I'm interested in ornamental now!!

[Big Dreamer]

OK, well i have domestic ducks and i was going to use them for eggs, but im just caught by how many species and how beautiful ornamental ducks are!! i want to build an aviary really bad!! I have a few questions though...
1. can i just get 2 or do i have to get more?
2. whats the smallest an aviary can be with a 4ft long 3ft wide pond in it?
3. whats the quietest ornamental duck that is still attractive?
4. what should i use for materials from building the aviary to substrate for the nesting boxes and ground?
5. whats a cheap way to keep a pond clean for the ducks?
6. are ornamentals less messy than domestic ducks?
7. will they eat plants and grass that i put into the aviary?
8. whats your favorite ornamental duck?!?!?!?!?!

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=345303

This is a link to my thread on migratory/ ornamental waterfowl, It will answer most all your questions

1) 1-2 , 2000 it doesnt matter
2)aviary size depends on species, quantity etc, more water is better with most of these. for teal, a pair can be kept in a 10x10 fairly easily
3)all of these are fairly quiet, nothing like domestics, the loudest are the treeducks (AKA whistling ducks), some puddle duck hens like pintails are loud quackers too though
4) anything you have available. I always did concrete ponds, pressure treated plywood boxes, 1 inch chicken wire pens with 2 inch aviary netting on top, no house is needed at all
5)no way to keep a pond clean aside from draining a bleaching periodically, no pump.filter will ever keep up
6)no, all ducks are messy, these arent quite as bad simply because they are mostly smaller, but pound for pound they are equal
7)yes, they will eat any greenery in the pen in no time flat, watch what you plant, some plants are poisonous
8)I love them all, had 100 species at one time or another, teal, mandarins, pintail, all the divers, they are equally beautiful, some of my favorites were always baikal and falcated teal, goldeneye, smew, harlequins, shoveler, wood duck, chiloe widgeon, too many to list all of them


Read the thread I linked though, many require special care, Federal permits for selling (not for owning) various nesting requirments, various ages of reproduction, various temperments (some you just cant mix) , some will cross breed, though if properly paired this is very rare with these. Etc all this and a ton more is covered in the thread including ,feeding, nesting, hatching, brooding, starting, cleaning etc

 

[HottentotTeal]

Boggy's thread is a wealth of information.

I recently built an aviary for 2 Hottentot Teal ducks. They are very tiny and equally as quiet.

My aviary is about 5.5'x14'x7' and it's mostly sand/dirt with a 3'x5' oval pond tub.

I clean it out every week. I have a pump and filter but they track dirt and food crumbs in there and it simply needs to be drained and cleaned, if you expect it to be crystal clear.

I have a thread about my aviary and ducks in the bottom of my signature. Most of the "after" pics start around page 9, i think.

So far, mine haven't eaten up all of the plants, but they do nibble on them from time to time.


My favorites are the Teals, mainly the Hottentots and Blue ringed Teal.

Here's a few pics of my aviary and the ducks:

 

[KansasKid]

Too many pretty birds to choose from. But I am still going to vote for some mandarins

 

[kangababy]

For your first birds I would go with Mandarins or Wood Ducks! They are beautiful and easy to take care of.. and not that expensive compared to some of the rest.

I love the waterfowl thread so check that out! If you can't find what you need there just ask.. you will always have questions.

 

[Big Dreamer]

what waterfowl thread?

 

[KansasKid]

The waterfowl thread found in the link BBB posted


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[chickensioux]

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