Have Had Chickens for a Year, Should I Go for Ducks?

[Hillary and friend's eggs]

hello everyone!

I think I may soon get ducks and I have a few questions:

1: Will female ducks (about 4) be too loud for the neighbors? (I'm in the suburbs) I think my neighbors can tolerate anything as loud as a hen but not as loud or early as a rooster.

2: Do duck eggs taste good? Will there be a market for them? If so, how much do they sell for?

3: Do ducks NEED a pond? Can they swim when they're young? If I give the ducks a pond, should they only have temporary access to it?

4: Can ducks live in limited space almost or as limited as chickens?

5: These are the breeds I am interested in. I would prefer birds certified by the APA, but others might be ok :

Runner duck

Appleyard duck (not silver)

Mallard duck/ snowy mallard duck

Ancona/ Magpie duck

(Note these will all be females)

Lastly, what poultry or waterfowl breeder do you recommend me buying from? I would like to get all of the ducks in one order.

These are all my questions.....finally. Sorry I have so many, I just don't want to make a major mistake that brings great sadness. (I had a similar experience with chickens. I learned that chicks....poor things

should not have access to ponds or puddles of any kind....

Thanks for all the help and taking time to answer all my newbie duck questions.

 

[janastasio]

Hillary and friend's eggs :

hello everyone!

I think I may soon get ducks and I have a few questions:

1: Will female ducks (about 4) be too loud for the neighbors? (I'm in the suburbs) I think my neighbors can tolerate anything as loud as a hen but not as loud or early as a rooster.

2: Do duck eggs taste good? Will there be a market for them? If so, how much do they sell for?

3: Do ducks NEED a pond? Can they swim when they're young? If I give the ducks a pond, should they only have temporary access to it?

4: Can ducks live in limited space almost or as limited as chickens?

5: These are the breeds I am interested in. I would prefer birds certified by the APA, but others might be ok :

Runner duck

Appleyard duck (not silver)

Mallard duck/ snowy mallard duck



Ancona/ Magpie duck

(Note these will all be females)

Lastly, what poultry or waterfowl breeder do you recommend me buying from? I would like to get all of the ducks in one order.

These are all my questions.....finally. Sorry I have so many, I just don't want to make a major mistake that brings great sadness. (I had a similar experience with chickens. I learned that chicks....poor things

should not have access to ponds or puddles of any kind....

Thanks for all the help and taking time to answer all my newbie duck questions.

Ducks are awsome, I love mine! I started off with chickens and now have more ducks than chickens! Females are noisier than male ducks, but I dont think anything that will bother your neighbors to the point of complaint, but some people complain just to complain! I sell my duck eggs for $5 a dozen here. I have 4 female ducks and get 3-4 eggs a day from them. My ducks are buffs and ancona buff mixes. As much as $5 a dozen sounds, I never make a profit. Between the feed bill and cost of shavings, hay and other supplies, not to mention time, it just simply helps to off set some of the cost. Not much! Especially in winter, which requires alot more effort. My ducks have a kiddie pool that we change the water in about every 2-3 days. By that time it is nasty and murky! Ducks are incredibly messy. I'm not sure about the amount of space necessary for ducks outside. Mine have a good size duck yard and then a coop to go into at night. Just like chickens, they need a safe place to be locked into at night to protect from predators. Mine have access to water during the day and are put in at night. In the warmer months they have pools outside and are outside from about 7am to 7pm, so I do not provide water for inside their coop at night. Winter time I keep water inside their coop because they are pansies and not fans of the snow! 5 gallons a day in an indoor coop slopped around for 5 months makes one nasty coop by spring! Ducklings at a young age have to be supervised during swims. They can tire quickly and can drown. I don't let mine swim on their own until they are fully feathered in and also make sure they can get in and out of the pools on their own. We have a smaller seperate pen we keep ducklings in and provide a shallow pan for them to play in when they are young. I have always purchased my ducks from local people vs. hatcheries. Good luck!​

 

[Mahonri]

If you have LOTS of space and a pond, get ducks. If not, they are EXTREMELY MESSY and they will destroy a small yard space.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

I started with ducks at the same time I started with chickens, and I've had no problems at all with mine. They had their own brooder as babies, but once they feathered out, they went in the coop with the chickens. The chickens don't mess with them, and if the chickens should happen to irritate my hen duck, she will grab them by the head and shake them a bit to teach them a lesson. She hasn't had to do that in a long time though. I have Mallards, a pair, and they are not loud at all. Marion will "talk" to me to let me know if the waterer is empty or the food is low, but she isn't loud enough to bother anyone. They keep to themselves pretty much. My birds freerange for now, but we're setting up electric poultry netting soon, so they will be contained in there with the chickens. Originally I had all my chickens together, standard and bantams, but when I separated them, I kept the ducks with the bantams just because the bantams are sweeter in their dispositions. Currently I have 4 Blue Swede ducklings that are almost 3 weeks old, and they are little chatterboxes. I don't know how vocal they will be, but I can't imagine that it would be noisy enough to bother my neighbors. How lose are your neighbors? I keep a kiddie pool in my yard for my ducks. It gets cleaned and refilled about every other day throughout the Spring and Summer, and the ducks are free to swim in it as they like, though mostly they would rather drink from the leaky hose, lol. The chickens walk over to drink from the pool and the ducks don't mind it. In fact, if you gave me chickens a choice between the waterer and the pool, the pool would win hands down every time. Same for the ducks. Ducks need to be able to submerge their bills into water deep enough to cover their nostrils so that they can clear them out.
What kind of set up do you plan to have for your ducks? Are you considering breeds that fly BECAUSE they can fly, or are you more interested in them for another reason? Free ranging a flying breed of duck has it's downsides. My Mallards have stuck around, but they can fly and I did not clip their wings yet. If you are investing a lot of money in your birds, you might want to establish a run for them with a cover so they don't disappear on you.
Oh, and ducks are messier than chickens too. At least, in the brooding stage they sure are! They also tend to spread the water from the waterer everywhere, but otherwise they aren't any more difficult than the chickens. Don't give them food with antibiotics in it, and don't give them water with meds in it either, it can kill them. I can't really recommend a breeder at the moment, though I know a few people on here sell some of the breeds you are looking for. Good luck in your decision. I love my ducks, they are wonderful additions to my flock!

 

[kysilkies]

>>>Have Had Chickens for a Year, Should I Go for Ducks?

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!! They are some of the sweetest animals I've ever had, unless it's mating season and they want to attack you, but other than that, they're great!!!!!

 

[Hillary and friend's eggs]

Thanks for the help!

I do intend to keep the ducks in a closed area well sealed off from predators. It is not much space. It is like 10x10 feet at most (the cage could be 10x10x6) Oh and my neighbors have never complained. The ones closest the chicken coop, the ones who should be complaining every day (especially when we had the rooster), are very nice people! They have some young kids who are really interested in all the pets. They are always peeking through the holes in the fence and asking things about the bunnies, chicks, and the hens. Once I gave their family a dozen free farm fresh eggs and the kids were very interested in the green and the brown eggs. The last thing they would do is complain. Even if they don't complain, I still want to be a good neighbor. They don't mind when the hens occasionally do their bok bok bok bok bok bok BWAKAK! noises, but anything louder than that or as loud as that and more frequent then that wouldn't be good. Chickens do have a bit more of a shrill high-pitched sudden call, and the ducks seem to have just a steady quack. We occasionally have ducks fly over us loudly or even land near by, so not much will change. Are all my breeds good quiet ones? Will they do well in the confined area I intend to get them? Do they need a coop like the chickens if their run is fully enclosed? Rather than building a separate coop, I was thinking I would build a shelter or buy one and place it in the cage. Would this be ok? I have a 100 gallon plastic pond. will that be good for the ducks?

All you guys have been a great help! Thanks again!

 

[Hillary and friend's eggs]

any other advice?

 

[dumb_cluck]

I have Mallards. You can read about them here: http://www.thebigskyranch.com/mallard_family.htm

If you get them as ducklings, you will have a better time with them. I trained mine to ride in a wagon to be transported to their pool.
Yes, ducks are messy. They have personalities as well. I have no regrets keeping ducks. If you have a place within town limits, I would check with the zoning people before you get them.

 

[Hillary and friend's eggs]

ok I think I will get ducks (hopefully)! thanks!

 

[tplummer]

Go for it. We started out with chickens and have many ducks now. We have Mallards, Call Ducks, a few Scovies and soon, Runners. I like the ducks just as much. They are a bit messier, but not too bad.