How many ducks do you have? Who has the most ducks? Do any of y'all have 50, 100, 150? How do you manage them all?

[Miss Lydia]

I call them by whistling and they come to me. They get in their coop on their own and I just close the door behind them and open it in the morning. A light in there comes on a timer and goes off at 2200 hrs. that draws them in at night.
Get counting!

I love it!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

My husband and I agreed that I would have a duck limit of six ducks. So, right now, I have 7 .

He probably can't count anyway lol

 

[quackingdom]

Well I've got 73 ducks. Mostly Muscovies. Also 37 chickens and 9 geese. Almost all of them have names.

How we manage them: we have seven acres, fenced. They free-range within this area for the day. Most of the birds (except for the geese) spend the night in mobile pens.

 

[thoeffel1994]

Well I've got 73 ducks. Mostly Muscovies. Also 37 chickens and 9 geese. Almost all of them have names.

How we manage them: we have seven acres, fenced. They free-range within this area for the day. Most of the birds (except for the geese) spend the night in mobile pens.

Wow that's awesome. I'd love to have that many. Can we see some pictures!?

What type of mobile pens?

 

[Awaytome]

I only have ten ducks and five chickens, so I'm small potatoes. But the birds are molting now and leave a mess all over the yard. I mostly look away and wait for feathers to blow under the shrubs and decompose or just magically disappear. What do you large flock people do with all those feathers during molting periods?

 

[Miss Lydia]

My Muscovy and goose flight feathers I have to pick up they will stay around forever. But the small ones disappear after a while.

 

[Sequestered Ridge Ranch]

I only have ten ducks and five chickens, so I'm small potatoes. But the birds are molting now and leave a mess all over the yard. I mostly look away and wait for feathers to blow under the shrubs and decompose or just magically disappear. What do you large flock people do with all those feathers during molting periods?

Let'em float off to the land of Oz! Hundreds of acres between me and neighbors. Small potatoes to what I can do, I'm just buying time before I get bison roaming here.

 

[quackingdom]

I only have ten ducks and five chickens, so I'm small potatoes. But the birds are molting now and leave a mess all over the yard. I mostly look away and wait for feathers to blow under the shrubs and decompose or just magically disappear. What do you large flock people do with all those feathers during molting periods?

I mostly notice an accumulation of feathers in the pond and in a few areas the birds spend the most time in. It doesn't bother me, so I don't do anything about it.

 

[quackingdom]

Wow that's awesome. I'd love to have that many. Can we see some pictures!?

What type of mobile pens?

Here are some of my mobile pens, but admittedly they all have problems and I wouldn't necessarily recommend anyone to replicate them. Maybe in the future we'll design one I have no problems with. Also, they are not predator-proof at all and so would not work for most people and most circumstances.

One is a chain-link dog kennel, about 9' by 8' I think. I couldn't find any pictures I already had of it. I could take one, but anyway, it's nice and sturdy, but not the easiest to move.

Then this is one of the chicken coops:

Muscovies can handle jumping in and out of it. I've kept ducks in it before, but right now I'm only keeping chickens in it. Also difficult to move.

Then there's this one:

I like this one. I wish it had some siding, though, because I use it for ducklings and chicks a lot, but they need a windbreak, and there's no shade in the mornings and evenings. It's fairly light, but adding siding would make it a lot heavier. So we just lean pieces of wood against it.

Then these two:

These are super light! However, the tarps already need replaced despite only having been in use for 3-4 months. I used them for CX broilers, for a broody with ducklings, and now they're in one of our far pastures as a night pen for some new ducks that are in quarantine. My main issue with them is that they're very small and can only hold a few ducks.

I also have one other PVC hoop pen that's similar to this but quite a bit larger and with a PVC base frame instead of wood.

 

[thoeffel1994]

Here are some of my mobile pens, but admittedly they all have problems and I wouldn't necessarily recommend anyone to replicate them. Maybe in the future we'll design one I have no problems with. Also, they are not predator-proof at all and so would not work for most people and most circumstances.

One is a chain-link dog kennel, about 9' by 8' I think. I couldn't find any pictures I already had of it. I could take one, but anyway, it's nice and sturdy, but not the easiest to move.

Then this is one of the chicken coops:

View attachment 3628709
View attachment 3628708

Muscovies can handle jumping in and out of it. I've kept ducks in it before, but right now I'm only keeping chickens in it. Also difficult to move.

Then there's this one:

View attachment 3628707
View attachment 3628706

I like this one. I wish it had some siding, though, because I use it for ducklings and chicks a lot, but they need a windbreak, and there's no shade in the mornings and evenings. It's fairly light, but adding siding would make it a lot heavier. So we just lean pieces of wood against it.

Then these two:

View attachment 3628704
View attachment 3628705

These are super light! However, the tarps already need replaced despite only having been in use for 3-4 months. I used them for CX broilers, for a broody with ducklings, and now they're in one of our far pastures as a night pen for some new ducks that are in quarantine. My main issue with them is that they're very small and can only hold a few ducks.

I also have one other PVC hoop pen that's similar to this but quite a bit larger and with a PVC base frame instead of wood.

If you don't mind me asking what does your feed cost look like? Do you buy feed in bulk?