just how messy are ducks?

[DuckyBoys]

Quote:
Actually, they do change, they both get BIGGER.

Yes, they do. I think waterfowl are just naturally that way. They definately have to have a good pen cleaning about once a week at least, and I do water changes twice a day.

All part of what makes them so much fun though.

 

[professor-yellow]

Had to chime in here.

Ducklings are the messiest creatures ever created.

Imagine the mess I had with 13 pekins who grow a pound a week. Feel like I was in the story,: Fish Out Of Water". I have 35 Broiler chickens now and are a gentle stroll in the park compared to the 13 Pekins.

We have 10 White Goldens, Rouens, and a pekin male and they are so fun to watch. have a kiddie pool for them to splash in when i get home after work.

One thing about a brroder for ducklingds: cut out a 1.5x1.5 foot opening and cover with 1/2 inch hardware cloth. I have my brooders on wheels, and below the hardware cloth on the floor is a pan to catch all the splash water from the water bowl. Really helps to keep the lotter a lot drier.

 

[Sunny Chook Farm]

They are "VERY" messy... we have 9 runners, 4 pekin and 8 kc.. the mess they can make in just afew mins is unreal, but we love them...

 

[pookiethebear]

Well they don't call them foul for nothing!!

I have 3 ducks - 3 weeks old, 2 pekins and 1 rouen.

MESS MESS MESS

I had to clean their tote brooder every day to keep the mess and smell down. Eating and pooping machines.

Now they are in a bigger brooder and have a different water system and they seem to be a bit better. They seem to have jet propelled pooers and shoot their stuff everywhere....up the sides of the tote, through the chicken wire of the new brooder.....at the chickens.....foul.

MESS MESS MESS

We have a ton of bugs that is why we got them to help with the japanese beetle population here in the fruit orchard.

MESS MESS MESS

They are super cute and funny to watch though.

Here is a pic of their tote brooder at it's worse.....messy foul...

 

[DuckyBoys]

Quote:
Ok that right there just about sums up ducks and geese in my opinion!

 

[A Carolina Chick]

Extremely Messy! I have 2 Pekin's that we purchased a week before Easter. They are HUGE! They are also extremely bossy! They make me laugh!

 

[scrapmom5]

Ducks are realllllllly messy. We just moved our two ducks into their new pen and they are doing better. DE helps with the smell. I put river rock down in their pen a couple of inches deep and it helps some. I keep their food and water mounted to a fence so they will not dump it. My biggest complaint is that their poop does not biodegrade fast enough. You can hose off chicken poop and it will break apart and fertilize the ground. Duck poop just stays whole and defies breaking up. You have to pick it up as if it were dog poop from 100's of dogs. My DH says if the ducks don't straighten up, he will roast them up. 7 hens make 1/10 of the waste of 2 ducks.

Now that being said, They are really cute and fun to watch. My kids love to chase them around and I enjoy watching them splash in the ponds. I will keep them clean.

 

[MaryT]

We have four 4weekers and boy they are messy but so full of life, they are so fun to watch, They also love to make a lot of noise...............funny little creatures

 

[GoodEgg]

Maybe because I have 30+ chickens and only 4 ducks, the chicken poop seems a lot worse than the duck poop.

They all roam about an acre, and the duck poop is runny and just washes into the ground where the chicken poop is usually more solid (and the gooses' poop is most solid of all ... like dogs).

Plus my ducks don't fly up onto surfaces and poop on them.

Still, when the ducks hang out on the back porch begging for extra food and poop everywhere there, now THAT is a mess. Slimy, disgusting, stinky, fly-drawing MESS.

They are ok in the yard though, but I wouldn't want more than 4 in this size area. And their coop can become pretty nasty too. AND they foul ALL the water they can find. (I can always tell when the ducks have visited the dog's water bowl just outside the fence ... it's full of mud.)

Three of them are good for chasing bugs though. (Then again, so are a couple of my banties.) But the personalities make it worth it. They are little characters.

trish

 

[dacjohns]

My ducks (was given them after Easter) are really messy. When we got them they were able to handle room temperature so we kept them in a wire cage in the shower. We sprayed out the mess many times a day. They have to have water to eat properly and they make a mess eating and drinking. Their poop and is large and watery and stinky. They have started bullying the chickens. They play/drink in any puddle they find. I occasionally take them down to the pond where they have a good time but then they follow me back up to the house. They don't need to swim but they have to have plenty of water. Try a Google search on raising ducks for lots of good information. BTW, mine are pekins, a domestic mallard.