I wish I had thought of keeping ducks!

[sonew123]

Quote:
your post made me laugh with its truthfullness. My ducks demolish my beautifully cleaned coops-I have to house them with my chickens-3 ducks 20 chickens in a 20 x 20 barn/shed. Plenty of space but they make the bedding a soaking nasty mess-and the waterers have to get cleaned everyday-I dont know where they find the filfth to dirty them up so fast?? Come on Spring...But..I love them to pieces!!!!

 

[AnaD]

Quote:
Do you think I'd be overwhelmed by two poopy ducks? Or will I notice the poop and sigh clean up and move on? are all thr pros worth the poop?

 

[Nava]

Quote:
Do you think I'd be overwhelmed by two poopy ducks? Or will I notice the poop and sigh clean up and move on? are all thr pros worth the poop?

very well worth it, I love my Cambells, and they have babys now!!!
more poopies

 

[TLWR]

I have 3 runners. I just hose the poop off the small portion of the deck they are allowed, from the house and bins and from the steps/landing. It doesn't bother me, i can walk around it. It gets hosed daily.
It annoys DH to no end.


They poop a lot, but it isn't like I have a poop slick covering everything... though sometimes it kind of does seem like that when 3 ducks get up, hop out of their house and just splat poop before jumping down the steps lol

 

[wistlindixie]

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OMG, I just read that out loud to my child and I really did L~O~L

 

[DuckLover179]

Quote:
1. I will have my duckies in a 10' X 6' enclosure, so they won't be very messy. PROS: Ducks really do belong outside, and I think it is more healthy for them (But Nettie has obiously proved that statement wrong!

). CONS: If they are not penned up, they will make a mess.

2. PEKIN!!! I have 2 pekin ducklings, and they are very gentle with kids (I am a kid myself, and they are mine so to all those people who think kids can't own ducks HA! Anyway they are very gentle with me.), they are too big for a predator to carry off, and to me they are pretty!

3. I got 2 pekin female ducklings from www.metzerfarms.com and they came healthy as can be!

Anyway, just my thoughts! I LOVE ducks (So glad, I almost went with chickens!

)

 

[gofasterstripe]

Poop, Poop, & more Poop, oh and the smell..My 1 and only pet peeve about duckling poop, the smell of chick starter when it comes out the other end

. Its a sweet sickly poopy smell and it makes me gag

. Poop I can handle but chick starter poop I cant

,
I have 2 7 week olds in my spare room, you dont notice their smell, only 2 ducks is fine, but I also have 13 ducklings in a brooder and within 5 minutes of bringing them in from outside I can smell it. By morning I walk in the room, hurry and grab up 13 chicks to put in another tote to take them outside and I hold my breath, I cant get out of there fast enough and if the dog is in my way he ket a kick up the butt to MOVE.
Chick starter poop is NASTY.
But yes, I think you could handle 2 ducklings.

 

[greyhorsewoman]

they are too big for a predator to carry off

Sorry, they can and will be carried off by a predator, if one can get to them. We lost half our flock last summer to a fox. He recently made a new appearance and took out my two geese.​

 

[katlovesaandw]

We wanted ducks 3 yrs ago when we started this chicken venture.
We heard they need constant water source for swimming, we heard they are noisy, we heard they are messy, etc. etc.
So, we said never mind.
Then a month+ ago Hubby's co-worker offered us 2 Muscovy ducks and we basically rescued them from her. She thought they were females.
They were drakes we found out and ended up trading them for 3 females.
Muscovies are not noisy at all, our 3 rarely make a peep.
Yep, they are messy with the water and Yep, I need to clean it daily if not twice a day but they do not need a constant swimming source like other ducks.
Am I in love and willing to put up with it!
YEPPERS!
Are we hoping to add 3 more Muscovy hens this weekend, YEPPERS!
But, they live with the chickens and honestly, I cannot see that they poop anymore than my 14 chickens do.

I highly recommend duck ownership and can easily see myself become a duck addict to add to my chicken addiction!LOL

 

[AnaD]

I'm so torn! The mess and poop part is so daunting, especially when it comes to convincing my SO.
If anything I think I will wait about a month or so to asses where we are chicken wise and enclosure wise. Ducklings must be available into early summer I hope.
I've some researching to do! Must be ready for any questions from my SO and make sure this is really something I am prepared to handle.

Thank you all for making me more confused!! hahaha!