Getting rid of my chickens!

[Senna95]

And on the subject of herding Muscovies...I have four of them and they are always the last ones to go in at night. I just walk behind them and herd them w/ my hands and they go right in. If they do any flying, they just fly right into their pen. I love'em.

How nice that your muscovies go back by themselves at night. I wasn't so lucky. Mine would inevitably fly up and roost on our roof. Got to be quite a mess.

BTW, what you're talking about is not herding. Herding is when you get your ducks (or geese, sheep, goats, etc.) to go somewhere that they DON'T want to go. ie. through the narrow open gate of the garden, or into the door of a new coop, corral or even a carrier. My ducks are pretty used to going out durring the day, but when I have to leave early and they're not ready to come in yet it can be very hard to get them all to cooperate and get them back into their corral.

A herding dog would round them up and chase them in the direction I want them to go...... whether it be into their corral, their coop, or even into the middle of the road if I wanted.

 

[fowl farm]

@ missnu01
Ducks don't need a roost and, if you do it right, they'll put themselves away at night and all you'd have to do is close the door. You'd have to herd them in for the first few days, and do it early. Once they start going in themselves, they'll go in at dark. And feed them in their house the first week or two.

 

[fowl farm]

Muscovies fly (I've had them on top of my roof, and on my porch, where they make a big mess), and they can't be herded.........

My Mallards could fly, but never left my property, and clipping wings isn't complicated and probably really easy if the birds are tame

 

[Senna95]

My Mallards could fly, but never left my property, and clipping wings isn't complicated and probably really easy if the birds are tame

My mallards fly too, and never leave our property, nor do they perch on the roof, or the porch, or the top of the motor home, but the muscovie did all of those...... as did the chickens.

 

[Frank Phinster]

My Scovy Drake Macbeth unintentionelly helps me to herd my Pekins into the shed at night - most of the time the Pekins try to avoid the front door and try to get around the shed (where the backdoor for the Scovies is; my shed is split in two by a wooden wall about 20 inches high). My Scovie drake is more cooperative and usually goes ahead and stands besides the shed and blocks the path of the Pekins - they are too scared of him to just walk around him so they turn back and go into through the front door into the shed where they belong. So far I have seen no difference in the herding of Muscovies and mallard derived.
I've never had chickens and I don't want any because I would need a new coop for them and would have to vaccinate them - where I live that is required by law.

 

[MoTappin]

I have been wanting chickens, but you all and a neighbor who has ducks are swaying me. I've got a decent sized backyard. My total lot is just over 1/5 acre, so of course the backyard would be I'd say roughly 1/3 of that. If I were to get 3 or 4 ducks, would this be a good number without having my grass trampled? I can fence off the veggie garden if need be, but I'd really just like to let them run (okay, waddle) around the yard except at night. Leaning toward khaki campbells from what I've read, since I mostly want the eggs (and pets) and don't want them flying away. Would love to get them a little wading pool as well. I don't know what kind my neighbor has but they have a dog house with hay to sleep in at night, and the rest of the time are in the backyard & swimming in the kiddie pool. It sounds pretty simple, but like I said I don't want my yard wrecked. I'd love to let them free range, eat bugs, "fertilize" and even help mow the lawn. If I were to get 3 or 4, would that work? I'm a novice but I have always loved the character of ducks.

 

[Going Quackers]

I have been wanting chickens, but you all and a neighbor who has ducks are swaying me. I've got a decent sized backyard. My total lot is just over 1/5 acre, so of course the backyard would be I'd say roughly 1/3 of that. If I were to get 3 or 4 ducks, would this be a good number without having my grass trampled? I can fence off the veggie garden if need be, but I'd really just like to let them run (okay, waddle) around the yard except at night. Leaning toward khaki campbells from what I've read, since I mostly want the eggs (and pets) and don't want them flying away. Would love to get them a little wading pool as well. I don't know what kind my neighbor has but they have a dog house with hay to sleep in at night, and the rest of the time are in the backyard & swimming in the kiddie pool. It sounds pretty simple, but like I said I don't want my yard wrecked. I'd love to let them free range, eat bugs, "fertilize" and even help mow the lawn. If I were to get 3 or 4, would that work? I'm a novice but I have always loved the character of ducks.

Hard to say, ducks FOR SURE make a mud mess .. they adore it, we had a major melt here... went from several inches of snow, negative temps.. to rain and today partial sun and plus temps so we are awash with mud/snow and water... my ducks are in heaven and i have let them out for the day to fully enjoy it before true winter returns.

I admit i only truly know about my breed which are Muscovy so noise level is on the lowest end. The main thing is making sure they are protected from predators, especially at night.

 

[TLWR]

1/3 of a 1/5 of an acre lot isn't much.
I have 5 ducks... 4 runners and 1 welch harlequin
We live on 6 acres. The back 4 are fenced. The ducks stick to the close less than an acre. For the most part, the yard is fine, but there is an area they seem to love to drill for bugs this winter and the ground is all soft there now.
Not sure if I'd want 4 ducks in a smaller space, Maybe 3.

 

[ducksinarow]

I have 1/3 acre and 5 campbell ducks. I keep them in a dog pen at night and lock them in there house. Mine do free range during the day and go into one of the neighbors yard. But they mainly stay right here. If you keep them in a pen at night and moving the pen yearly it makes a great garden spot. I think you would be fine with 3 or 4 ducks. I am still getting 2 eggs a day from my 3 girls even in this cold winter. They can get off of the ground a little. Personally I would not have a duck that could not, too easy to catch and kill. They like to be hand fed but they are not lap ducks. They are a bit flighty. I was keeping 1 in the bathtub for a couple of weeks. She was acting sick. Turns out she was molting. She got really spoiled. More like a pet than I thought was possible. Good luck.

 

[ZakoHero]

I'm getting 4 Female and 1 male Duck to add to my 4 hens and 1 Rooster.I am so Eggsited!!!Lol!!