I’ve decided to get Runner ducks any advice for me?

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Are you going to get all one sex or are you wanting ducking eventually? I tell ya Runners are just the best. I have Muscovy, Runner and Buff and of the 3 The Runners are def the busiest. I doubt they will let a bug live longer than a few minutes if it dared come into their property. My Buffs are the same my Muscovys are more laid back and did by side actually appear to be lazy compared to the Runners but it’s just the different breeds. Runners are workers Buff too, Muscovy like to just hang out .
 
Miss Lydia said:
Are you going to get all one sex or are you wanting ducking eventually? I tell ya Runners are just the best. I have Muscovy, Runner and Buff and of the 3 The Runners are def the busiest. I doubt they will let a bug live longer than a few minutes if it dared come into their property. My Buffs are the same my Muscovys are more laid back and did by side actually appear to be lazy compared to the Runners but it’s just the different breeds. Runners are workers Buff too, Muscovy like to just hang out .
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I plan on just having females (that is if I don’t decide to get hatching eggs) I don’t have enough space for ducklings lol.
 
IsabellaMarilyn said:
Thank you so much! Your pictures are very helpful. I appreciate all the tips/knowledge that I can get! I don’t think it looks hillbilly at all! It looks like a farm should imo :) I really love the wall divider you made for them. I wish I had a large yard/acreage for them :( I’m worried that moving a poultry fence around won’t be enough for them. I’ll be spending as much time as possible with them and I’ll be able to provide a loving, safe and clean environment; just small. I may just get two females instead of three if I think the coop & run size won’t be adequate enough. I read 4 sq ft per duck inside the coop and 20 sq ft per duck for their run. I plan on a 10ft long and 5 ft wide( & 5ft tall for me to get in fairly comfortably I’m 5’2) run with the coop inside it. Like I said I may wait a month or two to get the ducklings so I have ample time to force my man to help build it all lol. I’m also planning on using 1/2 inch hardware wire and wooden posts to build the run and will put the hardware wire on their coop vents/windows. I’ll make sure they’re locked in at night with a raccoon proof latch. I know we have lots of roaming cats in the neighborhood and I’ve seen a few owls. There’s a ton of groundhogs near by; I hope they won’t be an issue! I will bury the fencing for their run a foot underground to be safe. I’m still debating on whether to put a partial roof on the run or just wire. Or maybe just a small 3ft from the ground awning over their food corner where they can get shade. What do you think? I’ll post pictures of everything once it’s done. Oh and my dog is pretty big 130lbs; but so is an Anatolian lol Anatolians (I believe) are usually flock guardians so it is in their nature to be more gentle with other animals. Of course there’s exceptions. My boy is a jealous one and quite high energy for a mastiff. I’m worried he’ll be overly excitable and pushy. I’ll make sure to be very careful and slowly try to get him accustomed to them from the start. He’s never unsupervised so I’m not worried about him around the ducks once they’re outside if he can’t get along with them while they’re tiny.He doesn’t have a high prey drive at least!
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Sounds like you've got a good plan but if I were you I'd go a little taller on the height of the pen to save on your head injuries!

Also, we've got a lot of land but where my ducks are is not that big of an area at all. I have 2 runs which communicate with each other but can be closed off too. I used 2 100' rolls of fencing. I used 100' of that fencing for my inside run which would be plenty for you with just 3-4 ducks and you'll be surprised how quickly you will be fenced in. Attach it to or around the pen so you just open the door in the morning to let them out into their run, put out the food and that is all until night time. 100' may sound like a lot but it really isn't once you start running it. I have a chair I keep in the run so I can sit and be entertained.

My larger pen, where I have 7 ducks, is the size of a full sheet of plywood 8' x 4'? I'm not sure of the width measurement but they have plenty of room and almost always lay their eggs in there. I thought about putting some ducks in the other pen but they all want to go together so they do. If you look back to the picture I sent you yesterday on the left side of the pen I laid some cardboard up against that side because of the cold but it's all open with hardware cloth on that whole side except for about 1/2 way up in the back. They have tons of ventilation which is important.

I'd wait until warmer weather to get the ducklings so you won't have to worry with keeping them warm. That's what Miss Lydia is doing. Her's come in April. You won't believe how fast they grow! I agree that if you have no more room for more ducks it doesn't make any sense to get an incubator and hatch yourself although it is most excellent to watch the whole process! My neighbor lent me hers last spring and I enjoyed every bit of it even though I was clueless and a little bit scared. I watched so many youtube videos and did so much reading and then I joined BYC so you're already way ahead of me!
 
Miss Lydia said:
That’s probably a good thing since duck math tends to get the best of us but if you know you can’t and don’t have the space for more then you either to come to terms with
It or move to a bigger place :lol:
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LOL well moving to a bigger place isn’t an option right now but one day it will be and I may expand then :)
 

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