Interested in Ducks, But Curious About Odor

[Welshies]

Here are some duck-chicken comparisons for ya.

• Personality: I've had a few chickens that were "lap chickens", but most are fairly aloof and focused on foraging. Ducks are more "happy" and playful, splashing all day long.
• Smell: I find chickens are way less smelly than ducks. If you want ducks, build a coop you can hose out. For me, I have to hall my water from the house down to the coops using a cooler in the back of a side by side, which is inconvient for waterfowl.
• Housing: Ducks are easier to house as they don't need roosts, so they can be housed in a modified dog coop if necessary.
• Hardiness: Both are very cold hardy, but ducks rarely get frostbite. However, ducks will want to play in water even in -4°F.
• Breathing: Chickens do not need water to breathe, while ducks do because their nostrils get clogged up. They need deeper water, while chickens can be given a nipple waterer.
• Deep Litter Method: Chickens are easier to use with the deep litter method because they naturally aerate the bedding, whereas ducks don't. Duck feet flatten everything.
• Poop: chicken poop is wayyyy easier to manage and less smelly. Duck poop is always wet.
• Brooding: Chickens and ducks are fairly easy to brood, although ducklings that aren't yet feathered can become chilled and die if allowed to swim.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I have chickens in a very dry climate, so I don't smell them but if it does rain, or the snow here starts to melt it can get smelly. I use hay, I throw it on top, then rake later.

 

[rjohns39]

We have a fairly small back yard and kept three chickens and a duck in a coop and run. There was some odor when you were right next to it, but it didn't travel far. More neighbor-concerning was the noise. Although, we were lucky and they thought it was cute. A lot can be forgiven for a gift of fresh eggs now and again. ^^

Oh, I forgot to mention that my female ducks are louder than my roosters when they have something to say, which is most every morning. Also, I should have caveat my earlier post with the fact that I have a mixed flock and my chickens do a wonderful job of burying the duck poop or at lest turning it in. The pool will always be filled with a thick layer of poo... I've been toying with a design I saw on youtube that allows for a drain with flexible 2" pvc so you can direct where the poo goes. BTW, Poultry poo is great for your garden.

I also have a friend who has been raising poultry of all types for 30+ years. He says if you smell it, you need to adjust your management style. I have found that when I brood ducks with week old chickens there is pretty much no smell. But when I'm doing just ducks, I must be doing it wrong. Chickens scratch and turn the bedding. Ducks drill holes and flatten the bedding. When cleaning out the deep litter last year, I had smoldering bedding as I shoveled it into the gator and then turned it into the compost pile. The pile steamed through March.

 

[Hope Hughes]

My ducks and chickens free range together. I have a kiddie pool outside of the coop/run it keeps it cleaner and the chickens stay dry. They sleep in the run(no matter what we try they refuse to go inside anything other then a big dog crate that we keep in the run, and they dont really use that most of the time) at night half is covered for weather reasons. I dont put any bedding in the run other then the pine shavings i clean out of the chicken coop. And the chickens scrap it up during the few ours they are locked in, in the mornigs. That helps keep everything cleaner. I have used hay and shavings on ducks and both suck lol they both get very wet if the water is close by. The dog crate there are shavings so if they want to go in they can. At night they have access to a med. Pot of water and a little food. They dont sleep all night like chickens do. We have had a hawk problem here but they have only gotten our bannies and not the ducks.... so far. They are messy for sure but they are lot easier to maintain when free ranged. And yes the female is much louder then my males.
Both chickens and ducks are messy and work. Just depeneds on which ones you prefer to have (first) if you are considering both now you will end up owning both at one point lol ​

 

[Enigmius]

I put little two foot tall shelters around that they can go hide in. I also use chicken tractors which are much safer for them. I'll warn you though that they seem impervious to the electricity and many of my young ones will bolt through the fence both ways. As a general rule they all stay together and its gorgeous to watch them fly from one side of the pasture to the other.

Like something like this used as a duck tractor which can be upgraded in size, minus the chicken styled coop in favor of a more duck version and something the ducks can swim in? How often would you think something like this would have to be moved to keep the ducks and the yard happy? Once a week? twice a week? More?
https://www.omlet.us/shop/chicken_keeping/walk_in_chicken_run/

 

[PirateGirl]

I have chickens in a very dry climate, so I don't smell them but if it does rain, or the snow here starts to melt it can get smelly. I use hay, I throw it on top, then rake later.

I was going to say exactly this. Smell will vary based on environment. I too live somewhere very dry and feel my chickens don't stink, that is until the day it rains and then it stinks so bad I can't believe I didn't notice it before.

 

[rjohns39]

Like something like this used as a duck tractor which can be upgraded in size, minus the chicken styled coop in favor of a more duck version and something the ducks can swim in? How often would you think something like this would have to be moved to keep the ducks and the yard happy? Once a week? twice a week? More?
https://www.omlet.us/shop/chicken_keeping/walk_in_chicken_run/

That's way fancier than anything I've got but would certainly do the job. How frequently they move depends on a lot of factors: How dense is your grass, how solid is the root structure, what's the weather, is it flat or sloped and how many ducks. When I pasture ducks in a shelter they are generally young. My pasture is on a steep slope. A dozen ducks in a 6X8 shelter needed to be moved at least once a week and more if it rains. I start them high and move them in a straight line along the higher side, then move down a row. Let your eyes and nose be your guide. You don't want them to decimate the patch, but good grass can take a lot of abuse. When timing it properly, grass will begin to visibly re-grow within 4-5 days of them moving on and you'll have a good 4" stand before they return.

 

[onaharley]

Hi there and
I have leveling sand in my pen for my ducks in the summer time and a thick layer of shavings and straw in the winter. I use a poop scooper once it's dry in the summer or pick out the frozen poop biscuits in the winter. I can't smell anything......Now I only have 2 ducks, but to me I find that the 22 chickens are more to handle then the ducks. You just have to remember, ducks like consistency, so a find routine that works for you and stick with it. I had a beautiful back yard until the chickens completely destroyed it!!! Half my yard has no grass now

 

[gimmie birdies]

My chickens are in a pen that is about 1/4 acre or less ( we have 2 acres) The 1/4 arce they are on is pretty barren, but it is dry here to begin with, the only thing that grows out there is "pigweed" because the chickens will not eat that, but we used to have a goose that did.

 

[Enigmius]

Someone on here has this coop/pen. I notice that most of it has a cement/concrete ground except the area near the duck house. I wonder how easy or difficult it is to keep this pen clean.

The housing reminds me of the type in the UK. I wonder if this person is still a duck parent.