FrostyMilkshake
Chirping
Newbie who doesn't own any ducks, but is reading up on ducks. We have been thinking about getting a couple females sometime in the future as pets and for eggs. Maybe just 2 or 3 to start and if all goes well, at most we would have 5 total and no more.
Just trying to figure out the concern I have about how much yard is enough for ducks to not to kill grass and make it a mud pit. I don't want a mud pit, and I can't imagine it being good for the ducks to have nothing but a big mud pit all the time lol. I find estimates only for just space for ducks to be happy but nothing about space to where grass will be ok. I don't really want a caged in area to use for rotation unless that is what is needed. We have a fenced in suburban yard on the edge of a town that allows limited poultry within city limits. It has a 4 foot high fence and reinforcement will be needed when we are ready to start acting after learning. Since I am home all the time, I thought they could just hang out in the yard all day everyday while still being able to enter the coop if they really wanted too and I just lock them in the coop at night. I live in the northern hemisphere (Indiana, usa).
Also trying to decide if a small shed (we already have) for nighttime would be better for a coop than the coops in stores? Store coops look kinda small.. Or would a small shed for just 3-5 ducks be an overkill on sleeping space? And how big of a problem are wild birds giving ducks mites/lice? I heard they are hardier than chickens. We do have a couple of trees that hang over the the yard that birds do get in.
Breeds we are loosely thinking on, depending on availability and space:
Pekin
Saxony
Cayuga
Silver Apple
Welsh Harlequin
Magpie
Just trying to figure out the concern I have about how much yard is enough for ducks to not to kill grass and make it a mud pit. I don't want a mud pit, and I can't imagine it being good for the ducks to have nothing but a big mud pit all the time lol. I find estimates only for just space for ducks to be happy but nothing about space to where grass will be ok. I don't really want a caged in area to use for rotation unless that is what is needed. We have a fenced in suburban yard on the edge of a town that allows limited poultry within city limits. It has a 4 foot high fence and reinforcement will be needed when we are ready to start acting after learning. Since I am home all the time, I thought they could just hang out in the yard all day everyday while still being able to enter the coop if they really wanted too and I just lock them in the coop at night. I live in the northern hemisphere (Indiana, usa).
Also trying to decide if a small shed (we already have) for nighttime would be better for a coop than the coops in stores? Store coops look kinda small.. Or would a small shed for just 3-5 ducks be an overkill on sleeping space? And how big of a problem are wild birds giving ducks mites/lice? I heard they are hardier than chickens. We do have a couple of trees that hang over the the yard that birds do get in.
Breeds we are loosely thinking on, depending on availability and space:
Pekin
Saxony
Cayuga
Silver Apple
Welsh Harlequin
Magpie
Glad you joined.
