~Looking for 2 ducks for the kids

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neetabeamie said:
I am new to ducks as well. I am getting my 4 (Welsh, Cayuga, White Layer and Buff) in June. I have done some extensive research on each breed and found that they are k own for being
Calm, friendly, curious, quiet and all around good pets. It really depends on the individual bird however. but these breeds are the most likely to have those good traits.
I also like the Ancona breed but 4 birds are enough for me at this time.
Regarding "Messy Ducks" It is true that ducks will splash, tumble, poop, eat and be a degree of messy HOWEVER you can significantly reduce the smell, mess and frustration by dong a few things.
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I just looked up the Ancona and they are neat looking birds!
 
I have a pair of cayugas, and they are a bit skittish as ducklings but closer to about 5/6 weeks old they started calming down, I really enjoy them. If you are looking for a place that will ship them meter farms has a min order of 2 ducklings right now so I figured I'd toss that out there. just my 2 cents.
 
I ordered my four from Mets are Farms as well. However if you can split an order of 10 birds it is so much cheaper. The shipping for 2 to 5 birds is $45 the cost of the shipping for 6 to 10 birds is $25 and the shipping for 10+ birds it is $10
What I did, was I put out an ad on Facebook and craigslist saying that I was going to be ordering some ducks and if anyone wanted to join my order we could split the shipping.
We ended up making an order at 10 birds me and two other ladies.
So it worked out well.
I did the math, and it turns out that even if I only wanted 3 /4 birds it would be cheaper to order 10 then try and sell or grow and eat the rest.
Go figure right :)
Anyway, they do have a good reason for the shipping prices. In order for the birds not to freeze they have to really insulate the shipping box. More birds however the less they have to insulate because the birds have each other for body heat
 
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I was debating whether or not I wanted to get a drink as well. I found through all of my study that you should have three birds two 1 Drake at least. or your birds will more than likely get over bread and you'll have to separate the Drake from the ducks. So really The biggest advantage to having a drink is to be able to reproduce ducks. If you don't want to reproduce ducks I suggest you don't get a drake. It's just more of a headache. when the girls are laying you have to give the Drake different food because he doesn't need as much protein. Too much protein can cause a problem so it requires a separate feeding times if you need to separate the Drake from the ducks that's more work and if you have chickens you have to be careful so that the Drake does not try to meet with the chickens because it will kill the chickens. I had chickens.
 
mamaof2wi - Out of my crew and very limited experience, our WH is definitely our favorite. All of our ducks we got as adults when people didn't want them anymore, so ours are definitely not the most friendly/tame group and were not raised from duckling-hood to be so. Besides the WH we also have two female Dutch Hookbills (very very quiet except when broody, and are also relatively calm, but not really tame), and one male Swedish. He is our most talkative out of the group but since he is male his voice is fairly quiet. One of the reasons the WH (Big Mama) is our favorite because not only had she been re-homed 3 times before coming to us, but her first home was a hoarder situation where she was forcibly taken away because of animal abuse and neglect. Despite all of this she is still the most calm around us and the only one out of the four who will eat out of our hands. I can only imagine what a sweetheart she would have been had she been raised with us from a baby. She is also our best egg layer. She starts laying early in the season before the other girls and is the last one still laying when the season is ending. She is definitely our loudest duck, but our neighbors are okay with the ducks so we don't have to worry too much about that. We just always know if she is hungry, or irritated, or bored, or....etc. etc. etc. :)

We have a nest of eggs that should be hatching today or tomorrow and I am excited to raise some babies from ducklings to see if we can have more interactions with our ducks in the future. But I have to say, even with not being able to snuggle our ducks, they are a joy in our lives and my children and I just get a kick out of watching them. They are definitely a part of the family and life wouldn't be the same without them! :)
 
Doro said:
mamaof2wi - Out of my crew and very limited experience, our WH is definitely our favorite. All of our ducks we got as adults when people didn't want them anymore, so ours are definitely not the most friendly/tame group and were not raised from duckling-hood to be so. Besides the WH we also have two female Dutch Hookbills (very very quiet except when broody, and are also relatively calm, but not really tame), and one male Swedish. He is our most talkative out of the group but since he is male his voice is fairly quiet. One of the reasons the WH (Big Mama) is our favorite because not only had she been re-homed 3 times before coming to us, but her first home was a hoarder situation where she was forcibly taken away because of animal abuse and neglect. Despite all of this she is still the most calm around us and the only one out of the four who will eat out of our hands. I can only imagine what a sweetheart she would have been had she been raised with us from a baby. She is also our best egg layer. She starts laying early in the season before the other girls and is the last one still laying when the season is ending. She is definitely our loudest duck, but our neighbors are okay with the ducks so we don't have to worry too much about that. We just always know if she is hungry, or irritated, or bored, or....etc. etc. etc. :)

We have a nest of eggs that should be hatching today or tomorrow and I am excited to raise some babies from ducklings to see if we can have more interactions with our ducks in the future. But I have to say, even with not being able to snuggle our ducks, they are a joy in our lives and my children and I just get a kick out of watching them. They are definitely a part of the family and life wouldn't be the same without them! :)
Click to expand...

Love hearing this, makes me want ducks NOW! :)
 
I am so excited to get my 4 girls
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