason I just joined! And I'm also getting ducklings from the batch that's expected Feb. 20th! We'll have to keep each other updated on our new babies. I'm in KY so I'm really hoping they don't spend more than a day in the mail. It's still a little cold here.

 

[rubberduckies]

Oh. I just re-read that. I actually ended up ordering from idealpoultry.com.

 

[Freakmonger]

I get my order on Wednesday, both times. They ship Monday, arrive in the area Tuesday night and my PO calls me bright and early (or not so bright depending on time of year) to come and get them.

Cool that makes me feel better about the process. Just getting so excited though, I didnt expect that I would become Broody. I feel like my wife from our last pregnancy. lol

 

[rubberduckies]

Hahaha. Me too!

 

[rubberduckies]

My ducklings should be here in a few days! I'm so excited! It's like bringing home a new baby. Lol. I have a huge cardboard box for them. (Really wide, not too tall). I plan to put a disposable (vinyl?) tablecloth in the bottom so the cardboard doesn't get wet and then cover that with old towels (or hay if I can get some this weekend). I have a waterer and 75 watt red heat lamp. I'm going to the feed store today and getting their food, sav a chick, and niacin. Is there anything else I should have before they arrive? I know they need grit when they start eating weeds, bugs, and things. Somebody mentioned giving them a clump of grass to eat (grass, roots, dirt and all) and that they would get grit from the dirt. Oh! And I'm pretty sure I have a great idea for their house and enclosure that will work great. I'll be working on that before they're old enough to stay outside. I'm getting the materials together now. I can't wait to share pics of my new babies! And I will def share pics and info on the enclosure when it's done.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Having ducks, I think its super important to plan out the housing, you are wise to think ahead of that now. I personally have an indoor/outdoor setup for my ducks. The inside we use in bad weather and also as broeder area. Some of the flock seem to just prefer to fo in there sometimes too. The outside pen's dimensions are 12'x24',x7' (2x4&2x12 frame), triple layers chickenwire and hardware cloth, buried 18" underground, inside this structure I have a repurposed kids' playhouse. Everything outside is all non-permanent.'.. in fact, I am considering moving things this year to a different spot in my yard. (More on that in just as second!) The big thing with your pen IMO is that you(or whoever gets cleanup duty) will need access. So while your ducks might be perfectly happy if the pen was only 4' tall., you wont be. A chickenwire fence IMO is a very temporary thing. It will not offer any protection from predators, and in all likelyhood, as soon as ducks reach maturity, they will be over it any way. So the reason why Im considering moving things around this year is pretty simple: Ducks are messy, they destroy any trace of vegetation. So in this regard, having the flexability to choose where they will range any given day is a great thing. Or plan on a substrate like pea gravel over landscape cloth. Do not skip the landscape cloth, I did that last year and noiw my pea gravel is nowhere to be seen. I have personally heard wonderful things about using electric at the very top of enclosures for predator protection, never thought of using electric for containment and would not. Your ducklings will be wet and messy, I will advise you to just go with Rubbermaid now, that is what I've done. You will want absorbent bedding, I've used pine chips, shredded newspaper, pine needles, but my favorite is is straw. Do search in the learning section and you will find what works for you.

Oh yes, those breeds should be just fine together. In my profile pic, the tall guy (b&w), he is a Pekin x Khaki, That is my Khaki drake in front of him, and one of the Old Ladies (Pekin) to the left. The only thing I have found is that the Runner might not be as strong of a swimmer as the rest, altho my opinion is that if all are basically hatchmates together at the same time, they should all be fine. Enjoy.

 

[rubberduckies]

I just got my babies!!!!
Picked them up at 8 am this morning and they are all alive and look healthy! Plus I got 9 packing peanut chicks! What am I going to do with those!? Lol. Actually I might already have a home for them. They are black with white on their bellies and faces. Anybody know what kind they are? Im soooo happy they made it here ok. Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that they survive the next week.

 

[rubberduckies]

One of the chicks.

That pretty girl in the food bowl is Stella, a white/fawn runner.

 

[jdywntr]

Cute. Your packing peanuts could be Barred Rocks but they are almost certainly all roos.