How to Free Range Ducks

[latb611]

My Pekins are 6 weeks old and I just moved them outside yesterday. Right now they are in with my chicks of the same age but since I am pretty sure one of the ducks is a boy I was going to let them free range. So how do I do that?

 

[LaurelC]

People who free range their poultry usually still lock it up at night to protect it from predators. If you're planning to let the ducks free range, I'd do some trials to ensure you can get the ducks to come back when you need them to in order to lock them up somewhere secure for the night.

 

[Going Quackers]

I fenced around my main duck coop and sub coop, anout 1/3 of an acre this keeps all pools, water, feed this encourages them to return, which they often do throughout the day, most usually return by dusk but in nice weather there maybe a few stragglers i always do a head count before shutting the gate.. i also have taught all to herd, most teach their young, i had one mum who'd tuck her kids in the barn and then come back out to forage lol

Free ranging is possible, but a risk... you have to evaluate your goals and situation to what suits best.

 

[littlefrog]

I was hoping my newish batch of (30-ish) ducklings would learn from last year's seasoned veterans, but at 10 weeks old they seem to still be mostly separate flocks. What I do is have my ducks in a 'pen' (~300 linear feet of 'electronet' fence, whatever area that covers). They go into a 20x12' coop at night, and I let them out into the enclosure during the day. Ducklings stay in my barn (not the coop, but my big barn) without access to the outside for the first four weeks or so. Then I start letting them out into the pen during the day, and eventually move them to the coop at night instead of the barn. My ducks like lettuce, so for a period of several weeks I feed them chopped lettuce as a treat at night, out of a big white bowl. I can lead them anywhere I want them to go with a few scraps of lettuce tossed from the bowl. I toss the remainder of the lettuce into the coop, and they dive right in.

After that first few weeks of training, I don't even need the lettuce, just the white bowl... But I do try to give them their lettuce treat several times a week, anyway, just to keep the reward pathway enforced. Since I have a big enclosure this year, I waited longer than usual to let them out. At 8 weeks I open the enclosure a few times a week to let them wander into my pond or into the pasture, or wherever they want to go. They get duck pellets only in the evening in their coop. If I'm good, an hour or so before dusk I go out with the bowl (and lettuce, if I think it will be hard to get them in), and they follow me right back to the coop. I walk slow, backwards, flinging a few bits of lettuce in front of them and they just move as a flock.

I still don't let everybody out every day. If I'm home, I will open the fence in the late morning and let them out. If I'm not going to home, I keep them in. And on those evenings where something comes up and I can't get them inside before dark, when I come home they are all in their coop waiting for food. It works pretty well.

Oh, and I also 'quack' at them when I open doors (warning them, they can't see through the doors...), and sometimes when I'm trying to get their attention to go to the big white bowl. I don't know if that helps or not. My wife thinks I'm crazy...

 

[latb611]

I do intend to lock them up at night. I was just wondering if there was a way to get them to know where there home is so that they come back at dusk.

 

[LaurelC]

Based on my understanding, many people are able to "call" their ducks and have them return to the pen for treats at night. Keeping them locked up in a pen of some sort for a few weeks should encourage them to regard it as "home" before letting them out to roam on their own.

 

[Sfraker]

My ducks are only 5 weeks old so I haven't done this yet. But what I have read and been told is that you keep them in a fenced in area with their coop for 6 weeks. Each night give them treats in the coop and say a word "bed time" "treats" "dinner". After 6 weeks they should understand that when they hear the word they should return to the coop for their treats. Then you can let them free range.

However if anyone has other suggestions I'm all ears.

 

[laughingdog]

With pekings you should be great and only need to pen and do all for week unless flighty, or have river ect they could just float away on, as supposedly neighbors who have say they are really lazy once get out of teen phase and rarely range as far as dual purpose chickens at most, but preds are much worse on them like magnets i here (most neighbors who had huge flocks free ranging now down to one or two at most, maybe cause how loud bright and cumbersome they supposedly get). I'm new to mallard breeds, and haven't had my KC ducklings out yet, and my scovy like puppy dogs.

I whistle a certain tune to call my ducks, pigeons , chickens, dogs, cats, rabbits, and used same for goats, guinea pigs, hookbills/ various parrot types, songbirds, ect that used to have. make any certain noise every time feed and treat ect, then when they come to you/cage and or dish for a week to month straight every day and settle in in evenings, then can let them out of area set up to see surroundings (so they know were to come back to, but don't feed day of or before letting out if flighty and or energetic or they could just bolt to go as far and fast as can. if they are or do, then watch them first couple days when let out to come home time, and call if they get wandering too far first week or so not looking around to surroundings enough to know were to come home to. after week to month they are coming and going all day and return at night on own mostly, and you should be able to leave feed out all day to supplement forage and grazing ect. never do with unfit critters as they may not get enough forage to compensate for lack of feed and vast increase in exercise.

 

[nayeli]

My husband suggested we get a duck call. For me I just went through this. We would try to herd them then had to catch them and put them in, I wanted to train them. How do you get animals to go anywhere? Food of course! I only feed them at night (make sure they have water), then I will give them a snack during the day... they also free range to their hearts content.

 

[clankeyes]

we have just moved out ducks outside. This is day 2. I feel like we are starting all over. They won't come up to us anymore for treats. They are acting scared again ! We have to heard them into their coop at night. They are NOT happy LOL